Dr. Don Moore served as the executive director of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention from 1982 to 1995. He encourages senior adults to pray for revival and spiritual awakening as he speaks in churches around central Arkansas.
No, I do not know the backstory of Christmas, except as given to us in Old Testament prophecy. But there must be one.
Let your imagination go for a minute and consider Jesus’s grandmother. He had to have one on Mary’s side. Disappointment, fear, shame, questioning, and shock must have hit like a ton of bricks when her precious daughter told her she was expecting. Before she has time to get Mary’s side of the story she must be torn by the questions, “How did I fail? What went wrong? I can’t believe she would do that.”
BUT THEN, she pauses long enough to listen to the soft explanation of her godly and respected daughter. She had always been honest, obedient, and compliant with her mother’s careful guidance, who had no reason to question the truthfulness of the report about an angelic visitation and the forecast of an approaching pregnancy. She may have rolled her eyes in wonder when told that the angel said the conception would be affected by her union with the Holy Spirit.
Grandma’s emotions are really put to the test. She wants to both cry and shout at the same time. Staggered that the Almighty would visit their humble family and choose one of their children to carry and birth Messiah. No common Jewish family could imagine.
“Honey, I need to talk to you.” That message to grandpa carried an unusual sense of urgency. A momentary hurried response and in a flash, he was hearing words he had never ever imagined he would have to face. His unmarried daughter was expecting a baby. A brief sense of rage was quietened in the moments that followed. Grandma had the entire story. He just needed to calm down and hear her out. She seemed okay with the story, and she always had good discernment about sacred things. He ambles back to whatever had his mind occupied but breaks away from his work every few minutes to go back and ask grandma another question that pops into his mind.
The months pass. The daughter’s kind and thoughtful fiancé makes them proud. He is attentive and watchful over Mary and her delicate condition. But then, news of a planned trip to Bethlehem is announced. Has he lost his mind? Oh, that’s right, it has been mandated by the government. Mary’s mom, for a moment, starts to panic, but remembers how this all happened, and she relaxes. The Almighty has this. It was His idea and His work and His plan. So, her brave heart finds rest for her soul, as her grandson would one day explain. (Matt. 9:29)
How had God prepared for this amazing and miraculous event? Mary, so humble, submissive, and yielded was she to Heaven’s messenger. Where was her resentment, anger, and cynicism? Her fear of being judged and perhaps even executed by folk who were familiar with stoning the immoral could have overtaken her. But no, apparently from grandma’s knees to her lap to her bosom that little girl had been receiving Godly counsel and guidance. Through her parents, God had Mary ready. Mary had been taught the ways and wisdom of God and needed to not doubt His sovereign action on behalf of lost mankind.
Luke 1:46–49 (ESV) — 46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.