To register with the government, the royal family had to travel 85 miles. Joseph walked, while Mary, nine months pregnant, rode side-saddle on a donkey feeling every jolt, rut, and rock in the road. By the time they arrived in Bethlehem, the village was swollen with the influx of travelers. The inn was packed. People felt lucky just to negotiate floor-space.
Fortunately the innkeeper was not counting every shekel. Even though his stable was crowded with his guests' animals, he allowed Mary and Joseph to squeeze in for a little privacy. Joseph glanced at Mary. What would she think? Her face drawn with anticipation of pain, she was conscious only of an upcoming contraction. "We'll take it," he told the innkeeper without hesitation.
As Joseph swung open the stable door, a chorus of bellows and bleats greets him in discordant harmony A rush of warm, barn air rife with odor, assaulted his nostrils. The small oil lamp the innkeeper had lent them flickered, and shadows danced on the wall as they made their way past stalls, piles of straw and inquisitive wet noses. A disquieting place for a woman in the throes of childbirth, thought Joseph – far from home, from family and from what she had expected for her firstborn. But Mary made no complaint. Her back ached from the journey, and it was such a relief to be off the donkey.
She leaned against the wall rubbing a swollen foot, but only for a moment. The contractions were gaining in strength and frequency. Joseph knew there wasn't time to spare. Quickly he assessed the stable. The feeding trough could do for a crib. Fresh hay, his robe and the rags hung out to dry could serve as a mattress. A contraction doubled Mary over and sent Joseph racing for a bucket of water.
Mary's scream pierced the silence as Joseph burst into the stable, breathless, water sloshing from a wooden bucket. Perspiration trickled from Mary's brow as she strained, and Joseph, the most unlikely midwife in all of Judea, rushed to her side. But the involuntary contractions weren't enough. Mary had to push with all her strength, almost as if God were refusing to come into the world without her help. Evidently the baby's royal heritage didn't guarantee that His birth would be easy. His special privileges had ended at conception.
Joseph tucked a garment beneath Mary. With a final push and a sigh, her labor ended. The Messiah had arrived. Head elongated from the restricted journey, mucus in His ears and nostrils, light skinned because pigment would take time to surface, wet and slippery from the amniotic fluid, the Son of the most High God was still umbilically attached to a Jewish girl.
The baby sputtered and gasped. As Joseph instinctively turned Him over to clear His throat, a warbling cry escaped His lips. His chin trembled. Mary reached for the shivering little body and drew it close. His helpless cries subsided. Mouth open, His tiny head bobbed against the new terrain. Mary could feel His heart racing as He groped to nurse. This would be the first thing God, in human form, would learn. Deity nursing at a maiden's breast - could anything be more puzzling or profound, Joseph sat exhausted, wondering.
The infant King, and God Himself, finished, sighed, and emitted a few unintelligible sounds. Then, for the first time, His eyes glanced across His mother's face. Deity strained to focus. The light of the world squinted. Through tears she observed the tiny form and touched the miniature fingers that had sculpted mountain ranges. He clung to her. Her eyes found Joseph's and their hearts met. He pressed in closer to his betrothed. Cheek to cheek, overwhelmed with awe, they gazed at the one whom prophets had longed to see. His eyelids closed. It had been a long journey, and the King was tired.
And so, unremarkably, God stepped into the heart of humanity. Except for Joseph, no one shared Mary's pain and joy. You might have expected angels, but there were only flies. You might have expected heads of state, but there were only donkeys, some sheep, a tethered camel, and a trio of curious barn mice. In the night, one star shone brightly and in a field, a group of shepherds heard rejoicing in heaven. God's only Son came in the darkness while the whole world slept.
0 comments:
Post a Comment