Real Hope: The Birth of Our Saviour KingSample

An Unexpected God

I still do not fully understand the virgin birth. As a lover of Jesus, there is much I find confusing about His arrival. I wonder what happened to Mary and Joseph as the community gossips noticed Mary beginning to show so early in the protracted marriage ritual of the day. What was said to and about them when they attended Synagogue each Sabbath?

In Luke 1:34 and 38, Mary is shocked at the news that she is to bring the Messiah to humanity. However, God gives Mary further affirmation and support through her cousin Elizabeth in Luke 1:44.

How different it is for Joseph. Matthew records Joseph is troubled too. However, he appears more isolated. Joseph loves a godly woman who is pregnant well before she should be. For many in Joseph’s community, this pregnancy was a crime. He appears very much more alone in a patriarchal world. Why did God make this all so complex? Surely it would have been better for Mary, Joseph, and even Jesus’ later ministry, for the Messiah’s birth to be less divisive, or to accord more with accepted practices of the day?

Is it possible that God’s divine plan defies our complete understanding to prevent humanity’s hubris? A supernatural safety valve for our tendency to take credit for what we understand. Every step of Jesus’ birth features elements that remain opaque to us. We can’t explain it all away. Our questions mean we remain the object of God’s plan and never the source. God’s plans are unexpected. As they should be.

Written by DWAYNE JEFFRIES