Mary, Did You Know?

No, I’m not going to riff on that beautiful song.  I’ll tell you this – every time I listen to or play it, I feel a sense of awe as a mother. I mean, to put yourself in her shoes and then think that as you look at your baby, that you are looking at the face of God.  And yes, that is theologically correct.  Jesus – the eternal Son made flesh – is God.  Just as the Father is God and the Holy Spirit is God.

I’ve read a lot of articles lately about meditating on the divineness of Jesus – the awe and wonder of this God who gave up the riches and glory of heaven and his rightful place there to come to a weary world in poverty.   And yes, when you sit down and just contemplate that reality, it should drive us to worship! It’s truly amazing and miraculous in nature.  It’s nothing short of awesome.  Add in the truth that he didn’t shed his divine nature, but added human nature to himself is nothing short of an astounding miracle.

But every Advent season, I like to ponder the reality of the humanity of the God-man.  From Mary’s perspective as she cares for her newborn son and as he grew up as a sinless child. And pondering the God-man as being cared for by another.  The Creator being taken care of by a creature.  The creature teaching the Creator. 

Mary is at or close to her due date.  She’s “heavy with child”.  And if you’ve ever been pregnant, you know what it means to be heavy with child.  Now imagine that you need to travel a distance of approx. 90 miles, or 145 km.  Now, we’d drive at the very least – which would take about 2 and ½ hours today.  We squirm at the idea of driving somewhere for 2 ½ hours!   Except scholars agree that by way of walking from Nazareth to Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary would have spent 4 days to get there …. walking roughly 8 hours per day.  Perhaps Mary rode on a donkey – Scripture doesn’t tell us. It’s likely considering the supplies they would have had to bring.  But I’d imagine that’s not entirely cushy!  Four. Days. Of. Walking.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that it wasn’t fun or comfortable and she may have been quite sore and irritable.  I know I would be.  But hey, she would have been physically fit for birth!  😊

They enter a crowded town.  By the way, fun fact. Did you know that the first time we read about Bethlehem is in Genesis 35:19 and 48:7?  It’s in connection to where Jacob’s wife Rachel died and was buried.  The second (important) time is in Ruth.  Now pay attention here.  This is important theologically.  Naomi and family left Bethlehem to go to Moab, and Bethlehem is where she and Ruth returned to after the tragic deaths of her husband and 2 sons. Ruth marries Boaz, who is of the line of Perez, son of Judah. She gives birth to Obed in Bethlehem!  And Obed is the father of Jesse, and Jesse is the father of David – the ancestor of Jesus. Bethlehem is also known as the City of David – that’s where David also was born (1 Samuel 16,17), and where he was anointed.   Bethlehem means “House of Bread” – and think about Ruth – she gleaned in wheat fields just outside of Bethlehem!  Historically, it was in an area of fertile fields within the Judean desert.   In the Old Testament, Bethlehem wasn’t a hick town, it was an important strategic fortress.  So, while in the New Testament Bethlehem isn’t as important anymore, it’s rich with meaning before Jesus arrived on the scene.  Not only is Jesus the Son of David, but Bethlehem is featured in Jesus’ genealogy. 

Okay – they enter Bethlehem.  There’s no room at the inn. Although, other translations use the word “guest room”.  Meaning, no one in the area had rooms where they could stay – a safe place for Mary to rest and await the birth of her baby boy.  Someone gave them space in a stable.  Really, the only reason we assume that is because Luke 2 says that Mary laid Jesus in a manger, and mangers were animal troughs. Scripture doesn’t say “stable”.  It’s also quite likely that because they both would have had family in Bethlehem, that the guest room they could stay in wasn’t large enough for a birth to take place in.   Knowing the culture of that time tells us that many homes kept their animals in the house with them.  Yup. Animals were often kept in the lower level of the home, or to the side of the living quarters.  They would then be let out during the day.  So, I believe that the popular narrative of a stand alone “stable” isn’t accurate.  Another popular narrative is that Joseph and Mary arrived, and she had her baby right away.  The Scripture does not tell us this. “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born…” (2:6).   They may have been in Bethlehem a few days or even weeks before Jesus was born.  So, the place where Mary gave birth may not have been a frantic, last-minute find.  Being taxed in a city was not a one-day affair.  The timeframe of this event was likely weeks.  Regardless, they were still unable to find a place in someone’s guest room – that’s how busy Bethlehem was.  Or the only large enough place to give birth was in the area where animals were kept.

Still, consider – we’re used to hospital rooms or our own homes for giving birth. We’re used to all kinds of things that help us be comfortable and safe and cared for.  Everything from pillows to soft places to lay, to birth balls to candles to music.  Mary and Joseph may have had animals.  Now, the actual birth of Jesus takes up the entirety of 9 words in Luke 2: “, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.”  We’re told she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger.   Okay- that’s a brief birth story!  There are no details.  But you know, there are almost no details given in any of the birth narratives of the Bible.  We can read of Rachel giving birth to Benjamin – and that she died.  But we are not told of any other details.  This is when historical, cultural details help.  Birth in Biblical times was a female event.  No doctors, no strangers even.   Women were supported by their mothers, mothers in law, sisters, aunts, daughters.  And midwives were the care providers.  And there were many of them.  We know that for the most part, men were not present for births.  Now whether or not Joseph was present is up for grabs.  But I’m going to suggest that Mary did not give birth alone.  They were in their ancestral town.  They had relatives there.  Many women would have attended Mary, to help her through her labour.  Mary wasn’t perfect or sinless – and there’s no reason to think that her labour and delivery was easy or pain free.  How do you labour?  Lots of breathing, crying, tears of distress, some laughter, intimate moments with your partner, encouragement both physical and emotional and mental from the women surrounding you.  Why would Mary’s have been different?  Sweating, working hard, gritting her teeth, pushing with all her strength, being held up by other women as she birthed her baby and collapsed back in exhaustion.  Birth is a messy affair – there’s blood, and amniotic fluid, and poo, and more.  Why would Mary’s have been different?  It wouldn’t have been.  She had to go through the very physically demanding work of having a baby.   And the euphoria, and laughter, and relief and all the feels when you finally get that much loved and longed for baby on your chest, in your arms!  Can you imagine Mary just clinging on to Jesus with tears dripping down her face?  A newborn baby is slippery and covered in vernix, fluid, blood.  So was Jesus.  He would have been rubbed and spoken to so he could take that first breath of air – air he created.  He would have cried at being removed from the warmth and security of Mary’s womb into the cold, noisy, sometimes bright outside world.  Although, I guess they only had candlelight, so it wasn’t too bright.  I can imagine Mary being given a cloth of some type to dry off baby Jesus, then the cord being cut, then the birthing of the placenta and being inspected to make sure her bleeding was controlled.  I can imagine Mary putting her little baby to her breast to give him milk to grow.  And the exhaustion settling in.  Joseph coming in to meet the baby he was adopting, both of them gazing at this baby – the Messiah, the Son of God. I can imagine them taking in the details we all do – his face, his nose, his eyes, his toes and fingers, his boy parts, everything.   I can imagine Joseph putting his pinky finger into Jesus’ little hand which grasps Joseph’s finger with a tight hold.  Mary kissing his wrinkled brow.   A normal birthday scene. 

And this is where I start to feel the reality of the eternal Son of God becoming one of us.  He came- in the way we all come into the world.  He grew in Mary’s womb.  The Father wove him together in the depths, in secret, He knit Jesus together, his frame was not hidden from his Father, his Father saw his unformed body being formed. (Psalm 139).  And he grew from a blastocyte to an embryo to a fetus.  His limbs formed, his spine formed, his heart started beating, his brain waves started functioning within his nervous system, his bones developed, his facial characteristics started to show, his fingerprints developed, he may have sucked his thumb, he drank his amniotic fluid and peed in it as well. (betcha didn’t know that, eh? 🙂 )   He took on our flesh – and that’s what that looks like.  He was breastfed by Mary.  He would have been swaddled and carried by Mary as she went about her day.  They brought him to the synagogue on the 8^th day to be circumcised.  He had his first smile.  His first cooing.  His first giggle and then his first full belly laugh.  He cried – he surely didn’t have another way to communicate! Think of that….Jesus – the Word himself who spoke the world into being, who created all things, could only cry.   He would have burped, he may have spit up.  Mary and Joseph would have watched him take his first shaky steps, heard his first word (maybe Ima (Hebrew for Mama) or Abba (for Papa)), saw him run for the first time, fall down for the first time, get a cut or scrape or bruise for the first time. He would have got colds like most kids do, perhaps a flu like illness.   All the childhood stuff.  Jesus had to go through all of that just like us!

Mary would have taught him his alphabet, she would have taught him songs, recited Torah to him (if she was fortunate enough to have been educated), taught him stories of old.  We know that Mary and Joseph went on to have other children, so Jesus would have had to learn to be a gentle big brother to a newborn. He would have been taught to share, to be nice, to include others…. we know that he had to learn.  But – we also know from Luke 2:40 “And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.”   It stands to reason then that he learned quickly and well.  He didn’t make mistakes either.  As a mother I wonder what it would have truly been like to raise a little boy who was filled with wisdom!  To have a little boy who never disobeyed, never threw a tantrum, never taunted his siblings, never threw punches, never did foolish things.   And then I wonder how much patience Mary and Joseph would have needed when their second, third, fourth child arrived – so unlike their older brother Jesus! And to battle the temptation not to compare their other children to Jesus, not to say, “Why can’t you be like your older brother, Jesus?”

Joseph would have taken Jesus to work with him, to teach him his trade as a carpenter.  Jesus would have gone to synagogue to learn the Torah with all the other Jewish boys his age.  He would have memorized large sections.  And then he turned 12 and surprised his parents by ostensibly not behaving!  Where was he?  Why wasn’t he with the caravan on their way home from Jerusalem having just celebrated Passover?  Where was he?  They had just spent an entire day traveling.  The whole time Mary and Joseph assumed that Jesus was with one or the other or with friends and family, playing with other boys his age.  When they realized that he wasn’t there, they had to travel a full day back to search for Jesus.  Um.  Panicsville.  Our daughter was missing for several hours when she was 3.  I remember the terror, the anxiety, the fear.  Now, 12 is different than 3, but then I imagine that as a mom, I might be more irritated at the thoughtlessness of our son!  Now, don’t miss the fact that, not only did they have to walk back a full day, but Luke also tells us in 2:46 “After three days they found him….”.  THREE DAYS.  Not 3 hours.  DAYS.   Jerusalem was a big city.  Crowded because of the Passover celebration. Now think of this:  Jesus would have spent now 4 days in the temple – did he think about Mary and Joseph?  We know that Mary launched a bit of a tirade at him upon finding him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”   Hmmm.  I might have said more.  Maybe she did.  We are told they were astonished when they saw Jesus.  He would have been calmly sitting there with the teachers of the law, conversing with them, plying them with questions, hungry for more knowledge.  And his response seems incredulous to us, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”  I imagine Mary and Joseph with their mouths agape.  Whhhattt?  “But they did not understand what he was saying to them.”   No kidding. And then we’re told that he went back to Nazareth with his parents, and “was obedient to them…..grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”  I don’t think we should downplay why Luke told us he was obedient to them.  Because he was their son and children ought to honour their parents and be obedient.  He knew he was the Messiah.  He knew his mission.  But it wasn’t time yet.  From that day, it was another 18 years before he would start his ministry.

Jesus – the God-man.  Come in flesh.  Came as one of us with all our weaknesses, temptations, trials, and pain.  He grew up knowing what sinful human flesh is because he lived with them every day of his life.  And his humble beginnings were exactly that – humble.  He was helpless, fragile, needy, 100% dependent on his Ima and Abba.  This, the Creator – the omnipotent, omniscient, eternal, infinite Son of God, was a baby.  Born to set us free. 

Mary, did you know?