(We continue our look at the Christmas Story in Luke 2. Yesterday, we focused on Joseph’s response to Gabriel’s announcement that he was supposed to take Mary for his wife, even though she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.)
Let’s go back to Joseph. Joseph could have chosen to doubt Mary’s story and listen to the voice of his culture that said to divorce her. However, he chose to listen to and believe the message from God the angel brought in his dream. For both Mary and Joseph, the decisions they made had huge consequences.
Today we praise them for their faith, their willingness to say “yes” to God’s call. But we also need to praise them for their courage in tremendously difficult circumstances. Remember, adultery was a sin punishable by death in that culture. So, once her pregnancy would be obvious to the community, there would be many questions to answer. Joseph, as the fiancé, could be assumed to be the father of the baby – after all, who had ever heard of a woman being pregnant without a man? So, Mary and Joseph would have to endure the questions and shame of being assumed adulterers.
The Bible tells us that Mary went to live with her cousin Elizabeth in a different town for about three months. Remember Zechariah the priest who the angel visited? He was Elizabeth’s husband and, true to Gabriel’s message, Elizabeth was pregnant in her old age. I imagine that the elderly but expectant Elizabeth might be one of the only people in Mary’s world that actually would have believed her story about the angel’s message. But, the Christmas story might be darker and sadder than all this. In his book, “A Not So Silent Night,” author Verlyn D. Verbrugge suggests that Mary had to go live with Joseph – even though they were not yet married – because the shame she had brought on her family caused them to kick her out of her home.
So, a homeless, pregnant, young teen girl had nowhere else to go except to her fiancé, who then would have to endure the same shame. You may have wondered why a young girl eight-plus months pregnant would have had to go to Bethlehem for a census, since the census would only count men. Verbrugge suggests that Joseph must have known Mary had to go with him to Bethlehem, not only because she had no place else to go, but also for her own protection – and to protect the life of the unborn Messiah. At best, their situation was tenuous.
The Bible tells us that when they arrived in Bethlehem there was no room for them in the “inn.” But there probably would not have been what we think of as a hotel or motel or inn in Bethlehem. It was too close to Jerusalem and just too small to need a commercial place for visitors to stay. Instead, in traditional Middle Eastern hospitality, people would open their homes to visitors – especially family. It would have been very normal for shirt-string relatives or even strangers to stay with people they didn’t know. So, why did Mary and Joseph end up in a dwelling for animals, having to lay the newborn Jesus in a manger?
Verbrugge suggests that this is because the rumor of their supposed premarital sin and her unexpected pregnancy would have made it to Bethlehem before they arrived. And because of the response of his family in Bethlehem, the best lodging they could find was with animals. I expect that the full implications of their situation were not lost on Joseph. He had listened to, believed and obeyed the angel’s message. He had taken and protected a very pregnant Mary on the journey. And then he was present at the birth of the Messiah — in a stable for animals. There was a lot for him to think about.
I believe that Mary and Joseph did not know what was coming for their baby boy. I expect that the vision and the dreams they received from the angel Gabriel were memorable – to say the least. But, if they were anything like I am – and maybe like you are – it’s sometimes hard to know what to believe. Will I really believe that this message is from God? Or am I more like Zechariah, almost laughing at what seems to be such an outrageous message? Both Mary and Joseph had to decide whether to believe or to doubt the voice of the angel and his messages.
God,
Help us to have spiritual ears to hear your voice and the faith and courage to not doubt what you say to us. Help us to listen, believe, and obey your messages. Even when we cannot see what you are doing or how you are working, help us to trust you and your love for us like Mary and Joseph did. We ask in Christ’s name, Amen.
