Advent Devotion (Day 4) - A Difficult Miracle

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. – Matthew 1:18 

Newly engaged to be married. A young woman, most likely 13 or 14, and a young man. Promises of a good life together, children, memories shared, vows made. They were just starting out with all the hopes and dreams of any young couple. 

But then..."before they came together (before they were officially married), she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit." Wow! What an incredible miracle! God had promised, through the prophets, for hundreds of years, that there would be a Messiah. A baby born, fully God and fully man. And now here, with this young girl, was the answer to that prophecy. There had never been nor would there ever be a more miraculous birth! Somehow, God took on human flesh. 

Can any human being truly understand how this happened? I don't think so. But Matthew is clear that it is exactly what did happen. This is where faith is so necessary. Even though we can't understand how it happened...we can understand why it happened. It happened because God said it would happen. It happened because God desired to be fully human yet would continue to be fully God. Jesus wanted to become one of us so that He could fully understand us. 

But it was also a difficult miracle...difficult for Mary and her promised husband. “Her situation was the most distressing and humiliating that can be conceived. Nothing but the fullest consciousness of her own integrity, and the strongest confidence in God, could have supported her in such trying circumstances, where her reputation, her honor, and her life were at stake.” (Clarke)

It would take absolute faith and trust in God on the part of Mary and Joseph as they walked this road together. There would be joy and pain and uncertainty. But God would be with them each step of the way, as He is with us when the journey seems uncertain. When there is joy and pain in what we experience, there is always God with us!