Mary, What is Separating you from the coming Messiah this Christmas?

I have found that the stories of Scripture mysteriously grow with us over time. The year our third child was born occurred right at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. This meant we had no idea where, how, or who would be allowed at the hospital during or after the delivery. In the end, only my husband, our baby, and I were permitted, for less than 24 hours, due to safety concerns. During the time leading up to delivery, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her experience giving birth were ever-present on my mind.

 

I remembered the conditions surrounding Jesus' birth like beacons of hope. Mary had also been separated from family and friends when her child was born. After delivery, she laid Jesus in a manger, implying that the environment was anything but safe or sterile. Her specific time in history was most certainly unknown and scary, for different but familiar reasons. AND YET, with only the three of them: Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, HE WAS BORN! The divinely ordained pushed His tiny human body through the walls of humanity, through the literal blood, sweat, and tears of his mother, and He was released into this world. After years of waiting, under the rule of an unknown entity, and in less-than-ideal conditions, nothing stopped THE LIGHT from entering the world.

 

Years have passed, but Mary came to my mind once again this week.

 

I am struggling this holiday! All the expectations of the season loom like impossible tasks before me. The actual point of Christmas seems altogether lost in a sea of cards, lists, gifts, parties, and various commitments. While I try desperately to make memories that do not miss the markers of perfection advertised around me.

 

And I wonder. Did Mary struggle just like me? As she felt Jesus move in her womb or as she birthed Him from her body, did she struggle to remain connected to the miracle within her? Was she worried about the expectations of her family and friends, while the fulfillment of those expectations was inside her womb? Or did she maybe even forget who He was altogether amid the chaos surrounding her?

 

Curious, I went to the book of Luke, chapter 2, and this is what I found:

• Vs. 1 – a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world SHOULD be registered. *(an actual order went out from the earthly authority that everyone around the world should do _______). This verse indicates Mary knew of the pressing earthly expectations that loom and scream commands at us.

 

• Vs. 3 – and all went to be registered. *(everyone went and did what was commanded of them). So, the expectations weren't just her perception; it was the reality that everyone around the known world was planning and doing the same thing(s).

 

• Vs. 5 – Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. *(she did what she was commanded by her earthly authority WHILE CARRYING THE LIGHT of the world).

 

• Vs. 6 – while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. *(and while they were doing what the earthly authority commanded of them, the time came for what God had promised and planted within her to be birthed).

 

• Vs. 7 – she gave birth… *(In the midst of doing what her earthly authority commanded she "should" do, she did what her heavenly authority told her she WOULD do). (See Luke 1:26-35) One way or another, a baby must be born, and the same is true of what God has spoken/planted. (See Acts 5:38-39).

 

• Vs. 7 - And laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. *(what was Divinely promised, conceived, and formed found a way, and with no mass audience confirming similar need or prioritizing of space). She and we often birth what God has planted in us in quiet, unknown spaces.

 

She knew. She too experienced the human burden of expectation and mismatching desires, AND YET… God did what He promised in and through her!!!

 

Mary, What is separating you from the coming Messiah this Christmas?

 

For me… it is my fear of missing the mark, being seen as lacking, not enough, and ultimately being rejected.

 

AND YET… I continue reading and see:

• Vs. 10 – Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy…

 

• Vs. 11 – unto you is born… a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!

 

The time He chose to enter this world was AMID all the fear, chaos, and earthly expectations there have always been. The avenue He christened was the birth canal of a woman. The means was in pressing through flesh, fear, a bloody mess, and indescribable pain to lay naked, chest to chest, heart to heart, and breath to breath alongside her.

 

He pressed through what separated them, to be next to her. 

Fear Not Mary, HE COMES!