Part 1

Funny how your life can change in a moment, when you’re least expecting it…

I was having a really good day, out with my mother and sister, visiting friends, chatting about marriage and babies and so on, as we girls do… but then I was suddenly seized by an overwhelming urge to be on my own. I can’t explain it: I wasn’t feeling ill at all, but I told my mother I had a headache and wanted to go home and lie down somewhere quiet.

When I got to the house, someone was standing by the door – someone I had never seen before. I opened my mouth to say that my mother was not at home, but then he bowed to me and said, “Greetings, Mary, most favoured one!” – and my legs went weak and wobbly, just as I felt when they told me my father had died. For a minute I was expecting bad news again – but it wasn't anything of the kind, but a message from God... almost unbelievable.

I had to go and lie down afterwards anyway... I was so astounded by what he had said. When my mother came home to see how I was, she said that I looked as if I’d seen a ghost. I wanted to say, “I’ve seen an angel,” but it sounded too incredible, so I said, “Somebody told me that Aunt Elizabeth is nearly six months pregnant!”

My mother scoffed at that. “Rubbish! My cousin Joanna was visiting them only a few weeks back, and nothing was said about any pregnancy! Elizabeth wasn’t well, and her husband had some kind of stroke a while ago, poor man; they won’t ever be starting a family now.”

Now I’m confused. Perhaps my mother’s right: I’m getting over-excited about the wedding, and fantasising about babies… Every Jewish girl dreams of being the mother of the Messiah. Why should it be me?

Part 2

Dear God, my period's late...

I don't know why, but I wasn't quite expecting this. I'd almost convinced myself that I'd imagined the whole thing.

But it’s happening already, and I don’t feel prepared, even though I said “Yes”… how can anyone refuse an honour from the Almighty Himself? But it seemed so simple and straightforward at the time. I didn’t really think through what it would mean. I’m not married yet… what will people say? What will Joseph say?

Who can I talk to? My mother? Anyone BUT my mother! She suspects that something's up. I've been so distracted the last three weeks... I wish I’d told her at the time. She wouldn’t have believed me, but she’s even less likely to believe me now… She would think I was making the whole story up, to cover up my shame. Who, then? Tell me, God!

Aunt Elizabeth...

Is that why he mentioned her?

I can think up an excuse to go and visit her. Then I'll know for certain, one way or the other. If she really is pregnant after all this time, then it's all true... and she will know what it's like to be on the receiving end of a miracle. She will understand...

Part 3

So it’s over… what a relief.

I’m so glad I took Aunt Elizabeth’s advice. Go home after three months, when you’re over the morning sickness but before the bump starts to show; then you can choose the best moment to break the news.

I told Joseph first: he had the right to know, and I wanted him to hear it from me. He took it better than I expected – no shouting, no harsh words, but he was obviously totally bewildered. He just kept saying, “Why can’t you tell me the truth – do you think I would want to hurt you?” I can see that he thinks that I’ve been unfaithful to him while I was with Aunt Elizabeth up in Judaea. So in the end I just burst into tears, and he got up, slammed his fist against the doorpost, and walked out with a face like thunder.

My mother – quite to my surprise – was very calm about it. Not that she believed a word of my story at first, but when I said that Aunt Elizabeth (who’s one of the most virtuous people I’ve ever met) did believe me, she was stunned. So I explained how Elizabeth really was expecting a baby - a very special baby – and how she had known that I was pregnant before I had even told her, because her unborn baby started to dance in her womb the moment I entered her house. And how she and Zechariah had offered to give me a home if necessary, if Joseph called off the wedding.

Which he has done. I suppose it was only to be expected, but I had been hoping, in a corner of my heart… A few months ago, I was so happy; now it’s all gone.

Why didn’t I think to ask the angel what to do about this? Some men in Joseph’s position would have called out a lynch mob to stone me. I’ve got off very lightly, thank God… He must be looking after me – and the baby.

So it looks like I’ll be going back to Judaea very soon. When I get the official divorce certificate, and when we get word that Aunt Elizabeth’s baby has arrived, I’ll go “to help her with the new baby” – and just not come back. After that – well, as Elizabeth said, I’ll just have to trust that God will somehow work things out.

Part 4

I wonder how Elizabeth's getting on with baby John....
I never did go back to stay with her. Less than a week after Joseph stormed out on me he was back to apologise! He had seen the angel as well, in a vivid dream, and been told everything – he even knew the baby’s name. So he knew that I was telling him the truth. Of course I forgave him; how could I have done otherwise? So now there are three other people in the world - four if you count my mother, who's half convinced - who believe that I'm going to be the mother of the Messiah!
But after the high point of the wedding, everything seems to have gone downhill.
Joseph and I were planning to move to Bethlehem 'sometime', because the prophecy says that Messiah will come from there. (The problem is, there's more work for a carpenter in Galilee - that's why Joseph came down here in the first place). But then this census was announced, and Joseph wanted to go straight away. We had a big argument over it: when a girl is expecting her first baby, she needs to be close to her mother, and I don't know anyone in Bethlehem. Why are men so impractical? But he was absolutely insistent. "I'm a descendant of King David; that's where I belong. And you know what the Empire is like; if I don't register Bethlehem as my home town now, they could make it difficult for me to work there in the future. Uncle Matthias will put us up for a while."
Oh yes... Uncle Matthias and Aunt Susannah are putting us up. Because we're 'family', they couldn't very well refuse. But we're not welcome. At first they were pleased that Joseph was remembering his family roots, but when they saw how big I was, the inevitable question wasn't long in coming: "So how long have you been married, then?" And the atmosphere immediately went frosty. Joseph did his best - he went over the whole story, from the beginning - but Matthias just roared with laughter, while Susannah pursed her lips and looked prim. Poor Joseph was mortified... Since then - well, they've been very polite, but it's obvious what they're thinking: I'm a whore, and Joseph is a besotted fool. And there's "no room" for us upstairs - that's the feeblest excuse I've ever heard - so we're sleeping downstairs with the goat and the chickens. The fact is, we're an embarrassment to them, and I'm sure that Susannah hopes that we'll just get fed up and go back to Nazareth.
I am fed up, and I do want to go home. If we leave first thing tomorrow, we'll probably make it before the baby arrives...
Poor little Yeshua... it's so unfair. Aunt Elizabeth was planning a big party to welcome your cousin John into the world, and everyone was bringing presents for him. We could only bring with us what we could carry, so we've got nothing: no home, no money, no friends. If you're born here, there'll be no party; you'll be lucky if we can find you a cot to sleep in.
Our people have been waiting hundreds of years, longing for Messiah to come - but now, when it's actually happening, nobody wants to know. Instead of cheering and celebrating, people whisper and point, and make snide remarks. What's so special about you that you couldn't be conceived in the ordinary way, like Isaac and Samuel - and John? Why did Elizabeth greet me as "the mother of my Lord"? (I did ask her, but she didn't know; she said that the words 'just came out'....) What did the angel mean when he said that you would be called 'the Son of God'?

Part 5

What a day… what a night!

My waters broke just after breakfast – two weeks early! And the contractions started almost immediately, as if Yeshua were suddenly in a hurry to be born! I was scared because everything seemed to be happening so quickly, and Joseph started running around frantically, not knowing what to do. But Matthias persuaded Susannah to do the decent thing and fetch the local midwife.

Tabitha was fantastic… I can’t praise her enough. She was very old and had hardly any teeth left, but she obviously knew what she was doing. And she was so kind: she didn’t make any scornful remarks or ask any awkward questions! She was shocked to discover that we had nothing ready for the baby, and bullied Susannah into tearing up an old dress so that we would have something to wrap him in. (I know this sounds ungracious, but it was a treat to listen to her!) Then she sent Joseph on various errands, to keep him out of the way.

Yeshua was born just as it was getting dark, but by the time Tabitha had finished tidying up and helping me to feed him, it was nearly midnight. Joseph still hadn’t finished nailing some pieces of wood together to make a cot, so we put Yeshua into the feed-trough just for one night. We were absolutely shattered, but we didn’t get much sleep. Less than an hour after Tabitha had gone home, there was a loud hammering at the door. Matthias went to see who it was, complaining loudly. Then we heard men’s voices outside, asking about the baby. The next thing I knew, the house was full of people with muddy sandals, all talking excitedly and begging to “see Messiah”.

I wondered where they had all come from, and how they had found out about Yeshua so quickly. They said that they were shepherds, and that their regular ‘night shift’ in the hills had been interrupted by a whole army of angels, announcing the birth of Messiah in Bethlehem that very night and singing praises to God. They had even been told that he was lying in a feed-trough, wrapped in strips of cloth! With that information, they had gone straight to Tabitha’s house – and of course she knew exactly where to send them.

One of the younger lads said, “But he looks just like any other baby!” And that’s true: he has the right number of fingers and toes, and he cries and sucks just like any normal baby. But Joseph and I know that he isn’t a normal baby – in some unique and miraculous way he’s come to us from God. And although it’s hard to understand, this is obviously how and where God wanted him to be born – in Bethlehem.

But why did God send angels only to those shepherds – people whose word doesn’t count for anything? Why couldn’t He send one to the whole town, or at least to Matthias and Susannah, and make them believe? Because they still don’t accept that anything out of the ordinary is going on: they’re talking this morning about “the crazy things that shepherds think they see and hear when they’ve had too much wine”!


* * * * * * * * * * * *

Tabitha returned this afternoon to see how I was – and she brought a basket full of gifts for us! There was even a fleece to wrap Yeshua in on cold nights! I was amazed: I thought she had come back to ask for her fee.

I felt guilty about receiving things from her, but she insisted that she didn’t want any payment. “The Almighty has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams,” she said. “Nobody ever remembers the midwife, and I’ll never live to see him grow up, but I shall die a happy woman, knowing that it was I who had the honour of delivering the Messiah.”

“What makes you so sure?” asked Joseph.

“When those shepherds came to my house… something had put the fear of God into them, and they had to be telling the truth – for once. There was no other way that they could have known all those details.” She looked at me. “And I already knew that there was something different about you.”