Matthew 1:18-25
The birth of Jesus took place like this.
His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph.Before they came to the marriage bed,
Joseph discovered she was pregnant.
(It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.)Joseph, chagrined but noble,
determined to take care of things quietly
so Mary would not be disgraced.
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 - 'God saves'
-because he will save his people from their sins."This would bring
the prophet's embryonic sermon
to full term:
Watch for this - a virgin will get
pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Emmanuel
(Hebrew for "God is with us").Then Joseph woke up.
He did exactly what God's angel
commanded in the dream:
He married Mary.
But he did not consummate the marriage
until she had the baby.
He named the baby Jesus.
Listen to and watch this powerful exploration and insight into the stories of Christmas:
From Now On
Question to ponder:
How can you illustrate and live out this upside down Christmas, in your own life, what is that going to look like?
How can we truly embrace the presence, the Emmanuel, God-with-us in an upside-down revolutionary kind of way this Christmas?
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