The First Christmas was a Nightmare…. It was one crisis after another, but God had a plan!
By Bill Stevens – Dec 24, 2019
“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,” Luke 2:4-6 NIV
Put yourself in Mary and Joseph’s shoes. A very pregnant Mary was forced by the government to travel nearly 100 miles on foot/donkey for at least a week to register in a census on the other side of the nation, from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register in a census. Traveling pregnant? It was not on her birth plan! We have five children and I never wanted to be far from the hospital and our doctor. Now this young teenage mom and her husband was away from all their family and friends who would have been helping with the birth.
They were alone. Truth be told, they probably had been ostracized from their family and friends because it looked like they had been sleeping together before marriage and having a child out of wedlock. The shame from their community was overwhelming. They had probably felt lonely for a long time.
Then they get to the hotel – all booked up. No room. One Air-BnB cave was available if they didn’t mind staying where the horses, goats, camels, and chickens lived. It was a cave being used as a barn. Nasty, dark, no hospital, and unsanitary. Imagine the tears of Mary and Joseph. This was not how they planned to start their marriage and family.
Everything was so hard, but God was in it. It was a nightmare until baby Jesus showed up. The joy of the birth of a child for a mom and dad is hard to imagine. But this was different. This baby was The King, God himself who stepped out of Heaven to be born of a virgin.
It wasn’t until Jesus, the Light of the World, was born into this dark world did joy come to Mary and Joseph. After Mary and baby Jesus were settled, a bunch of shepherds showed up saying they had been visited by angels declaring this baby was the King of Heaven and Earth, the one and only Savior, which astounded Joseph and Mary.
God had a plan. Hundreds of years before there was a prophecy that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. Then when the time was right, He moved the Roman government to move Mary and Joseph to get there. God then moved Heaven itself to announce the birth of His Son, King Jesus, with a host of angels. No matter how troublesome your Christmas may seem, trust the loving care and providence of God the Father. He will turn your nightmare into a joy filled life with Christ, no matter how bad things are.
You may not understand why things are so hard this Christmas, but God does. The first Christmas was a nightmare until Jesus showed up in it. Invite Him into your Christmas this year and ask him to bring you the joy of experiencing and knowing Him.
Merry Christmas
Bill Stevens
Lead Pastor, The Well
The Well is a new church coming to the Loveland-Johnstown 25-34 area.
TheWellLoveland.com