Valerie Rae Hanneman
Luke 2:7 (KJV) “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”
The pregnancies for my daughter, Fawn, and my son, Steven, were radically different. Fawn was a piece of cake. I had very little morning sickness with her. The smell of cooking bacon made me nauseous, but that was about it. The pregnancy was normal - other than I gained too much weight. The early stages of my labor were so easy I slept through them. The first I knew I was in labor was at 8:00 in the morning on May 18th when I got out of bed, was gripped by a sudden cramp and thought “what was that!?!” I quickly realized what it was and three hours later, with a minimum of fuss, Fawn was born. She weighed 6 lbs, 8 oz. Now Steven - that was a different story. My first bout of morning sickness gripped me about 1 minute after the doctor confirmed that I was pregnant. And at no time was it confined to just the morning! He was an active baby and I often pictured him giggling as he kicked me square in the bladder again and again to send me running for the bathroom. He was a big baby and in my last month his weight on my spinal cord caused a temporary bout of Bell’s Palsy. One whole side of my face quit working right. That side of my face drooped, I couldn’t talk right, my food tasted funny, and I had to tape my eyelid shut at night. Worst of all, I was mostly confined to my bed. Labor started at 11:30 one night and at almost 9:00 the next day, February 10th, Steven was finally born. He weighed 9 lbs, 15 oz. And believe me, you cannot begin to imagine what it was like to give birth to him. His father loved to tell about how, during labor, I said to him, “Just as soon as I am done with this, I am going to kill you,” in a voice so calm and deadly that he believed me.
I wonder what Mary’s pregnancy was like. Did she have morning sickness? Did she ever see her shadow beside her and think that she looked as if she had swallowed Jonah’s whale? Was Jesus an active baby - making sure that she was in the outhouse often?
I know that there are those who think that her labor was painless. I don’t believe that. I believe that any birthing that involves a human mother and a human child involves pain. Of course, I can’t show any verse in the Bible that proves it one way or the other. The Word simply says that she brought forth her first born son. As if anything about the “bringing forth” of birth is simple! Was her labor easy or hard? How frightening it must have been to give birth in a filthy stable with only your husband to help you! For that reason alone Mary deserved to have an easy delivery.
I don’t know what Mary went through to give birth to Jesus. I won’t know until I ask her when I get home. (And I do intend to ask that amongst a boatload of other questions!) But I know what Mary did after Jesus was born and Joseph laid Him in her arms. First she was filled with a joy and a love so profound she could hardly breathe. I know that she did - because that was what I did. Then she throughly inspected Him. She counted fingers and toes. She kissed His face and looked at His ears. She made sure that everything on that flawless child was exactly where it was supposed to be. I know she did - because I did. And here is what else I did when I held my child for the first time. I dreamed and I wondered. Would she be the first female President of the United States? Would he be quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys? Would she be a top model? Would he discover a cure for the common cold? Whatever they chose to do - just let them be happy, healthy, and prosperous with a long life.
Mary didn’t have “Will He be a..........” type dreams for her newborn son. She - more than any other living person - knew who this Baby was. This Baby was the virgin-born Son of God, the Hope of Israel, the long-promised Messiah. She had grown up hearing stories of Messiah. She had heard the stories of old about how Messiah was going to set Israel free. So Mary knew that Jesus would grow up, defeat the Romans, re-establish the throne of David and rule over the world. Did she dream of the day when Jesus - HER Son - would live and rule from a palace even grander than Herod’s palace - maybe even grander than what she could only imagine that the palace of Caesar was like? Did she dream of the day when she would watch the rich and the poor bow down to her boy? Did she think of those old biddy’s in Nazareth who had been so mean because of her being pregnant before marriage and smiling thinking of the day that she would have the upper hand? I don’t really know what Mary dreamed of for her Son but I am confident that her dreams were a reflection of the dreams of Israel.
Mary didn’t know. She did not know that her dreams and the dreams of Israel of what the Messiah would be and do were not what God had said Messiah would be. They had skipped to the end of the story - the re-establishment of David’s throne and the rule forever. They had not seen that Messiah would come as a servant before He came as the King.
Mary dreamed of a palace . The reality was given to her just a scant 33 years later when she held the broken, lifeless body of her crucified Son. This reality was so much more than Mary’s dreams ever were. Her dreams were of a Messiah that would save Israel. The reality was a Savior that would save the world. She dreamed of a palace from which He would rule, the reality was that He would rule through our hearts. She dreamed of a kingdom on earth - the reality is a kingdom in eternity.
Are we so caught up in our dreams of what God should be in us that we miss the much greater reality of what He desires to be in us?
LORD Jesus, You are my Savior and my King. You by far surpass any dream that I could ever have. I would rather have the reality of You.
Contact Valerie or sign up for the e-Ministries of Fresno First at valerie@fresnofirst.org
Posted by Valerie at December 16, 2005 08:31 PM