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Mystery of the Holy Night

The Bible doesn't really tell us very much about the girl that God chose to bear his son. 

Mary came from a respectable family, but not a wealthy one. She probably didn't read or write; Jewish girls weren’t educated in her day. We are told nothing of her IQ. We don't know what she looked like, if she was beautiful or plain. It's hard to figure her out if we judge her by today’s standards. Looks? Money? Talents? A good job? Earning power? Probably not.

Yet God chose Mary. 

It seems like God's favor should have covered and protected her. Carrying the Savior of the world is a big deal. Surely God would do everything in His power to make this as easy as possible. Right? Wrong! He called her and the problems began immediately.

Mary had to try to explain her supernatural pregnancy to her parents, her siblings, and most of all, her fiancée. Who would believe her story, a pregnant virgin? Would you have believed if it was your daughter? 

We aren't told how her family reacted. A pregnant unwed woman was a horrible scandal.  She should quietly leave before the pregnancy showed. But not Mary. She went to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, for the first three months. When she started to “show” she went home again.

Joseph was also in a predicament. Sexual infidelity was taken very seriously two thousand years ago. According to the law, he could have had Mary put to death. But he was a kind man by all accounts. He wanted to save her from public disgrace, but the marriage was definitely off. 

For a moment, let’s put ourselves in Mary's place. When I do, I feel confused and abandoned. Where is God now that I need him? How can I defend myself against the shame? What will become of me and my sacred baby if Joseph leaves?   

Mary stands as an example of one difficult truth—to be chosen by God does not mean that the road is easy.

However, Mary had to have also experienced a joy and wonder that is beyond our everyday experience.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in “The Mystery of the Holy Night” says this of Mary: 

For she knows better than anyone what it means to wait for Christ.

She waits for Him in a way unlike anyone else. She awaits as His mother. She knows about the mystery of His coming, about the Spirit that is at play here, about the Almighty God who works His wonders.

She experiences in her own body that God's ways with humans are wonderful…

Nine months later she gave birth. 

Every new mother looks at her child with wonder, counting fingers and toes and examining earlobes and eyelashes. As a Jewish girl from a good family, she would have known the Messianic prophecies. Mary knew she was giving birth to a King who would reign forever. 

It sounded like a good deal.

But did she know about Gethsemane?  Did she know about the cross? 

Mary was much like you and me. God gives us just enough light to take the next step. He doesn't tell us everything that lies ahead. He gives us enough information to spark our interest. He encourages us to follow. The life-changing events He keeps to Himself until we are ready to learn them.   

Bonhoeffer goes on to say this:

Who among us will celebrate Christmas night? Those who finally lay down all their power, honor, and prestige, all their vanity, pride and self-will at the manger, those who stand by the lowly and let God alone be exalted, those who see in the child in the manger the glory of God precisely in this lowliness.

The celebration of Christmas comes down to just one thing. It is each of us looking through the stable door of our hearts, setting aside our pride and sophistication, our desires and our disappointments, and focusing all our attention for just one night on the miracle of one baby's birth and the eternal hope that was also birthed through him.  

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