Christmas is a time for making plans. Presents to buy, cards to send, decorations to put up, food to order, travel arrangements to make … the list goes on and on. But whether our plans are ambitious or simple this Christmas, we still dread anything going wrong.
Yet plans seemed to fall apart that first Christmas! Mary and Joseph had planned to marry and set up home together in Galilee. Then Mary had become unexpectedly pregnant, and they were summoned to Bethlehem for the census; instead of a comfortable Galilean home amongst family, they were suddenly parents, all alone in a place fit for animals!
The shepherds had expected another routine night on the hills of Bethlehem. But the Angel’s message and a heavenly choir changed everything, and they went to search for the Christ-child instead. Their change of plans brought them great joy!
The Eastern men had expected to find the “King of the Jews” in a royal palace. But the star by-passed Jerusalem and took them to Bethlehem. Then their plans changed again, when they were warned in a dream to avoid Herod, and slip home another way.
The Holy Couple then experienced another upset to their plans when Joseph was warned in a dream NOT to go home to Galilee, but to flee for safety in Egypt instead.
At first sight, all these changes display a chaotic mix of circumstances. But behind it all, God was working out His divine purposes. When Jesus was born, all the Old Testament prophecies of His coming were fulfilled; nothing happened by chance. Into a messy world God brought to us His Son to be our Saviour.
We worship a great and loving God who not only planned that first Christmas but is also preparing for our stay in His eternal home. As Isaiah, in the OT, tells us,
All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent. (Isaiah 28:29)
Lester Amman
Featured Image: Mary and Joseph Seeking Refuge in Bethlehem, Simon de Vos, 1664, PD, Wikimedia Commons