Several years ago a song written by Mark Lowry became very popular around Christmas time. “Mary, Did You Know?” posed some amazing questions. Did Mary know the boy she delivered would be her deliverer? Did she realize when she kissed her baby that she was kissing the face of God? In all of our wonderful 21st century wisdom we can look back and answer those questions.
Though a young teen Mary was well-versed in prophesy concerning the Messiah, it was common sense to understand the Rescuer of Israel, and the rest of us, would have to come as a baby at some point. Israel expected a man in full battle gear. Mary delivered a perfectly human
little boy. The rest of His life didn’t match Israelite expectations either. Jesus had a loving stepdad. What must Joseph been thinking?
Haven’t we all had vivid dreams? Some we believe come directly from the throne of God? We seek help and God delivers by showing us our next steps as He gives us rest. Joseph’s dream must have scared him.
Following Jewish tradition, certain laws were to be followed if a woman who was engaged to be married turned up pregnant – especially if the betrothed was not the father. The wronged party had the right to a divorce and the offending party was to be put to death by stoning. In Matthew 1:18 and 19 God shares with us a bit of what was happening, but not all.
“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”
So the angel was not the first to discuss this child with Joseph. Can you imagine the conversation? The feelings of a young girl entrusted by God to give birth in a most miraculous way? How fast do you think she ran to tell Joseph this news? Do you think she bided her time,
waited for the obvious signs of pregnancy to alert her parents, all the while praying to the Father of her Son to give her the words to say and for believing hearts in her parents and fiancé?
We have to keep in mind that everyone was expecting God to raise up a Messiah from among the Israelists. But though they studied scripture, knew the prophesies inside and out, believing God
was still a problem. Prophesies had come to pass time after time after time and yet, in all their diligent study of Isaiah, they still did not see the truth.
What were they thinking?
Isaiah was given a direct prophesy to the house of David, which is recorded in chapter 7. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call his name Immanuel.”
Hint here to those old guys waiting for a Deliverer – “Immanuel” means “God with us.” In this case they should have been taking God at His word and looking for a literal virgin to become pregnant and give birth to the Son of God. So like us, don’t you think? Some of us have to be hit over the head with a spiritual 2x4 before we see what God is doing in our lives, what He wants us to do in response. We experience His provision time and again, but “believe” is not
in our vocabulary.
Here is what Joseph should have been thinking: Mary bearing the Son of God was not disgraceful, it was grace full.
Joseph did as we do – he started off thinking “what am I going to do about
this?”
“After he had considered this an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream …” and set him straight.
Guess Mary should have put on wings in order to be believed.
I love the angels presence in the story of my Savior’s birth. They remind me that we have God’s protection through them now. We read an angel appeared to Mary, one to Joseph and a whole host making the biggest announcement in all of time to the shepherds. I love that God uses His
angelic creation to tell others of He created what is happening. But I can’t help but wonder if Joseph was really righteous and actively looking for the Messiah, why he didn’t just believe. What was Joseph thinking? The same thing we would have been – we are in trouble now!
In truth, the only people who were actively looking for Jesus were a bunch of wise men (not just three) and they didn’t show up until Jesus was a toddler.
The only wise men at the stable the night of Jesus’ birth were shepherds. They were expecting nothing but a chilly night making sure nothing ate one of their charges. They got to be part of a miracle. Can you imagine what they must have been thinking? They probably forgot about hungry stomachs, not being warm enough, missing their family members. I bet they talked about that huge star and wondered where it came from; why it suddenly lit the sky like daylight. I wonder if they were thinking they wouldn’t be able to sleep for the brightness of it when it was their turn to try to rest.
I wonder if some of them cursed that light as people throughout history and even now do the Light of the World.
But then the sky got brighter with the appearance of first one, then a host of angels filling the sky. High noon in the middle of the night. Life got exciting for that bunch of outcasts.
What were they thinking? They weren’t. They believed. Men who had little, if any, training in prophesy and scripture just believed. They believed what the angel said, believed what the angels
sang and they had to check it out.
Study of the scripture is a good thing. But belief equals wisdom when we are centering that belief on God. Believing, leaning on Him, trusting Him will teach us more than scripture can. I am not
trying to displace the importance of the Bible. It is God’s love letter to us. But there are a great many more people who have read the Bible and have no belief in God than there are those who believe and have not read a Bible. Study is not a prerequisite to belief in God. As we head into this final week before our celebration of Christ’s birth we need to consider what each player in the drama of that birth was thinking. What about the other people staying in Bethlehem? There was a large influx of people due to the census. They were out of their element, on a trip some may not have been able to afford yet were forced to go on.
What did they think of their place in the events of the night? Did they go and see? Did they curse the light and the Light?
What about the innkeeper and his family? They reacted much like we do – gruff at first. “No, I can’t help you!” Tired, struggling to keep up with the demands of work and family and someone asks for just one more favor. We snap, then relent. And if we are blessed by God we see the good in our reluctant obedience.
The lesson in following God when we are at our lowest, most exhausted state. What were all those people thinking? What about Mary’s parents? Were they there? Were they worried about their daughter? Had they disowned her months before?
After we consider what everyone else was thinking we need to turn those thoughts inward. What am I thinking? What will I do with this Savior? Will I continue to reject Him? Continue to believe only after He acts in a larger-than-life way that I cannot help but see?
What are you thinking?
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