If there were people who, though proximate to Jesus’ birth, missed Christmas, examples also abound of those who celebrated Christmas the Christ way.
Consider Mary. Though young in years (she was probably a teenager), she was mature in spirit. Luke tells us that she and Zacharias experienced similar angelic revelations (1:5-38). Yet when Zacharias was afraid, doubting and silenced, Mary was confused (presumably wondering in humility why God would chose to favor her), committed to godly righteousness and joyful.
She was all of these things despite the fact that she had no idea what Joseph’s response to her news would be (cf. Mt. 1:19ff) and faced the real possibility of being stoned for being pregnant out of wedlock (Dt. 22:23ff). Yet she was not only obedient, but also content with God’s sovereign choice of her. Mary saw Christmas while Zacharias almost missed it, because she recognized God, the provision of His gift, and the privilege of serving Him.
And think about Joseph. From a human perspective, Christ’s birth was unusual (at best) or preposterous (at worst). Mary and Joseph had married, but the consummation was still future. Mary was pregnant by God’s divine intervention (we commonly accept it now, 2000 years after the fact, but think about how absurd a statement that appears to be). An angel appeared to Joseph in dream (God hadn’t spoken to anyone in 400 years, and He broke the silence by communicating with a carpenter??) with an “improbable” message — he and Mary would be parents of the long-awaited Messiah. It was completely unbelievable — unless you believed in God. And Joseph did.
Joseph believed when it made no sense to believe because he was predisposed to graciousness. He could have had Mary stoned, but his commitment was to being righteous and gracious (Mt. 1:19). But more than that, he unquestioningly believed God and acted on that belief (vv. 24-25; for more examples of God-believers, see Heb. 11).
[To be continued tomorrow.]
Words of Grace 