Happy Christmas season readers!! Last Christmas we spent time discussing the different aspects of the Advent season: hope, love, joy, and peace. These four Advent characteristics are present throughout the four Gospel accounts in the Bible. This Christmas season, we are exploring the story of the Gospel as told from the different Gospel accounts. 

If you’ve ever watched the movie ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’, then you’re maybe familiar with the Biblical story of Jesus’s birth. It is told from such a beautiful perspective, full of details, in the Gospel of Luke. (Side note: The Gospel of Luke is my favorite of the four Gospels. Maybe it’s because it has the birth story of Jesus so detailed or maybe because I love the name ‘Luke’, who knows!) 

An angel Gabriel visited Mary, who was a virgin and engaged to be married to a man named Joseph. Joseph was from the house of David, which is important because the Old Testament prophesied about the Messiah coming from the line of David. 

And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” Luke 1:28 CSB

Obviously, just like any normal human would be confused or astonished by this occurrence, Mary was deeply troubled (CSB), confused and disturbed (NLT), and greatly perplexed (AMP). There have been times when I read stories where angels visit people in the Bible and I wonder how I would’ve responded if I were in their shoes. Honestly, I think I would have felt the words used to describe Mary’s feelings, and I may also be so shocked I would end up with a wet puddle underneath me. But as most angels say, Gabriel told Mary not to be afraid. He said: 

Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.” Luke 1:31-33 CSB

Mary knew enough to know that she would have to be with a man to have a child, so she questions the angel. Gabriel explains to Mary that the Holy Spirit will conceive a child inside her womb. This idea seems “normal” to me as I have heard this story since I was a small child. However, I am sure to Mary and to many unchurched people around the world, this idea that the Holy Spirit would help Mary become pregnant with Jesus while remaining a virgin would be ludicrous. Thankfully our God is in the business of miracles and making the unexpected happen. 

I absolutely love how Mary responds to the angel’s prophecy. I want to be the type of person that responds to God in this way. 

“See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her. Matthew 1:38 CSB

In another Gospel book, there is an account of an angel visiting Joseph and telling him the same prophecy and encouraging Joseph to not separate from Mary but to remain engaged to her and marry her.

Months after these angel visits, there was an order (or a decree) that all of the Jewish people would have to go back to their hometowns for a census. Because Joseph was from the family of David, he had to go to Bethlehem for the census. He took Mary with him, and it was there that she gave birth fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. 

Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. Luke 2:7 CSB

Here we see Jesus’s humble beginning where He was placed in a manger. This is where we get the modern day idea that Jesus was born in a stable. However, the Bible never says that. 

In the same area were shepherds with their flocks. An angel appeared to them and told them not to fear because he had great news about a Savior, the Messiah, the Lord being born. Then all of a sudden a large group of heavenly host joined the angel saying: 

Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and peace on earth to people he favors! Luke 2:14 CSB

The angels left and the shepherds decided to go to Bethlehem and see the miracle that had just been told to them. They found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus and shared about the angels’ visit to them. The shepherds went back to where they were taking care of their sheep while glorifying and praising God. 

What about Mary? What was the mother of the Living God doing? How was she handling giving birth to the Messiah? 

But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. Matthew 2:19 CSB

How beautiful! 

Dear Father, You alone are so amazing. You had a wonderful plan all along to send your one and only special son into this world. Jesus, fully God and fully human. Thank you for the miraculous birth story that was still so “normal” again proving the fully God and fully humanness of Jesus. Lord, thank you for Your Word, the Bible, that allows us the opportunity to read of Jesus’s birth as often as we’d like. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for working inside of Mary as she conceived Jesus. And thank you for working in me as I grow closer to you every day. 

Lord, help us to treasure up all your words in our hearts and meditate on them daily. You of all people know how hard it is for us to read and comprehend Your Word some days. Some days it feels more like a task than a privilege. Please work in our hearts to give us the desire to spend time with you every day. Help us to use Your Word as a savings account, depositing each time we choose to memorize Scripture or dig deeper in what we are reading. You alone are all we need.

Also, Lord, please be with us during this Christmas season. You alone know our struggles during this time. Please keep us focused on the baby that was placed in the manger that later became a cross and is now a throne. 

In Jesus’s name we pray, amen.