More Divine Intervention

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   Mary, not well educated, is permitted to ask the obvious question. How will this be, since I am a virgin? Gabriel explains: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. The holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

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   Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age. For nothing is impossible with God. Mary is pledged to marry Joseph. Routine. No, she is found to be with child, and morally-correct Joseph plans to end their relationship, quietly.

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   An angel appears to Joseph, whom he calls son of David (he is in David's line) and instructs him to marry his betrothed, Mary. The child has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. Give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Was Joseph speechless? 

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   The prophet Isaiah knew this seven centuries earlier (earth time is nothing to God). In chapter 7, troubled by Israel's backsliding, he wrote: Therefore the Lord himself will give you (plural) a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God with us). 

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   Overjoyed, Mary hustles down to Judah to visit her relative, Elizabeth, now a few months along. When Elizabeth hears Mary's greeting, her child leaps in her womb (remember, this baby already has the Holy Spirit) and she herself becomes filled with the Spirit. Mary speaks a "word of knowledge" (Proverbs 23:12), known as Mary's Song. (It may be related to Hanna's prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-10). 

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    When Elizabeth gives birth, people expect him to be named after his father. Elizabeth says, No. His name is John. There were no boys named John in the family. What about it, Zechariah? He asked for a tablet and wrote, His name is John. Immediately his voice returned and he prophesied (Zechariah's Song.) 

   Caesar Augustus requires a census taken throughout the Roman Empire. Joseph is a descendant of David. He must travel from unimportant Nazareth to the city of David, to register. Unfortunately, Mary is due, and she must travel (three days on a mule?) Fortunately, unimportant Bethlehem is the town Micah the prophet spoke of seven centuries before: 

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   But you, Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler of Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times. 

   The (motels) were full of visitors, so Mary and Joseph retreated to an animal stable or cave where she gave birth. Caesar unwittingly arranged for the King of kings to be born where Micah said he would. 

Tomorrow: Miracles keep on coming