What an inconvenient time for a long journey. Mary was near the end of her pregnancy, and it must have been difficult for her to get around. We do not really know if she had an animal to ride on; the text does not tell us. Maybe she had to walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
One thing is certain. She was far enough along in her pregnancy that everyone would have been able to see her protruding stomach.
One time in our congregation the speaker gave a message in which he spoke about Mary. There was a woman in the congregation who was an English- speaking immigrant. Even though we provided a simultaneous translation for the sermons, she refused to use a headset, saying she could understand enough and wanted to learn the language.
As it would happen, we gave her a ride home that day, and on the way I asked her what she thought of the sermon. She was very excited about it, especially about one particular point: just as Mary grew more pregnant and people could see her getting bigger, so we should have the Messiah being formed in us so that people around us can see him more and more. It was indeed a very important message. The funny thing was, however, that the speaker had not said anything like that!
I do not actually remember the points of the sermon that day, but I will never forget the message that the Holy Spirit gave to our sister.
I once heard a story of a young man who went off for his first year of college. When he came home after several months, someone asked him if he had received any trouble for being a Christian. "No," he said, "no one knows yet."
Our lives should indeed resemble a developing pregnancy. If people are not seeing Jesus being formed in us, then we should go to the doctor for a check-up. May God grant that Messiah in us will be as hard to hide as he was in Mary's womb.
- 27 DECEMBER -