Unto YOU a Child is Born

One of my favorite Christmas stories is The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  It is the story of some misfit siblings, the Herdmans, who bully their way into the church’s Christmas play.  They not only demand to be in the play, they manipulate their way into becoming the lead characters.  Never hearing the story of Christ’s birth before, they bring an innocence to the pageant that no one had expected. They showed the reality of what Mary and Joseph might have been feeling, as Imogene Herdman burped the baby doll Jesus.  When the Herdmans playing the Wise Men brought ham instead of frankincense, gold, and myrrh, it revealed their heart as they gave out of what they had.  It truly is a story that makes me think back to the day of Jesus’ actual birth.

The Bible tells us that an angel visited Mary and told her that she was to give birth to a son and he was to be given the name Jesus.  We also know that Mary was pledged to marry Joseph who also received a message from an angel telling him to take Mary as his wife “because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit”.  So here we have Mary and Joseph, these two ordinary people that had been given this extraordinary experience.  I can only think that there was much emotion associated with this news. 

So fast forward several months and Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken and everyone was to return to the town of their birth to register.  So this meant that Joseph was to go back to his hometown of Bethlehem.  So here are my thoughts: at this point Mary is almost nine months pregnant, preparing to give birth, and she now must travel almost a week across unfavorable terrain, riding a donkey.  Now, I have been almost nine months pregnant three times and I have to say that there were days toward the end of my pregnancy that I could barely make it out of bed.  Had my husband told me that I was to ride a donkey across town, I might have thrown something at him...but not Mary.  She simply got on that donkey led by Joseph and endured, I’m sure, much pain, but knowing that the Lord had a plan and she was completely obedient to that plan. 

Now upon their arrival in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph find that there isn’t any place to stay.  Many people have returned home for the census and this small town was not equipped to house everyone.  Well, that makes sense.  But what I wonder is, where was Joseph’s relatives?  If Joseph had been born in this town, wouldn’t it be logical that there was someone who would take this couple in, especially seeing that Mary was about to give birth?  But that didn’t happen.  One can speculate that perhaps rumors of Mary’s pregnancy spread to the town and perhaps she and Joseph were not welcome in the homes of his relatives.  But whatever the case, they had no one to turn to and no place to stay.  They eventually came upon an innkeeper whose rooms were also filled but they were offered refuge in the barn.  Now barns in Bethlehem at this time were not like the barns we see today.  They were not red with metal roofs.  Most likely it was similar to a cave that provided shelter to the animals.  It was probably dark, a little drafty and cool, and not especially clean.  But Mary and Joseph accepted this space knowing that soon Mary was going to give birth. 

My modern-day mommy side struggles trying to wrap my head around this picture…just Mary and Joseph, in a barn cave, with livestock and livestock smells, and no doctor, no epidural, and no toasty bed to lay an infant in (man, I am so spoiled…I know).    But that’s what it was…a simple, humble birth.  And Mary wrapped her baby in swaddling cloths (probably some sort of feed bag) and placed him in a manger (a feeding trough for the animals).  And this was the beautiful birth of the Savior, my Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

I love how God chose to bring His Son into the world.  I love that there was no pretention; there was no extravagance, nothing but simplicity…a baby that was relatable and approachable.  We know that because the shepherds appeared after an angel came to them while they were in their fields and told them to go and see this precious baby.  It is the most beautiful, most significant birth in all creation and as we prepare our hearts to celebrate Christmas this year, let us be mindful of what this day truly means…a celebration that the Lord has come!

I think the author of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever painted a great picture when she wrote, “She [Imogene, the Herdman who played Mary] walked in a kind of daze—as if she had just caught onto the idea of God, and the wonder of Christmas…For years I had thought about the wonder of Christmas, and the mystery of Jesus’ birth, and never really understood it...When Imogene had asked me what the pageant was about, I told her it was about Jesus, but that was just part of it.  It was about a new baby, and his mother and father who were in a lot of trouble – no money, no place to go, no doctor, nobody they knew….but for Imogene...Christmas just came over her all at once…and so she was crying.”

My prayer for you is that Christmas will come over you… because “Hey! Unto you a child is born!”

P.S. The Wise Men didn’t really show up at Jesus’ birth…it was some time later…just so you know.

Love and Merry CHRISTmas!