Willing

A lot of the Christmas songs I've been hearing lately are from Mary and Joseph's point of view or are about their experience as parents to the living King. Often, I have wondered if Mary or Joseph, had they known in advance that their baby would have to endure the cross, would have gone through with the birth and raising of Jesus? It was told to them that He would be the Savior, but could they really comprehend what that means?

"Do not be afraid Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name 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 the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end," (Luke 1:30-33). Can you imagine being the young girl, Mary, approached by an angel from heaven who said, "Do not be afraid. God has hand-picked you to deliver the Deliverer"? God's people had been waiting a long time for the Deliverer to come and deliver them. Mary, growing up in a Jewish family, would have known that. How would that have rocked your whole world had the angel come to you? The fear, the anxiety, how would you have responded? Mary said, "I am the Lord's servant, and I am willing to accept whatever..." (Luke 1:38). And what about Joseph? At the time she first became pregnant, she and Joseph were not even married (see Matthew 1:18). What was he going to do?

Joseph was going to divorce her "behind closed doors" so as not shame Mary or himself. But, because God knew this, He sent an angel to say to him, "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, because he will save his people from their sins," (Matthew 1:20-21). As a man of God, but still just a man of trade, the anxiety he must have felt, and possibly the fear or uncertainty. How did he respond? The Bible says, "he did what the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary home as his wife," (Matthew 1:24).

So a teenage mother and her husband, a carpenter, set out on a journey that would change everything. They had been told they would be raising a Savior, a King, but how did they really process that? I wonder if Mary looked back on those days during Jesus' long walk to the place called the Skull and asked God why. "Why did You bother to bring Him into this world only to send Him out in such a horrifying way? Why did you tell me His kingdom would have no end if He's dying on the cross today? Why, God, why?" I wonder if Mary and Joseph, had known from the beginning that their baby Jesus would have to endure crucifixion, would have answered God differently? Would they have said, "Lord, pass this cup to someone else. I don't understand your ways."

If hindsight is 20/20, as they say, what is foresight? I think that's why God didn't reveal His whole plan to them, or to us. If we only knew how much pain we'd have to endure for His plan, would we even begin? Probably not. Fortunately, it's Christmastime because one young teenage daughter and a simple carpenter both said, "I am the Lord's servant and I am willing to accept whatever the Lord asks."