The Night Before the Night Before
I don't even remember what I was doing two evenings before Christopher was born. Just a few hours before our lives were going to change forever and I can't remember what we were doing. It was a Sunday night, so we were probably leading youth group at High Street, but I can't guarantee that. I do remember Monday, because we went to the doctor for a check-up and he said we had two weeks yet. That night, Cathy went into labor and by Tuesday morning, we had a healthy, beautiful baby boy. (Babies will arrive when they want to, not when doctors tell them to.) Our lives changed forever. But the night before the night before—I have no idea what we were doing.
We're not told what Mary and Joseph were doing on the night before the night before. Traveling, I would presume. Just a little over a day away from Bethlehem. They were probably with a caravan, a whole group of people who were traveling from the north of Israel to the south in order to register for Caesar's census. I wonder if Mary was the only pregnant one in the group? Doubtful that they were the only ones headed to Bethlehem, but others may have also been headed to Jerusalem, or Ein Karem, or any number of other towns and villages along the way.
Did they have any sense at all of how much their lives were about to change? Did they talk that night around the fire about the differences this baby would bring? While they both knew he was going to be the savior, I don't think they had, really, any idea what that meant fully. And for the first twelve years, he was (or seemed to be) an ordinary boy. He grew in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man, Luke says (2:52). Then, there was that incident where they lost him in Jerusalem. The Son of God, and they lost him. I bet we know what they were talking about on that trip back to town!
Tradition says Joseph died at some point after that, and we know that when Jesus' ministry began, only Mary seems to be around. Only Mary was in Jerusalem as he was arrested, tortured, crucified and buried. And only Mary was there when he was raised. But all of that was in the future on the night before the night before. As they sat there by the fire, just a few hours away from Mary going into labor, what did they talk about? What did they dream about? What were their hopes and fears? In that very human moment, what, do you suppose, were the earthly parents of the Son of God focused on?
On this night before the night before, what occupies your mind? Last-minute shopping? Food that needs to be prepared? A job that needs to be finished? How you're going to get to everyone's house on time? Where everyone will sit at your Christmas Day meal? It's the night before the night before—is he in your thoughts and preparations? It's his birthday we are preparing to celebrate, after all. Our focus should be on him, and not us.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
We're not told what Mary and Joseph were doing on the night before the night before. Traveling, I would presume. Just a little over a day away from Bethlehem. They were probably with a caravan, a whole group of people who were traveling from the north of Israel to the south in order to register for Caesar's census. I wonder if Mary was the only pregnant one in the group? Doubtful that they were the only ones headed to Bethlehem, but others may have also been headed to Jerusalem, or Ein Karem, or any number of other towns and villages along the way.
Did they have any sense at all of how much their lives were about to change? Did they talk that night around the fire about the differences this baby would bring? While they both knew he was going to be the savior, I don't think they had, really, any idea what that meant fully. And for the first twelve years, he was (or seemed to be) an ordinary boy. He grew in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man, Luke says (2:52). Then, there was that incident where they lost him in Jerusalem. The Son of God, and they lost him. I bet we know what they were talking about on that trip back to town!
Tradition says Joseph died at some point after that, and we know that when Jesus' ministry began, only Mary seems to be around. Only Mary was in Jerusalem as he was arrested, tortured, crucified and buried. And only Mary was there when he was raised. But all of that was in the future on the night before the night before. As they sat there by the fire, just a few hours away from Mary going into labor, what did they talk about? What did they dream about? What were their hopes and fears? In that very human moment, what, do you suppose, were the earthly parents of the Son of God focused on?
On this night before the night before, what occupies your mind? Last-minute shopping? Food that needs to be prepared? A job that needs to be finished? How you're going to get to everyone's house on time? Where everyone will sit at your Christmas Day meal? It's the night before the night before—is he in your thoughts and preparations? It's his birthday we are preparing to celebrate, after all. Our focus should be on him, and not us.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
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