Poor Mary

The high of talking with an angel.  The excitement of having a heavenly appointment.  The reassurance of her old aunt already aware of her happy news.

The low of realizing that Joseph, her beloved, didn’t know.  How could she ever explain the unexplainable?  Then the relief of Joseph getting his own angel visit.

A sudden wedding.  Would people talk?  At the very time she wanted to nest, a sudden order for departure.  Why the rush to Bethlehem?  So tired, so scared, so alone.  Who would help her deliver?

Didn’t the One sent from God deserve better than this?  Had she done something wrong not providing better for his arrival?  Were they mistaken about the whole thing?  Surely God didn’t want the Messiah to enter the world in a stable!?  She wasn’t accustomed to luxury, but this was the lowest place she had ever laid her head.  What if her mother could see her now?  She would have been humiliated, yet she wished her mother were there to help her.

Why were the only guests to see the Baby a handful of poor laborers?   Why didn’t the priests and teachers welcome them when they came with the Baby to the temple for his dedication?  Didn’t they know Messiah was in her arms?  Only two old people who had no office, authority, or training in religion knew and rejoiced with them.

Why was there so little recognition?  Some rough guys, two old folks, the foreigners who couldn’t speak her language but communicated with gestures and with generous gifts.  Why was it always the unlikely?  Who gets rich visitors from a far away land unexpectedly one evening and then before the glow wore off, a sudden scramble to pack a few things and run away in the dead of night. Yes, recognition they didn’t want…King Herod himself.  He knew God’s Ruler-Messiah had come and would take measures to eliminate his rival.  As if he, even as king, could thwart God!  If the villagers ever found out whose birth incited the massacre of all their boy babies- and tears slipped down her cheeks.

And then living as foreigners in a country so different from her hometown, Nazareth.  Outsiders with no family to share the child’s growing stages.  No friend to confide in.  How long would they be exiles?  Why was life so hard?  She hadn’t imagined that being the mother of God’s exalted Son would be so lonely and difficult.  Where was the affirmation she longed for?  Didn’t anyone know or care?  Where was God?

Then another message.  “Go back.  The wicked king is dead.”  But back in Nazareth, nothing was the same as before.  She had changed, Joseph had changed.  And now the Child was the center of her life.  And no one knew who He was.  Her old aunt died, the two old people at the temple were gone, the shepherds sat at campfires and reminisced, but had no way of knowing the whereabouts of the Son of David.  And life settled into a routine with no angel visitors, no acclaim, no affirmation, and thankfully no nighttime escapes.  But the Child was her daily delight.  And she talked to God and tried to make sense of it all.  She often mulled over the angel’s words, “His kingdom will never end.” and “He will save his people from their sins.”  Yes, it was worth it all.  All the loneliness, all the loss to gain this kingdom and this salvation.  It would be glorious someday.  And today she was with Him.

Bible accounts

“This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!

She will give birth to a son,

and they will call him Immanuel,

which means ‘God is with us.’”

When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.”  Matthew 1

“God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”

Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”  Luke 1

“At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, (my note-they hadn’t consummated the marriage with sexual union yet, so technically they weren’t married altho they had entered into a legal binding covenant of marriage and were living together) who was now obviously pregnant.

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no lodging available for them.

The Shepherds and Angels

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in highest heaven,

and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Jesus Is Presented in the Temple

Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived.

Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the LORD.”  So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord—“either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

The Prophecy of Simeon

At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,

“Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,

as you have promised.

I have seen your salvation,

which you have prepared for all people.

He is a light to reveal God to the nations,

and he is the glory of your people Israel!”

Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”

The Prophecy of Anna

Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.

When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.”  Luke 2