Birthdays are a time for celebrating life, and this birthday for Jesus is no different. Even though his life will bring him suffering and pain on our behalf, we still celebrate his arrival with great joy and gladness, worshipful music, and the giving of gifts.
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Luke 2: 6-7
Somehow being merry on this special day seems out of place from a worldly perspective. After all the young couple had been forced to travel well over 70 miles on foot and by donkey. When they arrived at Bethlehem from Nazareth there was no place to stay.
I remember one time traveling with my wife when she was pregnant. It was late at night when we arrived at the hotel where we had reservations to stay. When I went inside to check in and get the key I was told that the hotel was full. My reservations, it seems, had been made for the week before by accident. The town was small and there was no place else to stay. I pleaded, reasoned, and insisted that we must have a place to stay. In the end, the innkeeper put us up at his home for the night. We slept on a makeshift bed in a cluttered room but were very glad for the place to sleep. For us, the baby was still a long ways from coming. I can only imagine the sense of concern that Joseph would have felt.
Yet Mary and Joseph are two extraordinary people. Both have been visited by angels and the encounters with the divine have left their mark. It is very possible that they were not worried or concerned at all. If that is the case then the manger in the stable, like the makeshift bed in the junk room, would have felt like home.
Q: What do you imagine it was like for Mary and Joseph when they first arrived in Bethlehem?
I like to imagine it was like when all my extended family gathered together in one house to celebrate thanksgiving or Christmas. All the beds are taken, so adults are taking up couches and cousins are sleeping on the floor. There are tons of people and things going on amongst family now that they are gathered together. The tone of the gathering was probably a little different, but still a gathering family – we gathered for the holiday, but gathered for the cencus… to be taxed 😆
I love how God’s plan of redemption from start to finish is a family ordeal – ending with us as adopted sons and daughters!
Nicely put, Nathan!! Being part of God’s family doesn’t mean there isn’t any drama, does it?
Haha 😆
Someday my friend, someday. I look forward to family without the drama when Christ returns!
I imagine they were cold, tired and willing to sleep in a smells barn.
Smelly barn