What Was the First Christmas Really Like?
“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.
He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to
him and was expecting a child. While
they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to
her first-born, a son. She wrapped him
in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the
inn.”
Luke 2:4-7
I love the Christmas season. I love the cooler weather and the activity of
the season. In the past, I sometimes let
that activity get to me, as I was scrambling to get those last minute gifts,
most often during the day of Christmas Eve.
I would then huff and puff into Christmas Day, thankful that it had
finally arrived so it could be over. As
I have grown older, however, my perspective has changed. I seem to focus more on those close to me in
my life and the love that exists between us.
Therefore,
when I knew that I would be authoring a Devotional during Christmas week, one
thought kept running through my mind.
What was it like for Joseph and Mary, this young couple in love, during
that first Christmas season? What was
their first Christmas really like? It is
really all summed up in the Scripture above.
Mary
is pregnant, and not by Joseph. They are
pledged to be married, which had to bring ridicule to them even before their
trip began. They had to travel a
distance of approximately 70 miles, and probably took one of two routes, the
most direct route being very rugged.
Now, they did not travel in a luxurious SUV with heated seats and
surround sound. They walked and rode on
a small donkey, exposed to the elements along the way. They did not know where they would sleep each
night on a journey that likely took at least five days. Hotels and bathing facilities along the
way? Not likely.
How
many of us would sign up for that trip?
Men, is this your ideal hiking trip with your wife? Ladies, do you want to walk and ride 70 miles
over relatively rugged terrain just as you are about to give birth to a
child?
When
they arrive, it does not get better.
They are tired, dirty and likely hungry.
The baby is probably moving in the womb, causing great pain to
Mary. They cannot find lodging. They have absolutely no clue what is going to
happen, but for the fact that a baby will soon be born. So they improvise. They find a cave or stable. Are there showers for bathing? Is there a comfortable bed for Mary as she
endures the pain of child birth? Are
there doctors and nurses tending to Mary?
Again, not likely. Did they ever
expect that the birth of their first child would be in this way and in this
place? What a way to start the parenting
phase of their relationship! Yet, it is
in this setting and under these circumstances that God chose to bring the
Savior of all mankind, men and women alike, into the world.
So,
on Sunday, when friends and relatives are over to your house, everyone is
opening gifts before a fireplace, a huge feast is prepared, and as you begin to
give thanks to God for all of the blessings in your life, pause and think about
Mary and Joseph: for them, what was that
first Christmas really like?
Christmas blessings,
Gerry
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