Christmas According to Mary and Joseph

Merry Christmas we can finally say it out loud for all to hear and no one will tell us its too early. We can also play all the Christmas songs you wish all throughout the house and no one will complain.

This week we are starting our 2 week series on Christmas. This week we are discussing Mary and Joseph, and next week we will talk about the shepherds and wisemen.

What are some things yall know about the Christmas story?

Im going to read two passages of Scripture and I want you to guess which book of the Bible they are from

Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

6 For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Both of these passages were written in the book of Isaiah. this book was written approx. 700 - 740 years before the Birth of Jesus

this would have been like stating covid was going to happen back in the 1300s

some things that happened in the 1300s were

The hundred years war between france and England

John Wycliffe translates the latin Bible into English

Chaucer wrote the Canterbury tales

and the Bubonic Plague

Prophesies Fulfilled

There were at least 6 prophesies fulfilled just in the birth of Christ.

These include: Nations being blessed by Jacobs children, Davids Children will have an eternal reign, the virgin birth, born in Bethlehem, and will be in Egypt

So we see here that Jesus is going to be born to a virgin so then how in the world would she find out that she was the one chosen by God?

Gabriels Appearance

Luke 1:26–33 (NIV)

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 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, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

So how do you think Mary felt whenever she was told that she would be the mother of Jesus?

Scared, Amazed, overjoyed, Grateful, humble

Remember that the people of Israel have been looking forward to the coming Messiah for over 700 years.

In todays culture what is it that almost every girl wants to do or be when she grows up?

I would imagine that almost every young girl in Israel grew up wanting to be chosen by God to be Jesus’ mother.

However Mary being pregnant presents a problem for Joseph, because they were engaged. Now in that culture being engaged is more than what we see today. At that point it was a commitment and they would almost have to go through what we would call a divorce today to call off the marriage.

Joseph’s commitment

Matthew 1:18–21 (NIV)

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: 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. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 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. 21 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.”

So now we have seen God choose Mary and show her through Gabriel that she was chosen, and we have seen that Joseph maintained his commitment to Mary even when it would have been very difficult.

However there is one prophecy in Micah 5 that states that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem,

Volunteer moving suitcases

and I dont know about you but I would not have chosen to journey from

The Journey to Bethlehem

Luke 2:1–5 (NIV)

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

We do not know the exact journey that they took but we do know that it was approximately 90 miles to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem

map of journey

Take aways

God has a plan

There were many times that im sure Mary and Joseph were wondering what in the world was going to happen to them, between when Joseph found out that She was pregnant to all of the sudden a 9 month pregnant Mary has to travel by donkey or walking ninety miles to Bethlehem.

2. Being a Christian requires Commitment