At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.
Luke 2:1-5

Dear God, I think we tend to skip past this part of the story and get to the birth too quickly. Several years ago, there was a movie called The Nativity. It was a well-done movie that showed the experiences of Mary and Joseph as they led up to the birth of Jesus. I think the movie made the common mistake of showing that Mary went into labor as they rode into Bethlehem. That’s not what verse 6 says at all, but 90% of the movie was spent looking at the time between Gabriel’s first visit and Jesus’s birth.

In the case of this passage, I want to just spend some time thinking about Mary and Joseph traveling together and spending alone time together, all for the first time. I don’t know how much they knew each other before they were engaged, but this certainly accelerated and changed any type of courtship and newlywed traditions customary for the time. What must their conversations have been like? How did they plan for this new reality? How did they dream? Did they allow themselves to “suppose” about Jesus’s life and who he would be? Did they talk about how afraid they were when the met Gabriel? Did they talk about Elizabeth and Zechariah and Mary’s experience with them? Did Joseph admit to her that he was planning to divorce her quietly before Gabriel told him not to? Did they just hold onto each other because they were the only ones they had in this strange town? I would imagine that this was an in readable time of bonding for both of them.

I remember anticipating our son’s birth. I told my wife over and over again, “I just can’t wait to meet him.” He was a stranger to me, but the most important stranger I’d ever anticipated meeting. I didn’t have any expectations about greatness he would achieve in his life like Mary and Joseph must have had, but I did look forward to getting to know him and his personality. The same was true for my daughter as well, but I’m reflecting on our son because, as Jesus was for Mary and Joseph, he was our first. I remember my wife and I talking about how we felt inadequate to be parents. We were nervous. We didn’t have much money and didn’t know how we would afford things for our child. But we had a home, health insurance that provided a hospital room for the delivery, and I had a job to go to give us at least some financial stability. In short, we had all kinds of advantages on Mary and Joseph, but we still had a special time of bonding over the pregnancy as well.

Father, thank you for my wife. Twenty-four years ago right now, she was pregnant with our son. We could feel him move around. We were buying clothes and building baby furniture. And I’m glad we still have those memories. They seem so long ago, and yet, I still remember some parts quite vividly. But I’m very grateful for what we had then and what we have now. It’s a time that has wonderful potential for parents who are expecting–as long as both are ready to go through the experience together. I feel so sorry for those who go through it alone. I think there is definitely something missing for them and probably for their child as well.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen