and thought. 
and read the Christmas story. 
for yourself?

Not "the Christmas story" but the Christmas story.

There are details missing, that I'm sure were in there...
      s o m e w h e r e .
Or was that someone else's version.
And there are details included, that I'm sure weren't there last time...
      o r  w e r e  t h e y ? !
And I decided to leave them out of my version?

Have you actually read it, as though you're hearing it for the first time?
Imagined yourself in their shoes?
Read it and been surprised by it?
It's pretty surprising!

Photo by 小胖 车 on Unsplash

In Matthew 1, Joseph finds out he's going to be a dad:

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. [Matthew 1:18-25]

S U R P R I S I N G  T H I N G S:

1. (maybe not surprising in our culture): Mary is pregnant outside of marriage.
2. (this is where it starts getting weird!): She is pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
3. Joseph wanted to do the right thing, so was going to divorce her (even though they weren't married!)
4. An angel (yes, an angel) told Joseph the baby was from the Holy Spirit... and also told him what to call their son.
5. Their lives were fulfilling an age old prophecy (that all Jews would have known about).
6. Joseph woke up from the dream, believed it, and remained faithful to Mary and God (can you imagine the things people were saying about them!?)