Day 3- The Birth of Christ Was As Follows
Long Version
After a lengthy discourse on the family lineage and the genealogy of Jesus, Matthew breaks into an interesting introductory verse in Matthew 1:18 about Christ being born to Mary. He also tells us that Mary was betrothed to Joseph.
Nevertheless, here’s where it gets interesting… he then tells us that before they came together, she was found with a child from the Holy Spirit. In other words, before Mary and Joseph had ever had sexual relations and before they would ever became husband and wife—she became pregnant with the promise of God.
Can you imagine? I mean can you imagine explaining to anyone what had just happened. Mary had to have been frightened, perplexed and perhaps even embarrassed. She was still a virgin and her and Joseph were both only engaged, yet she was going to be visibly and physically pregnant! She would soon have a baby bump and not be married. And, even crazier yet, she had never had sexual relations with anyone.
You know the story. An Angel visited her, the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, and she became impregnated with a promise from God. But Matthew doesn’t choose to start out with this narrative. Instead, he comes out of the gate swinging with a story about Mary and Joseph being engaged, never knowing one another in an intimate and sexual manner and now she is with Child from the Holy Spirit.
It’s an interesting narrative, but it lets us know that Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and that His birth will come from an immaculate conception. It will also paints a picture of the kind of people that Mary and Joseph truly were. And, it will show how they had to live by faith and trust the plan of God, even when others didn’t understand, and even we they themselves didn’t fully understand either.
You see, Mary and Joseph knew the truth and they waited in anticipation for the promised outcome. However, others who didn’t know the divine truth about the miraculous conception, probably assumed the worst about Mary and Joseph. Nonetheless, they came together, they trusted God, and they trusted one another. They waited in faith while the plan of God would be fulfilled with Mary giving birth to Jesus, the promised Messiah. #trustwhatyouknow
3 Key Take Aways:
- You can trust God’s plan, even when it doesn’t make sense.
- God’s plan will always include the most unlikely candidates.
- The plan that God purposes will come to pass if we are obedient and take Him at His word.
