Words of Christmas

out because he was not willing for Mary to be disgraced publicly. In those days whenever you were engaged it took an act of divorce to dissolve the engagement, & he decided to divorce her privately & not to embarrass her. He would take care of her in every way he possibly could.

But after the angel revealed to him that which was in her womb was of the Holy Spirit then Joseph did what the angel said, & took her to be his wife & cared for her.

In vs. 23 Matthew quotes the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The virgin will be with child & will give birth to a son." Then in vs. 25 Matthew adds that "Joseph kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son."

B. When you think of Mary you think of purity. Here is Mary, probably a teen-ager among many other teen aged girls. There must have been many temptations.

But when the angel comes to her & tells her that she is going to be the mother of the Son of the Most High, she asks, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" Somehow there was a quality of purity in her life that would not allow her to defile herself.

ILL. Now, who can we think of as a contrast to Mary? How about Madonna or Roseanne? Think of Mary, & then think of them. They are worlds apart - as different as they can be.

Mary & Joseph shine like bright stars every December, saying, "It is all right to be pure & decent & honest."

I think that deep inside of us there is a great longing to be like that. I think God created us to be pure & the world has sold us a lie.

ILL. There is a little ditty that goes, "Will someone give me some advice on how to be naughty & still be nice?" Somehow being good has been painted as being boring & uninteresting. Being bad has been painted as wonderful & exciting. And the world has said that it is only when you are naughty that you are really going to have a good time.

Many believe that lie & are afraid that they are going to miss something. So they partake of forbidden fruits, & never find that life at its best comes only through the quality of purity.

But I suggest that if you will read the stories of Christmas all over again you will discover that the two people who are having the happiest time of all are Mary & Joseph & they are absolutely pure.

II. JOY

A. The 2nd word that comes to mind is the word "joy." After Mary had listened to the angel & after she had asked her questions about how she could possibly be expecting a child, the angel responds in Luke 1:37 by saying, "Nothing is impossible with God." Then the angel leaves.

For just a moment, can you put yourself in Mary’s place? She is all alone. The angel has just told her that she will bear a child & his name will be Jesus. She isn’t married. Then the angel is gone & she is all alone.

On the one hand there is the joy of the angel’s announcement. But on the other hand there would be all the gossip & rejection that surely would come her way. Who would believe her? Would Joseph? Would her parents? Where could she go?

Finally, she thought of kinswoman Elizabeth who was also expecting a child & that child was also the result of a miracle. Verse 39 says that Mary got ready & hurried down to the town in the hill country of Judah. That trip probably took several days.

As she travels along, she thinks about the angel’s announcement, & the child inside of her & the glory