Remembering Christmas Through Mary's Eyes
My sleep-deprived eyes struggle to remain shut at first but suddenly open wide as I remember that everything is different today and every day from now on. I am a Mother and my newborn baby is just a few feet away.
I listen closely, even holding my breath to make sure that all is quiet save the occasional rustling of the animals that lay nearby; sheep and donkeys and cows. Holding my nose is necessary sometimes as well.
Slowly, I rise from where I lay to check on the babe. His face bathed in starlight causing it to glow angelically.
Gently, I reach over to remove a few wayward pieces of straw and as I withdraw my hand, I place a finger just under his nose to make sure I can feel the gentle puff of his breath. It seems this is done in spite of myself as if to ensure that he really is alive; born just two days ago and finally able to hold in my arms. I have imagined this moment for so long.
I return to the makeshift bed where my husband lays sleeping. The slightest movement causes pain to course through my body, my stomach still blatantly swollen and sensitive from protecting and growing life for the better part of the past year. I doubt our sleeping arrangements are helping.
My thoughts are interrupted by a tiny squeak and as I look over, one little fist comes into view. To my utter amazement, I feel that flowing sensation in my chest again – must be feeding time! How miraculous that a mother can so naturally meet her child’s need.
Every move is excruciating as I return to his crib and peer down at his little face. Oh, his eyes are staring up at me; wide and awake for the first time! I scoop him up, forgetting the pain and return quickly to the bed. My son, my baby, love so amazing!
I observe him nuzzling into my chest, my heart expands one hundred times and tears gently slide down my face and onto his as I struggle to grasp the depth of love I feel for this beautiful baby boy I delivered.
A manger! How had our Messiah been born in a barn? Joseph and I must have heard wrong, we must have made a mistake; this cannot be what God had planned for us – for His Son! Worry and fear had consumed me until the star arrived the night of his birth. I knew then, without any doubt, that God was pleased. For reasons we may never know, this is exactly where we are supposed to be. At peace with that reassurance, I am lulled back to sleep by the gentle, rhythmic pull of his tiny mouth.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. Matthew 1:22-25(NIV)
Isn’t it astonishing to think that all those years ago, Mary began motherhood just like so many of us - with zero experience and an impossibly tiny human? From the soon-to-be mothers all the way to our great-great-great grandmothers, we all start there!
In just a few excruciating moments (some more moments than others!), we become a mother. It takes days to learn how feeding works, weeks to distinguish the cries of our baby, months to learn to function on less sleep and years to acquire those parenting tricks. Of course, with Jesus, no tricks were required!
As I studied and prepared to share Mary’s story for this post, I tried to immerse myself into what she must have gone through. How she would have felt. Her child was mislabeled as “illegitimate” (John 8:41). She had to travel to a foreign city only to have her new husband deliver her baby, in a stable, with no doctors, midwives or medication in sight.
And yet, more than thirty years later, I can only imagine it felt like nothing as she had to endure the pain of watching her Son suffer on that cross. Like many mothers, I’m sure she would have taken his place. How could she have known it was a necessary part of God’s plan?
Try to imagine the joy she must have felt when He rose that third day! Mary witnessed the brutal death of her Son only to witness Him alive again. Did she realize immediately that the Son of God had achieved what He came to do?
That the baby boy she had delivered in the stable was the deliverer of all nations?
The first definition of “deliver” I found online is to “bring and hand over to the proper recipient or address.” Doesn’t this explain exactly what Jesus did for us? He died on the cross to deliver us to the proper recipient (His Father) at the proper address (Heaven).
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)
As we celebrate Christmas, pondering and remembering the birth of Jesus let’s pray this prayer of gratefulness together: Thank you, Father, for sending your Son. Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of eternal life that you made available to all. You are the reason we celebrate this Season with grateful and hope-filled hearts. May we take time to remember all you have endured for our sake. We love you. Amen.
Peace and love for today and always,
Heidi
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