The Road to Bethlehem

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.

Luke 2:4-6 

Imagine Mary at this point. The Bible poetically calls her great with child. I’ve never been pregnant, but I know from other women that the eighth and ninth months are probably not a great time. And, the last place you want to be when it is time to give birth is on the back of a donkey, traveling to a strange city, to follow some obscure census that really doesn’t seem to matter at all.

Mary may have been questioning: What is God’s purpose in all of this? Why does He have me traveling so far from home, over rough terrain, on the back of a donkey, at this particular time?

Or perhaps, in preparing for the work the Lord had called her to, Mary may have been familiar with the Old Testament prophecy found in Micah that the Savior would come out of Bethlehem: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephrah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2)

The fact is, God had a great plan for the exact circumstances for Mary and Joseph. He needed Jesus to be born in Bethlehem, and He needed to get them to the city in time for the birth, so that yet another prophecy about the Savior would be fulfilled. It is important to note that, as with many of the prophecies about His coming, Jesus had absolutely no control over when and where He was born, giving even more importance to the fulfilling of this particular prophecy.

Perhaps Mary also recalled the story of another woman facing a difficult trial: Esther, who was asked to enter into the King’s court, endangering her life in order to try and save the lives of the Jews. When she doubted the intelligence of this move, her uncle reminded her, “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). That was all Esther needed to remind her that she had a special role to fulfill.

When we are struggling to understand something, or when we do not know what God’s purpose possibly could be, it will do us well to remember these godly women and their submission to the will of God. Esther didn’t know what would happen and if she would lose her life, and Mary was being asked to travel a long journey at the end of her pregnancy, which may have seemed difficult to understand and certainly difficult to do. But, ultimately, God used these circumstances to achieve His greater plans, and these women, by submitting to Him, were able to be an important part of the story and are remembered centuries later for their faith. 

May we be women of faith, not questioning what God is doing in our lives, no matter how strange or unusual it might seem, but rather, praising God that He would use us to achieve His great and mighty will.