Tuesday, December 25, 2012

You're Here....

Did you ever wonder what Mary felt? Tradition tells us she was just a young teenage girl, engaged to be married (probably to an older man) and suddenly finds herself pregnant. In a culture that could have found her at best, excommunicated, or at worst stoned, this was quite a predicament in which to find herself.

But she had the assurance from the angel....
                                      He was coming....
                                           the Messiah....
and she had been chosen to carry Him.
(Luke 1:29-33)

Can you imagine the awe?
Can you imagine the wonder?
Can you imagine the amazement?

And what about Joseph? Here was a man who had perhaps looked far and wide to find just the right girl to marry. A young girl who was honorable, pure, respectable; one who would do whatever was needed to make him a highly respected man in the community. And suddenly he finds out she's with child! What does he do now?

"While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: 
'Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. 
God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, 
you, Joseph, will name Him Jesus - because He will save His people from their sins.'"
Matthew 1:20-22 (MSG)

So this chosen couple get married and prepare for the arrival of a baby - the Messiah.

Can you imagine???

We all know the story: Caesar calls for a census that requires all the heads of households to travel to the city of their birth to register, to be counted. This required a long trip on foot, or donkey...and Mary is about to give birth. It couldn't have been an easy trip for her, especially that far along in her pregnancy. But off they went. And as you recall, they could not find anyplace to stay the night; so they ended up in a stable. Actually, it would have been a cave; a dark, damp, dirty, dingy . . . cave. With smelly animals.

After the long trip, Mary goes into labor. Joseph is left on his own to help her deliver this child, this One, this Savior of all the world. We have no idea how long she labored, how difficult or easy this birth may have been, no details are given at all. Except that when all was said and done, she wrapped Him in clothes and put Him in a manger, a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn....

It's an amazing story. A story of love, of grace, of mercy and of hope. And now, over 2000 years later, we can look back on the story and see all of what was promised, what came to be and how it all turned out. But for Mary...it was just the beginning.

In recent years, a popular Christmas song has been You're Here, written by Francesca Battistelli. It's a beautiful song written from Mary's perspective as she looks into the face of this small baby she has been entrusted to carry, deliver and raise:

Hold on now, I gotta take a deep breath
I don't know what to say when I look in your eyes.
You made the world before I was born
Here I am holding you in my arms tonight
Noel, Noel
Jesus our Emmanuel

You're Here
I'm holding You so near
I'm staring into the face of my Savior
King and Creator
You could've left us on our own
But You're here....

Can you imagine???

If you are a woman who has given birth to a child, think back to that moment when you first held your little baby in your arms. What did you feel?

Do you remember the awe?
Do you remember the wonder?
Do you remember the amazement?

Now imagine that little baby was the Creator of the world, Maker of heaven and earth, God made flesh to become the Savior of the world....

Can  you imagine???

A young teenage girl wraps her arms around God Almighty, stares into His eyes and says...

"You're here....."

"But Mary treasured these things and 
continued to think about them."
Luke 2:19 (NCV)

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