Letter from Mary’s neighbor to her sister
Have I got news!! You know my neighbor Mary, the one you met at my dinner party last spring? Well, she got engaged to Joseph a few months back and they are due to be married soon. But that’s not the news. Can you believe she’s pregnant? Yes! What do you think of that? Remember how sweet and friendly she was? Seemed like such a nice girl. Just goes to show you never can tell!
Letter from Mary’s aunt to her cousin
Did I hear that Mary is pregnant? PREGNANT?? What in the world? And how? Her mother is going to KILL her, after all these years she stayed out of trouble, and now? What was that girl thinking? I hear rumor that Joseph had been out of town, so we don’t even know if he was the father!
Letter from Elizabeth’s servant to Mary’s cousin
You heard about Mary, right? Well, I overheard my mistress and her talking and Mary said an angel came to her and told her she would be with child … but not by a man! Is this bizarre or what? Is she sick? Has she had a nervous breakdown or something? I am worried and wanted you to know. Maybe she is so afraid of what will happen if the truth is found out that she is making up stories to cover it up.
Can you imagine being in Mary’s shoes?
We all know the story of the Virgin birth, so it is not a strange new concept to us. But it sure would have been to anyone who knew about it in that day. Even Joseph wasn’t too sure what to think, until an angel appeared to him and assured him that it was ok, and he was to put his reputation on the line by staying engaged to this woman who suddenly had the whole community wondering what was going on.
The rumor mill was working overtime.
Then to top it all off, the city of Bethlehem was plump full of returning natives, and a VERY pregnant Mary was forced to have her rumor shrouded child in a stable with the cows and horses for nursemaids.
I really began to wonder what it would be like in real life for the scene that Mary and Joseph found themselves playing in. There weren’t smart phones and text messages in those days, but word could still get around. Then it dawned on me that the question of legitimacy could have hung over Jesus’ head his entire life.
In Hebrews it says that we have a high priest in Jesus who is able to sympathize with us because he was also subject to temptation, though he did not sin. As I looked at this picture, I saw for the first time that Jesus could relate to the social stigma of illegitimacy. His knowing the truth wouldn’t prevent others from fabricating stories. People were no different then they are now. There are many kinds of temptations and wrong reactions to pain that can stem from so foundational an issue. And though Jesus did not sin, He still could have felt the human reaction to the brokenness of community.
He didn’t have to be born in that context. He could have been born in the context of marriage so there would never be any question. God knew what people would think, and how they would respond. But His purpose was perfect, and I wonder if part of that purpose was so that our High Priest could walk with those who have experienced the stigma that surrounds an illegitimate birth.
rimoftheworld7.com 
Wow. Thank you for this, Megan. When you wrote that the question of legitimacy could have hung over his head his whole life, it hit me. He was used to having to know who he was from the beginning, and to live with cynicism and doubt from outside. This is very powerful and brings me into a new ‘flavor’ of intimacy with him. Something about his humility is so striking.
Thank you, Megan.
This puts things in perspective.
It amazes me how many places Jesus has been before us. And still there is so much to find, that we haven’t discovered yet.
Harald
Megan, I shared this with fellow staff members at a Christian Crisis Pregnancy Center.
Truly our beloved Jesus was made to be like us in all aspects so that all aspects of life could be redeemed.
I bless you for sharing.
Hello Jenny,
Thank you for using the post to minister to your ladies at the Center. That is a beautiful application and I am delighted that what I wrote could be a tool for you. That is what I hope for!
Let’s frame this a little bigger though. It is not just that He can sympahtize with us, identifying with our legitimacy challenges.
The bigger story is that He takes our excuses away. The world broadly believed He was conceived in sin. However, He chose to walk in a legitimacy that came from what He knew to be true, not what the world thought to be true.
Like Him, we have a choice to allow our legitimacy to be defined by the world or by God.
How true that is. Thank you for that bigger picture. Sometimes when we get pushed far enough into a corner, the excuse that “He was still God” can wrangle its way to the surface. Yet, I wonder if, in reality, all that did was make the task even harder. He was perfect, yet He could have had the most spectacular revenge on everyone. He was God. What an incredible feat to have put Jesus in a human body. It doesn’t take long for the circuits to start blowing!