From Nazareth to the Manger: Raising the Son

December 20 – Raising the Son

On day three of the voyage, Mary began ponder the child as He wrestled in the ever tighter confines of her womb. He had been particularly active the last few days; stirring when the motion of the donkey stopped as they rested at a well; kicking when Mary patted her belly absentmindedly. Mary had the innate sense those feet would travel roads far longer than these. The young mother in her already started to fret about where those roads might lead.

Joseph noticed the absent look in Mary’s face from time to time as if she were far away in her own mind. He worried that perhaps she was tired or in pain, but after she denied such things half a dozen times he kept his concern to himself. He waited patiently for her to share her heart with him as they paused one night alongside the road.

Mary’s back curved into the aromatic wood of a tree trunk. She had her eyes closed. Joseph thought she slept and it was only when she opened her mouth to speak that he realized she was merely deep in her own musings.

“Do you think He will speak right away? Or will He grow as other children do? What should I do when He is bad? Do I have the right to discipline the Son of God or do I trust that God will do that Himself?”

Joseph was amazed at this! Mary spoke as if she had seen into his heart and merely given voice to his own concerns.

“For my life, I do not know”, Joseph replied. “Today, as the sun stretched overhead, I watched other fathers and their children. A man put his son on his shoulders and I marveled as the boy stretch his hands to the clouds. I wondered: if I put this Son on my shoulders, will He actually touch heaven?”

Mary opened her eyes. Her gaze drifted from the road to the clump of bushes straight ahead. A gentle wind caused their leaves to rustle in the newborn softness of the night. At last, her face turned toward Joseph’s and they stared at each other for a long moment, exchanging wordless questions and formless reassurance. They would be together and they would do whatever God asked of them. The Son of Man could not raise Himself. If He could, why be born at all?