25/12/2020
Have you ever thought about the fact that Mary was a virgin, she was unmarried and she might have been terrified!
But still God chose her to carry our Saving Grace 🙌
He did not choose a married woman for a reason. He chose an unmarried virgin to symbolize the purity and to be conceived in purity and to be birthed from purity.
Imagine this: Mary was 16 and haven't experienced anything of life....yet. The "sin" of having s*x before marriage was punishable by stoning in the biblical age. She must have been terrified! Can you imagine how scared Joseph must have been as well? Think about the rumours, the looks, how outcasted they must have been... Sometimes the road we are asked to walk is for a greater reason than our understanding 🙌💗
In silence a miracle was born 💕
Mary's birth was a natural, unmedicated birth. This means that she might have experienced a long, painful and exhausting labor. (Just as any other woman), Jesus was born in a stal, surrounded by animals and not in a fancy palace like any other king. That's just the thing He isn't just any other king, He is the King! From the day of His birth, He lead the example of how we should be 🙌
Mary was highly favored of the Lord and blessed among women (Luke 1:28, 42). From the first promise of a Savior, who was to be of the “seed” of the woman (Genesis 3:15; Revelation 12:5), godly mothers in Israel hoped that their first-born might be the promised Messiah. To Mary this significance and special honor was given.
Mary was without a doubt chosen mainly because at the appointed time (Daniel 9:24–27; Mark 1:15; Galatians 4:4) her character more closely mirrored the divine principles of motherhood than that of any other women in Israel. She was one of the chosen few who were “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25, 38; Mark 15:43; Hebrews 9:28). It was this hope that cleansed her life (1 John 3:3) and equipped her for her special role.
Labor pain
The Bible says that Mary brought forth her first-born child (Luke 2:7), this is to say that she gave birth to Jesus. Labor pains is a natural process while giving birth, and this was not an exception with Mary. There is no indication from the Bible that Mary would have been excluded from this, hence we can conclude that she did have pain during the birth of Jesus.
The process of giving birth has been associated with pain since the beginning of time. After sin, the Lord decaled to the woman: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children….” (Genesis 3:16). Mary was a woman and therefore the declaration that God made to Eve after sin entered the world applies to all women.
Our Lord is most definitely unstoppable, overcoming and ALMIGHTY‼💗
Holy, holy, holy 🙌👼
✨FLESH✨Jesus’ birth was no Insta-perfect manger scene with glowing orbs.😇 The most iconic birth in history took place in stinky, un-sanitized manger among farm animals. (Have you ever smelled the stench of a barn filled with livestock? Imagine birthing there!🤢)
What a birth story! The King of the Universe 👑 came to Earth and put on FLESH to live among us.
“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” -John 1:14
I wonder, did Mary experience pain? Did she get scared and ask how long it would take? I don’t know, but, like most unmedicated births, it was probably messy, bloody, vulnerable and intense.🩸
Our modern society doesn’t like dirty and unfiltered. In fact, we CENSOR birth and death. It’s too uncomfortable for our virgin eyes, perhaps.🙈
We like to clean up birth, numb the intense feelings with drugs, cover up baby and mom (esp in postpartum), and make it pretty, shiny and clean.🧼
We censor manger scenes & we censor modern motherhood.🚫
But birth is anything but clean and dignified!
✨Birth is the breaking of waters,
✨The gushing of fluids,
✨Moans too deep for words,
✨Expulsion of a placenta,
✨Blood running down the leg,
✨Skin-to-bloody-vernix-coated-skin.
🐂Among stalls intended for animals, the King of kings was born to a 16 year old girl. His flesh felt cold air, his belly felt hunger and his body felt pain. He was comforted by the gentle touch of his mother and fed by the nourishment of her breastmilk.
In life and death, He demonstrated what pure love looks like: vulnerable and unashamed.❤️
Jesus left this world the same way he came into it, naked and exposed.
Flesh makes us human. It is not a curse. It is the greatest privilege of our existence and it’s one the angels look down upon with envy.
🎄This Christmas, may you experience Jesus’ outrageous love.
🙏May you embrace motherhood, like Mary did, it all its undignified, sacrificial, messy glory.
“We love because He first loved us.” -John 4:19
Words by
The Creation of Man (2017) fine-art photograph by