Look In (Behold!)

Opening and Introduction

Christmas is a pretty busy time of year isn’t it? Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough time to get it all done? Ever feel like the season is so wonderful to experience, but there’s just is so much going on.

In our text today, Mary is experiencing a season like this too. She’s been through a crazy lot of activity. And after the baby is born and the shepherds leave, she has some time to think about all that’s happened. Our text today says:

“Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.” (Luke 2:19, CSB)

Tonight, we’re going to take a closer look at the wild events leading up to this scene in a stable, to see what Mary was really thinking about, and look at how she used a small quiet time in her life to re-examine events. Then, we’re going to take a look at how we can use the breaks in our busy life, to experience the joy of Christmas, in a deeper way this Christmas.

Blaze of Activity

Let’s start with some basics of the story. Mary was a young girl, probably around 15 years old. Anyone remember what it was like to be 15? It’s an age of growing in puberty, of giggly emotions and unexpected excitement. A time of acting before thinking.

About 9 or 10 months before Jesus was born, this young girl was met by the angel Gabriel with a message from God. Her relative, Elizabeth was going to have a baby. And oh, by the way, you’re going to have one too. And your baby, He’s going to be God’s Son.

Mary understood where babies come from and as a virgin, there should be no possible way that she could have a child. Yet, that’s exactly what this messenger tells her is going to happen. Mary was scared being confronted by an angel, and had to be a bit confused with the message.

Then there’s a bigger question. How is she going to tell Joseph, her fiancé? They weren’t living together, because they weren’t married yet. But they had a legal obligation to each other since engagement was a first step in marriage.

Since this wasn’t Joseph’s child, this baby belonged to someone else, and that sounds a whole lot like adultery. The penalty of adultery was pretty severe. Was Joseph going to turn her in, and have her stoned to death? Was he going to abandon her? What was going to happen when Mary broke the news?

No-one was going to believe that an angel talked to her. Mary had to be nervous. Somehow, she finds the strength to let Joseph know.

As expected, Joseph had a tough time believing this outlandish story and decided to quietly divorce Mary. And then, Joseph is greeted by his own angel. In a dream, the angel tells him

“Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:20, CSB)

Joseph decides to keep his wife. That had to be some sort of relief to Mary.

Then Mary visits Elizabeth, a relative of hers, who was thought to be too old to have a baby, but they were having one. While there Mary probably heard of Zechariah being visited by yet another angel. Amazing things are happening.

Shortly after Mary returns home, the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, orders a census. The census requires that people be counted in their home town. In Joseph’s case, that required traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem, which was about 30 miles away.

It doesn’t sound like a long distance, until you consider that the distance would have to be covered by walking or riding on an animal.

Have you ever seen a pregnant woman walk when she’s close to having a baby? It’s not fast, it’s not comfortable, and it’s usually not very far. Even sitting seems to be a chore sometimes.

Mary is very close to having her child. Walking doesn’t sound like fun, but neither does bouncing around on a donkey. To add to the difficulty, it probably took a couple of days to get there, all while surrounded by crowds of people who are traveling too.

So, Joseph and Mary arrive in Bethlehem, and find no place to stay. With all the people travelling for the census, anyplace that was available is now taken; there’s no place to lie down. No Holiday Inns, No Motel 6. But they find room in a stable where they can lie down with the animals. So, when Jesus is born, there’s not a lot of options, so He’s put into a feeding trough used for animals.

Shortly after He’s born, our text picks up the story with unannounced guests. Shepherds rush into the stable to meet their Lord. They explain that angels, for a fourth time, have told them that their Savior and their Messiah was going to be lying in a manger. And that’s exactly how they find the child Jesus.