Seriously, it doesn't . Trying to mesh the bits and pieces of the narrative from the gospels, to get a sense of the event as it happened, typically leaves me pondering more questions. We can infer things from culture and we have images in our heads from children's Bible story books, but many of the details are not there. Thinks about it; the disciples who penned the gospels were far less interested in his birth than they were his miracles, but the virgin birth is a detail that can't be overlooked. How the birth of Jesus was bathed in prophecies fulfilled in God's perfect timing... it is worthy us pausing to take it all in these days of December.
Our God.. Immanuel... came. God with us. For us. With hope that we would accept Him as Lord and King. He came to be in relationship with us. He was willing to pay the ultimate price for our sins. Isn't it crazy? Crazy love poured out to rescue those who could not save themselves. Bethlehem marked a change in how God and man would interact for a season.
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
-Matthew 2:6-8
No woman would have recorded a birth story with so few details. Right? But, the important things are there. What we need to know is there.
Was Joseph as speechless as any other first time father? He did not conceive the child with Mary, but he was there for the pregnancy, delivery and first breaths. He would love him as his own. It is a precious love story. It is full of wonder and miracles.
Today, I am grateful the Christmas story never grows old.
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