Ancient Jerusalem (model)
Tomorrow is the day set aside to honor and celebrate the birth of our Lord and Redeemer. I have often wondered what it was like for Mary, the one chosen for this indescribable honor of giving birth to the Son of God. She was a young girl by our standards, probably no more than 16 years old if that old. I make that assumption based on the history and culture of that day. She was already betrothed to Joseph and was waiting for Joseph to come get her as was the Jewish custom. She did not know when. Six months after Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist, Gabriel appeared to Mary and said:
- And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28 ESV)
Scripture tells us that she was greatly disturbed and pondered what kind of salutation this was. (Luke 1:29). The Greek word that we translate into English as “disturbed” is diatarassō which means “to agitate or trouble.” This was Mary’s state of mind when the angel Gabriel appeared and spoke to Mary. Gabriel instructs Mary not to be afraid for she has found favor with God. He told her that she will conceive a child.
- And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
(Luke 1:30-33 ESV)
After Mary’s confusion because she is a virgin, Gabriel informs her “And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God. (Luke 1:35 ESV)
Wow! Here is a young Jewish girl anywhere between 14 to 16 years old and she is visited by an angel and told that she is going to bring forth the Son of God. She is told that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and that the power of the Most High will overshadow her and she will conceive. What emotions she must have felt. We are not told what her emotions or thoughts were. From here, I can only speculate. Scripture is really silent on this and God is just giving us the facts as they happened. Mary is told that she will conceive as a virgin by the Holy Spirit and she will bring forth the Son of God. Mary replies: “
- And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
(Luke 1:38 ESV)
That is all we are told. As a Jewish girl, she would have known the implications (Isaiah 7:14). The Jews of that day were waiting for the promised Messiah. I can only speculate as to what she felt and thought after Gabriel departed. We don’t know if she spoke to her parents. We don’t know what she was thinking or doing. While I can only speculate, I do not imagine she simply went about her day as if she did not receive such spectacular news about her future. Did she wonder how she would tell Joseph? We don’t know.
What we do know is that Joseph found out but whether that was through Mary or someone else, we can only speculate. But he had plans to quietly divorce her so as not to put her to shame. As he pondering these thoughts, Gabriel made another appearance and this time it was to Joseph in a dream. Gabriel explained to Joseph what was taking place.
- But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Mat 1:20-21 ESV)
Joseph awoke and took Mary to be his wife and did not have marital relations with her until after Jesus was born.
Their brethren must have known that Mary became pregnant before Joseph took her as his wife for she would have been showing or at the very least after giving birth, doing the math would have been obvious. We are not told what they endured, if anything. God is giving us the facts as to how Jesus came into this world as the Messiah. Scriptures are not a novel where the emotions of the people are explained in detail. It is unnecessary and would bring the focus off of Jesus and place it on Mary and Joseph who will bring forth and raise the Son of God for they too are in need of redemption.
It is just something I have thought about – what they must have thought. They saw the Savior of mankind come into the world. They lived with Him, loved Him, cared for Him and raised Him. Joseph taught his his trade as a carpenter to Jesus, the Redeemer of mankind.
He was their child whom they raised and yet He was their Redeemer who saved them from their sins. Wow!
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6 comments
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altonwoods
December 24, 2009 at 8:40 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
It does present some interesting questions, like, Knowing that Jesus was the messiah,what effect did it have on Mary and Joseph as far as how they raised Jesus? Did they keep it as a “family secret”? It would seem that knowing His identity would of compelled His whole family to react to Him differently than they did, As in the case of His brethren…
John 7:3-5 (King James Version)
3His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.
4For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.
5For neither did his brethren believe in him.
Tishrei
December 24, 2009 at 9:28 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I don’t know but those are interesting questions/thoughts. In the end, my thoughts or ponderings on what Mary or Joseph thought or felt is really unimportant for if God felt they were important, He would have told us. But it has been something I have thought about on and off over the years. And as you pointed out, it is an interesting thought of the effect of knowing who He was and their raising Him.
Loren
December 24, 2009 at 2:01 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
“They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.” (Psalm 69:12)
You are right, we can only speculate about how Mary and Joseph actually felt about all of this. I am of the opinion, however, that a stigma remained on the family since others would not be inclined to believe the truth about how Jesus was born and would suspect that Mary had behaved immorally. The gossip around Nazareth must have been tremendous as Jesus grew up, the old ladies of the town whispering into one another’s ears as Mary and her Son walked by. The Psalmist prophesies in Psalm 69 about the mockery our Lord would endure, as the drunks at the local tavern gleefully sang their scornful tunes of ridicule.
Mary believed God, but it is no wonder that she was more than eager for Jesus to prove Who He was at the marriage feast in Cana (John 2). We often forget the social ostracism that Joseph and especially Mary must have endured in their hometown as the Son of God quietly grew to adulthood in their home. The amazing privilege that God gave to them was doubtlessly interpreted by their neighbors as nothing but a scandal of the highest degree. Yet they preferred the praise of God above the praise of man.
Pttyann
December 24, 2009 at 3:04 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Hi Tishrei
This story of Mary,Gabriel and Jesus still astound many,it’s all so amazing that God would trust his Son with a human being! I often wonder if Jesus ever got spanked,because being a Mother when he Jesus got missing and Joseph & Mary had to turn back I believe a days journey to search for him lol,had to have made Mom a little mad.It’s just all amazing when you sit and think of Jesus and God!!!! But how glad we are that God sent his best gift to give us eternal life “Awesome”!!!
I hope your Christmas is filled with joy & peace.
Margaret
December 25, 2009 at 7:19 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Tishrei,
When we think about how embarrassed Joseph was in the beginning and just wanting to not be in that sort of situation, we can imagine how the rest of the townspeople felt….. I’m sure Mary had been looked upon as a very “good girl” before that — because Joseph thought so highly of her — let alone, God Almighty….. So, if God thought highly of Mary’s faithfulness, I’m sure the townspeople did, too, beforehand….. That good reputation would have made all the tongue clucking really hard to endure…..
Evidently, both Joseph and Mary were willing to endure it and continue living for their Lord — simply because they knew the truth….. We too, can live strongly for the Lord because we know the Truth.
Margaret
Tishrei
December 25, 2009 at 6:04 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Hi Margaret, it had to be so much more difficult than we can imagine. Our society does not even take a second glance when people enter into sinful relationships so it’s hard to imagine what it would have been like for Joseph and Mary to know that they were following the Lord while Joseph may have had to endure people thinking his wife was less than pure and Mary having to endure people thinking such things about her.
Hope you had a very blessed Christmas today
Christmas – Christ’s Entrance into the World « Fruit of the Word
December 25, 2009 at 9:44 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
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