Speaker: Courtesy LHM

The shepherds were afraid, like sensible men. But the angels calmed them down, saying: “Fear not, for I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born a Savior…”

Where are the swaddling cloths? Nursing for the first time. I’m not sure we’re doing this right … ah yes … a sleeping baby. An exhausted mother, and a radiant father. A Son is given.

It couldn’t have been comfortable for any of them. In pictures we usually see Mary riding a donkey—but there’s nothing in the Bible text to say she had one. She may have walked, like everybody else

He would set us free from the power of evil. Nobody else could do it—but the Lord could, and did. He laid aside His glory, stepped down from His heavenly throne, and came down to us.

Joseph would be there for her as she dealt with whatever uproar there might have been among their friends and family, and coped with the later months of pregnancy, too.

Who sends a baby to war? Only the Lord—the God who delights in using the weak to overturn the strong. And in this case, He came Himself—not some lesser person or messenger. God came as a human baby into this world to overcome all the power of the devil.

This Son that God is giving into Joseph’s hands will be his Savior as well—so Joseph will have the privilege of saving his Savior, providing for his Provider

But he can’t see any better way out of this mess than a quiet divorce. And while he’s thinking about it, he falls asleep … only to have God give him a much better solution.

There is nothing safe to do but sit down. You cannot walk—you can’t avoid danger. You will certainly get lost. All you can do is wait to be found. And oh, the joy when you first see a distant flashlight!