Joy to the World

Mary was startled when she saw the angel. Barely in her teens but already engaged to Joseph, the salutation of the angelic being perplexed her even more: "Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." Being aware of her state, that angel was compelled to reassure her: "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God" (Luke 1:28-30). What followed was the greatest announcement the world would ever know. "Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. ... The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (vv. 31,35).

How would she tell this to Joseph? For the next three months she stayed with Elizabeth, and by the time she returned to Joseph, she was already pregnant! What would he think? What would the neighbours think? Who would believe her? Six months later, amidst all that controversy, Mary gave birth to her baby in a Galilean stable, in the city of Nazareth, where he was placed in a feeding box. Couldn't the Sovereign God have done it differently? Of all the places, why Galilee? The reputation of the place was of such that years later when the disciple Philip told Nathaniel that they had found Jesus of Nazareth, of whom Moses and the prophets spoke, Nathaniel asked, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?", to which Philip replied, "Come and see" (John 1:45,46). Only God could have planned it this way; Jesus coming into the world in relative obscurity and in a place one would least expect.

The commercialization we see at this time of year tend to blur the real reason for the season. It's more than the exchange of gifts, the spreading of cheer, and sharing hearty meals with families and friends. God in the flesh, what a thought! Stepping out of the spleandours of heaven into the drudgery of a condemned world, He was in Christ, and in the fulness of time, reconciling the world unto himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). For those of us who have found Him, we raise our voices and sing "Joy to the world, that Lord is come", and to those who are still looking, we say "Come and see".