In the story of Jesus’ birth, it says an angel appeared to Mary and told her the Holy Spirit was going to come to her, and she would become pregnant and give birth to the Savior. I read this in preparation to share it with a group of teenage moms and I confess, I paused at this point trying to figure out a way to make it sound more palatable. I even remember praying and asking God, “Who is going to believe this”, which is funny because I wholeheartedly believe it, but if you haven’t heard this story, it seems preposterous right?
Then I read John 1:10 “…the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
That verse brought a whole new perspective for me. I relate to what happened to Mary because it is the same thing that happened to me. No, I didn’t miraculously become pregnant and give birth to a savior, BUT what did happen was a rebirth in me that was not natural and didn’t happen because of my parents but happened in a supernatural way through the Holy Spirit. I have seen this same process lived out repeatedly in the lives of people close to me. Friends in the middle of completely impossible situations which God miraculously turned around for good. I have watched addicts so weary and hopeless, put their trust in Him and completely live out this chrysalis process of rebirth into something wholly different. They were not empowered on their own and neither was I. It was evident there was something more that came to them and gave them peace in moments where there should not have been peace, release from oppression, and hope right in the middle of hopelessness. I have seen release and healing from such a traumatic and abusive past it seems ridiculous that anyone would have survived it, but God…
Nicodemus was a Rabbi who came to Jesus one night and he is told this very odd thing, that no one will see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. To Nicodemus this seems obviously strange and he asks, John 3:4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” … “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit.
Jesus was both flesh and spirit sent on a supernatural mission. His mother Mary was a young woman around 14 years old, whose parents had arranged her marriage to a man named Joseph. This was the tradition in her culture and typically the groom or his parents would pay a sum of money for the bride. It would be equivalent to what you or I would pay as a down payment for a house. It was a big commitment. During this process, the groom offers the bride a cup of wine (this would be like a fiancé offering a bride-to-be a wedding ring) and her accepting and taking a drink of the wine means she agrees to be part of his family. The groom would then begin working on building a home for them under the supervision of his father. Only his father can say when the home is finished. The bride waits in expectation, she doesn’t know when the time will be when he will come for her, and she just has to be prepared. Only when the groom’s father says it is finished, can he go and get her. When he does, his friends go with him, and they begin shouting and making loud noises when they come near her home. It’s a very celebratory time. [1]
Even though the marriage ceremony had not taken place yet for Mary and Joseph, since he had made a contract with her parents, they were officially considered married during this time.
Before the marriage ceremony happens for Mary and Joseph, while she is still a virgin, Mary becomes pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Jewish law stated if a woman was pregnant before coming together with her husband she could be stoned to death. Her husband, under this same Jewish law, would be the one to have to bring the charges. Joseph knew that the child was not his and it had to have felt like the ultimate betrayal. He was a good man, and he did not want to subject Mary to a trial and punishment, nor did he want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. While he is considering this, he falls asleep and an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and tells him “do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary, For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. You will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people….”[2]
A Savior is something they had been looking and praying for. They were living under great oppression by the Roman government. The families were heavily taxed by both local and faraway rulers who, some scholars believe, demanded as much as 50% to 60% of what the common people grew and owned. Unlike the American system, which uses a portion of taxes to help the less fortunate, all these taxes were used to boost the wealth of rulers.[3] If the workers couldn’t pay then they ended up with no land, or no animals, or worse, they could take their daughters or sons as slaves.
For years Mary’s people had prayed for a savior that would conquer this oppressive system and bring freedom. It wasn’t just the political system that was oppressive, it was the religious leaders at the time as well. They were pretentious and believed themselves superior because of the self-righteous way they followed the law.
The Messiah or a Savior was something God’s prophets had spoken about over 300 times in scriptures of the Old Testament. What the people, in general believed was that this person, this savior would come in the way of a great military leader certainly not a baby.
The Roman Emperor wants a census to be taken so he can make certain he is getting all the taxes he should, and Herod wants to have a census because he is expecting to have to take care of this person who the Jews keep talking about as the “King of the Jews”. From the Torah, he knows about the prophet Micah’s words that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Everyone must go back to the hometown they were born in and for Joseph and Mary along with him, this means Bethlehem. This journey, at that time, would have normally taken around 4 days but could have taken as long as a week. It was 90 miles they walked.
So, imagine this time for Mary. What would have started as a time of coming age for her and a time of celebration, had to have also been laced with incredible fear, the fear of not knowing how Joseph would react, would he reject her, would she be on her own, would she face a trial, would she be rejected because her family would perceive this as disgrace…? It must have been the ultimate bittersweet moment because she had no idea how all of this was going to play out but through it all, she knows she is carrying a great gift! She is expecting. That’s such a great word. Are we expecting? She didn’t know how this thing was going to play out. All she knew was a savior was coming. We don’t know how each of our situations is going to play out either exactly yet, we know a savior has come and we can rest in hope because of it.
When they arrived in Bethlehem, she was in the process of labor and there was no place for them. She ended up giving birth in a stable, surrounded by animals. She literally gave birth to Hope. I want to take a little pause here to say that sometimes moments of hope, just like this, are unexpected, and they don’t necessarily look or feel like moments of hope. It was labor. It was painful. It was messy. There was the smell of barn animals.
God whispers are different than what our world or culture whispers as greatness. They weren’t wealthy people, or necessarily beautiful or successful, Mary didn’t give birth in a palace with a midwife surrounded by satin… but their hearts… their hearts were pure. The moment was divine, and it was a beautiful moment.
In the second chapter of Luke, it describes that an angel appears to the shepherds and sings with an entire choir in the middle of a field. It says, “God’s glory blazed around them.” I love God’s plan of announcing the birth of Jesus with the ones whose primary duty was safety, protection, and guidance for a vulnerable population (sheep). They were not political powerhouses or Hollywood elite; they did not even have a platform, at least not until now.
“Angels announced Jesus birth to shepherd’s that were in a nearby field. The word says they couldn’t believe it and, “They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed. Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. (What beautiful affirmation to her to hear the shepherd’s stories) The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!” Luke 2:15-19msg
Also, as a side note, I remember learning when I visited Israel that the fields the shepherds were tending their flocks in that night were Boaz fields. If you are familiar with the story of Ruth, then you know that Boaz acted as a kinsman redeemer for Ruth. He saved Ruth and her mother-in-law. Together they had Obed who was father to Jesse, who was father to King David. All are in the family tree of Jesus and here we see a re-visitation to the past years later and God’s redemption for His people as a story that plays out over and over again.
In Israel, there are many places called a “Tel” like Tel Aviv, or Tel Jezreel and ultimately these are mounds of earth created over centuries as successive layers of civilizations are built one over the other. Typically, cities would be built in strategic locations where they would put them on a hill so that the city was more defendable. Wars were fought, cities were obliterated, new cities were built on top of the old, and repeated over centuries. Tel means a hill both a literal hill and a hill of archaeological remains.[4] We stand on all these incredible multi-layers of history. Our own story laid upon stories upon stories… and yet what happened that night in the field with the shepherds is just as important to our story as it was to theirs. A rescuer was sent.
Nothing temporal changed for the sheepherders that day. Not their position. Not their responsibilities. Not their family. But everything changed that day. They experienced hope like nothing they had ever experienced. God’s presence changed everything. Several years ago I was diagnosed with cancer. Before all the facts came in, I thought am I stage 1 or stage 4 is it in other places do I need to start thinking of my life in months vs. years is this where I am now? Then I met with one of the mentors for our nonprofit group and she started sharing with me her story of overcoming cancer, and her daughters’ story of overcoming a type of cancer which had spread throughout her body and what she shouldn’t have overcome. She prayed so powerfully that I walked around in a stupor of joy for three days. Nothing changed in my situation, I didn’t have any answers, I still didn’t know how things were going to play out, yet everything changed by His presence in it. No matter what, even through hardship I knew I was going to be ok.
Throughout history, God has provided us with direction and road signs along the way. Promises and prophecies. We don’t have to see the whole picture. If we did we probably wouldn’t be able to handle it, but there is incredible comfort and confidence in knowing that what He says He is going to do He does. He is trustworthy. His plans are always bigger than what we can see or envision. It takes courage to trust that His plans are good especially in the middle of difficult circumstances, when our situation doesn’t look like the image we had in our head.
Many times, in the bible we are called the bride of Christ. When we look at this in the light of Jewish wedding tradition, we see that Jesus ended up paying a steep price for us. He went to prepare a place for us in heaven. Only the Father says when it’s time for Him to come back but He is coming, and it will be celebratory and with the sound of a loud trumpet! Each time we take communion it’s us reliving this contract of commitment with Him it’s Him asking will you be part of my family? You accepting, is you saying yes.
In the movie The Nativity Story, Mary meets one of the shepherds before she gives birth and he tells her “The greatest gift is the one you are carrying inside you”. When we open the door and invite God into our lives then we experience what Mary experienced, a partnership with the supernatural. Then the greatest gift we have to give is inside us as well. He is light for dark places, a restorer, healer, joy, peace, acceptance, He brings belonging. He loves.
Romans 5:3-5 says, “There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us,… keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alertexpectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!”
His glory is ablaze and His presence Unleashes Possibility.
A prayer: God thank you for preparing a place for us. If we have never opened the door to partnership with you let us open our hearts today. Let us trust that you are going to finish the good work you started in us and During this busy distracting season we want to clearly see you for who you are. We long to be transformed by the abundant and overwhelming love you have to give. Let us shine in dark places and LET LOOSE with praising and thanksgiving for all you have done on our behalf. We celebrate you and your son, and we move forward in alert
expectancy.
[1] Feasts of Faith, Dallas and Carl Paetzold copyright @2011
[2] Matthew 1:30 NLT Tyndale
[3] http://articles.latimes.com/1994-12-24/local/me-12520_1_social-climate