Mary, the mother of Jesus, helps us understand the internal
struggle that all women who face an unplanned pregnancy must experience. When
the angel Gabriel shows up to inform the teenage Galilean girl that God has a
little surprise in store for her, Mary experiences the shock of her life.
Gabriel bluntly announces, “You will become pregnant and give birth to a son
and call his name Jesus. He will be great, be called ‘Son of the Highest.’
(Luke 1:31-32, The Message).
Mary trembles with a mixture of excitement and fear at
Gabriel’s news. Granted, God has chosen her, a nobody peasant girl, to attain
the honor that Hebrew women throughout history have desired. Yet an instant
ethical dilemma accompanies the honor of being pregnant with the promised
Messiah: everyone will assume Mary is pregnant out of wedlock. Sure, she can
claim that the Holy Spirit is the birth father of her unborn child. She can
tell everyone that the child she’s carrying is the long-awaited Messiah. But
she knows that her story will seem far-fetched at the very least. Imagine the
thoughts that whirl through Mary’s mind: Why
is this happening to me? I’m not married. My fiancé, Joseph, will think I’ve
been sleeping with another man!
Joseph probably did think that, because he was prepared to
break off the pending marriage. But fortunately, he, too, received an angelic
visit that set him straight on the details of Mary’s mysterious pregnancy.
Joseph agreed to stick by her, and the two of them (and God) prepared to face
the wrath of their world head-on.
Mary and Joseph’s family, friends and neighbors must have
thought they had both lost their minds. They glared at Mary, accusing her with
their eyes: We see right through that
outlandish story you’ve invented to cover up the fact that you’ve been a naughty
girl. And Joseph – what a dope! That
conniving little fiancé of his sure pulled the wool over his eyes. Why doesn’t
he just disgrace her publicly or have her stoned?
It required more than a little strength of character for the young couple to ignore the criticism. For they knew that the ostracism, both subtle and blatant, would never diminish as long as they remained in Nazareth. So they released their burden to God. With the assurance that God was in control, they allowed Him to direct their path.
The faith of this young couple astounds me. They listened to
God’s direction and they obeyed. They faced the most bizarre unplanned
pregnancy of all time, and yet they listened and obeyed. I’m so grateful that
they did! Because Mary and Joseph willingly allowed God to guide them, we get
to celebrate Christmas today. What better gift could anyone ask for?
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