Every year around the Christmas holiday it is the same. We see quiet, respectful scenes of a baby lying in a manger. Many of the trappings of modern society have gotten the story wrong. Even for those who have the story right, there is much we don’t consider. Therefore, we miss what we can receive from that baby in the manger.
Joseph and Mary owned mistakes and sins that weren’t theirs. No one believed Mary was carrying God’s child? I know I wouldn’t. For the rest of their lives, Joseph and Mary paid the price for believing and obeying God.
Even though she was about to deliver the baby, Joseph takes Mary on a trip to a town of his ancestors to be counted in a census. I’m inclined to think he had family in Bethlehem. Why didn’t Joseph and Mary stay with them? If I have family coming to the area where I live, I expect them to stay with me. Unfortunately, Joseph’s family thought he slept with his bride to be. They didn’t want that sin in their house. Knowing this, Joseph looked for lodging. Maybe all the inns were full. Maybe some innkeepers knew them and just said they were full.
Can you imagine how Joseph felt? Men want to provide for their family. How devastating it must have been for Joseph not to secure a place suitable for Mary to deliver the baby. They must have prayed about it. They must have believed God would provide. Did God seem silent?
What was in Mary’s mind as she realized the baby would be born in a stable? Did she feel forgotten by God? This was His son. What was God thinking to allow this to happen? Regardless, I’m sure she preferred to be somewhere else to deliver her baby.
This baby, the Son of God, called Himself the Son of Man because He chose to identify with man. He gave up His rightful place in heaven and came to earth to live like His creation. He didn’t choose the easy life. He was rejected and scorned but loved anyway. He could have come to earth at a time when capital punishment was easy. Instead, He lived when the cruelest type of death was given to the worst criminals. That is how Jesus died. God didn’t take the easy way for His Son in birth or death.
When Jesus was born, it was chaos. I am sure of that. The birth of every child of mine was wonderful, I say this as the father and not the mother, but it was also frantic. How much more was it for Joseph and Mary as they hurriedly traveled, tried unsuccessfully to secure lodging, and were forced to settle for delivering a baby with smelly animals around. All the while, they knew and believed Mary carried the Son of God.
In this Christmas season, look deeper into the story of a child born in Bethlehem. If you are someone who knows what it means to be scorned, despised, overlooked, judged, or disowned, you can find, in the baby Jesus, someone who understands. Not only that, He came to do something about it.
