Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends on this Christmas weekend,
As you think back over your life, what was the day AFTER Christmas like in your home when you were a child? Could people remember who had given them which gift? How long before new toys were broken or cast aside? Was this a day of family gatherings and lots of food, or maybe church services? Or was it just a normal day at your house?
Let’s go to Bethlehem together, to see what’s happening the day AFTER all the excitement of the birth of Jesus in the stable. I wonder what’s going on with Joseph, Mary and the baby or the shepherds or the Roman soldiers trying to keep order in an overcrowded Bethlehem and those trying to accomplish the registration for the census? Well, the short answer is… I don’t know! Neither Luke nor Matthew, who give us the Christmas story in the Bible, have any details for us about ‘the next day.’ But let’s see if we can find some clues to help us.
Dr. Luke tells us that after the shepherds had come to the stable and seen Joseph, Mary and the baby, “…they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them… The shepherds returned [to their fields and sheep] glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” (Luke 2:17,18,20) These shepherds were simple men and boys who spent little time near cities. They lived out in the fields with their sheep. They would not have been well educated, and probably didn’t take a bath very often. Some may have been Gentiles, so I assume they did not go knocking door to door in Bethlehem, nor did they go into the Inn and call everyone together and tell them about the stable experience they’d just had.
I think as they left that stable that night, they rushed through the narrow streets of Bethlehem heading back to their fields, and anyone they met along the road whom they felt might listen, they told them. And once back out in the fields, they told all the other shepherds who had stayed with the sheep that night. And then I believe re-telling the story became normal practice for them, for a very long time, after all it was the greatest experience of their lives, and they’d be delighted to tell the story to anyone who would listen. You can imagine they made sure every member of their families knew the story, for generations to come, don’t you think?
We presume at least some of the sheep they were raising would be sold in Jerusalem for sacrifices at the Temple, so I’ve often wondered if some of these shepherds might have been in Jerusalem years later, selling their sheep, during any of Jesus’ many visits to Jerusalem, especially during the festival times? Might they have seen one of Jesus’ miracles? Might one or more of them have actually met Jesus and told him their story of that Christmas night? Is it possible one or more of these shepherds might have been there the Passover weekend that Jesus was crucified? Might that shepherd have been in the crowd when the people called for Jesus’ death, or maybe standing along the road as Jesus carried His cross to Golgotha? May I ask us all…how do you think that Christmas night would have changed your life if you had been one of those shepherds who came to the stable, talked with Joseph and Mary, saw and maybe even held the baby, that remarkable night??
And what about Joseph and Mary? What do you suppose the next day or two after that Christmas night was like for them? Well, what is the day after birth like for any couple, anywhere in the world in our day? Most couples have planned for a long time in preparation for their newborn baby, right? But in this case… oh my, all Mary and Joseph had was a manger, some cloths, a stable, and the task of registering for the census! No friends, no family, no job, no home, nothing of the essentials… so what do you suppose the day after was like for them?
I suspect Joseph had two main jobs that day… find out when and how to register for the census and how long they’d need to be in Bethlehem to get it accomplished. And secondly, find a place for his young wife and newborn baby to spend the next few days, somewhere, anywhere, other than a smelly stable, surrounded by animals and manure! Ok you men who are with me on this “Walking with Jesus” journey… what would you have done that day to accomplish those things? I wonder if Joseph was up most of the night thinking it through, making his plans, and of course checking on Mary every 5 minutes, to be sure she was as comfortable as she could be laying on the ground, maybe on some hay, recovering from childbirth, and caring for her newborn. Can you imagine how nervous, maybe frightened, Joseph must have been with this new responsibility of being a husband and a dad?
And what about Mary? Dr. Luke writes: “But Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) The picture I have in my mind of Mary is a sweet, innocent, young girl who is quiet, humble, thoughtful, and in this whole experience, both awed and confused by all that is happening. As far as we know the ONLY other people Mary had trusted with her secret about this child were Elizabeth and Zechariah. Oh how Mary wished Elizabeth could be at her side on the day after that stable night. Mary was probably 15 or maybe 16 years old. As soon as her pregnancy was discovered, her mother had probably disowned her, angry at her ridiculous explanation of the pregnancy, and ashamed of her daughter. So how could young Mary possibly know what to do to care for her newborn baby?? Can you imagine how frightened and overwhelmed she must have been on the day after her unbelievable birth night in the stable?
What we do know is that several very significant things took place in their lives over the next several months, and we’ll look closely at them next week. The first of these events is this:
Dr. Luke tells us Joseph and Mary did as Zechariah and Elizabeth had done, and as all good Hebrews have done, since the days of Moses: “On the eighth day, [after birth] when it was time to circumcise Him, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.” (Luke 2:21) Exactly where this was done, or who else was part of this normally glorious moment, we do not know. We presume Joseph and Mary were still in Bethlehem. Perhaps they had found a priest or Rabbi in those few days. Perhaps it was just simply Joseph and Mary in a very private ceremony of thankfulness to God. But those 8 days between that miraculous stable Christmas night and one week later the circumcision and naming ceremony… oh my what a week that must have been for Joseph and Mary as they scrambled to find food, shelter, and keep their tiny baby safe in an overcrowded, bustling, probably sometimes angry town of Bethlehem, and a Roman census!!
May I invite us to spend this weekend frequently thinking about Joseph, Mary, the baby, the busy town of Bethlehem, the shepherds… and the world changing miracle that was happening in Bethlehem that very few people knew anything about! Most everyone in Bethlehem missed it... let’s be watchful this weekend friends, so we don’t miss whatever God is doing in your part of the world this Christmas weekend!! Here’s a song about this weekend from Joseph’s perspective…
Today’s Scripture is Luke 2:19.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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