From the Pastor's Heart...
“Just Wondering…”
 |
When
I read the account of Jesus birth, I like to read it from the Gospel of
Luke. Luke is my favorite Gospel for the account of Jesus’ birth because
of my great memories of when Grandpa Ulrich would read it on Christmas Eve
as all the aunts, uncles and cousins got together to celebrate.
But as I reflect on Jesus birth this year, I began to wonder about the people in this incredible account and several questions and thoughts come to mind. I wonder what troubling thoughts Joseph must have had when he found out Mary was pregnant. |
Then I can’t help but imagine how relieved
he must have felt after the angel told him that Mary didn’t do anything wrong
and, on the contrary, she was going to give birth to the Messiah! I still feel
for Joseph, though, and have occasionally wondered what happened to him. He
seems to fall from the scene after Jesus is about 12 years old. Did he die or
did God just see fit to keep silent about the man who was Jesus’ earthly
“dad”? I also can’t help wondering how it must have been for Mary &
Joseph to be traveling to Bethlehem with Mary so pregnant. In Luke it takes only
four verses to have Joseph & Mary travel to Bethlehem, give birth to a son,
and lay him in a manger. You can read the account in several minutes what
actually took them several difficult days. At first glance it sounds like a nice
little story, but anybody who has experienced a pregnancy in the family as a
husband or wife knows better. Being pregnant and taking such a journey would
have been quite an undertaking. I’m wondering what that would have been like
and what their relationship was like after all this transpired. I’m wondering
if either of them felt like they were having a very difficult year or at least
one that was a little stressful.
I realize that it is not so important how people in scripture “felt”. I
suspect that we often forget that the people in the Bible were similar to you
and me. They no doubt felt keenly the difficulties of life, raising and
providing for a family, child discipline and what it meant to serve God in their
context.
The story of Jesus’ birth is so full of amazing things but often overlooked is
the fact that God chose to use common people for this extraordinary and
supernatural event. I think I have often looked right past the people and went
straight to the manger. This Christmas, I’d like to spend some time thinking
about God’s amazing grace, using common people to carry out His wonderful plan
of the birth of His Son, and wondering what it must have been like to have been
part of Jesus’ birth.
My prayer is that you have found salvation in the One who was born a baby, lived
a sinless life, died on the cross, resurrected on the third day, and ascended to
the Father!
You don’t have to wonder what it’s like to be a
follower of Jesus Christ. Experience it!
“For
there is born to you this day in the city of David,
a
Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Have
a blessed Christmas.
Your
pastor, Tim