He Knows My Confusion
Scripture Reading: Luke 2:1-20
Meditation
For a young couple planning a marriage, timing is everything.
First comes the bended knee—the pledge and the proposal. Next, there are the wedding plans, showers, invitations and excitement of the engagement. Finally, there’s the ceremony, the “I dos”, the best wishes from friends and family, the weeklong celebration and the honeymoon.
Then, after all of that, God willing, come the children.
Mary and Joseph’s dreams kept a steady beat. Their plans kept perfect time, not a second too fast or a minute too slow. Their lives marched in step with the turning pages of the wedding planner. Tomorrow never came too early. Yesterday never stayed too late. And Today always knew when to arrive, how long to stay, and when to leave.
But all of that changed when Gabriel suddenly arrived.
His announcement blew Mary and Joseph’s calendar off the wall and tumbled it fast forward. Its pages flipped months ahead. Heaven’s messianic timetable spun this young couple’s predictable and planned world around and reset their lives to heaven’s time zone.
What’s more, Caesar Augustus issued a decree. Of all things, of all the times, the Emperor called for a census of the entire Roman world during the end of Mary’s third trimester.
Just when she was getting ready to nest, the divine gust of God’s plan blew through the mouth of Augustus and knocked her from the safety of her maternal tree. Falling and flailing, she’d have to spread her wings and fly with Joseph to Bethlehem—a three-day journey from Nazareth.
“About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée who was pregnant.”1
Though Caesar intended to keep the Roman Peace through his imperial order, he has created chaos for the young couple.
“While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.”2
The timing of the census brings turmoil, the turmoil brings questions, and—when Joseph can’t give Mary any logical answers to the questions—confusion shreds the couple’s neatly organized calendar.
“Joseph, are you sure we’re the right couple? Are we going to the right place? Is this really the right time? Because all of this seems all so wrong.”
In the midst of the turmoil, Mary and Joseph pray for peace. In the chaos, they need the calm that can only come from divine order. In the confusion, they need affirmation. Somehow, some way, from someone, they need to hear,
“You are the right couple. You’re in the right place. Don’t worry, it is the right time.”
The affirmation comes.
God places his stamp of approval on Mary and Joseph. He verifies that Bethlehem, the city of David, is the place. He even validates the timing of Caesar’s census. But he doesn’t affirm it through kings or priests. He asserts it through those standing on the lowest rung of the social ladder—shepherds.
Though the shepherds are excluded from the every day events of society, God chooses to give these social outcasts heaven’s inclusive message. While watching their flocks at night, an angel of the great company of the heavenly host appears. As he blazes, he trumpets good news.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”3
After an angelic choir gathers and sings Gloria in Excelsis Deo, the shepherds run off to Bethlehem to see this revelation. They’ve been given a sign. They are to look for a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger. They go. When they find the baby, they bow in worship. Then they return and spread the word about all that they had heard and seen.
Though dazed, Mary and Joseph are no longer confused. What seemed all so wrong, now feels all so right. Peace has replaced the chaos. In the days, months, and years to come, Mary treasures these moments.
“Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself.”4
Maybe it was this treasure that sustained Mary at the foot of the cross. Perhaps, as she watched her son die, she dug deep within herself and unearthed the priceless chest of her memories. When the sword of suffering pierced her spirit, she remembered the precious words of the shepherds.
“We have come because the angel told us that today, for us, there has been born a Savior, Christ the Lord.”
Reflection
How does God’s plan sometimes confuse you?
When was the last time you thought that when God chose you, he had chosen the wrong person; that he had put you in the wrong place; and did it all at the wrong time?
“Today. For you. A Savior.” How does this good news change your life?
What memories of Christ do you hold dear, deep within your heart?
Prayer
Father,
When the Holy Spirit planted the seed of your Son into the womb of Mary, a virgin betrothed to Joseph, you gave birth to chaos. You disrupted a young couple’s wedding plans. You altered their timetable. When it came time for Mary to give birth, you uprooted this couple from their comfortable home in Nazareth and relocated them to Bethlehem. Caesar’s mouth may have issued the decree but the words behind the edict were yours.
During this day, remind me that, whenever your Son is born in us, he disrupts, interrupts, and radically changes the course of our lives. Though I may be in turmoil, assure me that your Son brings with him peace. In the chaos and confusion of the Christ-life that I live, remind me of the words of the angel,
“Today. For you. A Savior.”
Like Mary, may I hide these words deep in my heart, cherish them as priceless treasure, and ponder them daily. It’s in the name of your Son, the Prince of Peace, that I pray. Amen.
1Luke 2:1-5 2Luke 2:6-7 3Luke 2:10-12 4Luke 2:19
All Scripture references in the meditation are marked by italics and are taken from the Gospel reading for the day. Those verses quoted outside of the chosen reading for the day are noted. All Scripture quoted in this post is taken from THE MESSAGE: Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001 & 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.