Randy Garrison

“God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[b] the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. Luke 1:26-38 (NIV)

 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[d]: 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. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[f] because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:18-21 (NIV)

So many times the birth of Jesus and His conception have been discussed, as well as how His birth came to be. The Jewish nation been looking for a Messiah to be born since it was prophesized from the time Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. However, to have been this young couple and received the news that was given to them by angels sent from God himself, one has to be amazed at the faith each of them had.

Imagine a young girl of maybe 13, 14 or 15 and being pregnant and not married. Imagine being the finance of this young girl and being only 16 or 17 yourself and being told that what was happening was to fulfill prophesy. Many folks would have thought they were losing their mind, but Mary accepted Gabriel’s words and even remarked that she was blessed among women.

Joseph and Mary were a remarkable couple, they accepted the role they would play in the birth of the Messiah and trusted that God would take care of them. Imagine what the celebration of Christ’s birth can be in our lives, if we would place our complete faith in God, as this couple did over 2000 years ago.