"But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples deserted him and fled. – Matthew 26:56

Today's Scripture Reading (December 25, 2020): Matthew 26

Mary and Joseph were alone on that first Christmas morning. I have often wondered why Mary would have made the trip to Bethlehem in the first place. Being heavy with child, I can't imagine that Mary was excited to make the eighty-mile donkey ride to Bethlehem. Couldn't Joseph have left Mary with friends or family in Nazareth and made the trip to Bethlehem to register them in the census on his own? Unless, of course, there were no friends. Mary and Joseph, because of Mary's pregnancy outside of marriage, had become outcasts at home. As the pregnancy progressed, the stress mounted, until Joseph would have accepted any excuse to take Mary away from Nazareth; taking her someplace where people wouldn't stare and point at the social pariahs.

As a result, there were no friends gathered around the manger to witness the birth of Jesus. God provided some rough around the edge's shepherds and a group of magi, likely Zoroastrian astronomers, to celebrate the birth. And it was these outcasts who took the place of friends and family on that first Christmas day. But Mary and Joseph's lives were filled with joy because of their son's birth, and they called him Jesus.

Jesus's life did not end in that stable; he grew up. Along the way, this son of Mary gathered some friends and some followers. He attracted crowds around him who marveled at the miracles that he could perform. He taught anyone who would listen about God and his Kingdom. And on Palm Sunday, the crowds shouted their approval.

But when the time came for his arrest, he was alone again, deserted by all who loved him. Matthew makes it clear that Jesus believed that everything that was happening was in line with the prophecies that had been spoken by the prophets centuries earlier. Even the departing of his friends was spoken of by prophets who had written their predictions long ago. Isaiah, specifically Deutero-Isaiah, had prophesied that this would happen in his prophecy of the suffering servant, a foretelling that was likely written during the days of the Babylonian Exile.

He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem (Isaiah 53:3).

But God didn't leave him. He was present in the stable, calling the shepherds and magi to celebrate the birth of his son, and he would stand by Jesus to the very end, even after his friends and family had fled.

I don't know what your situation is on this Christmas Day. I hope family and friends surround you, but I also know that the 2020 pandemic has thrown Christmas celebrations into disarray. A number of us are suffering under a pandemic exile as 2020 draws to a close. But you are not alone. God is with you. And he has promised that he will never leave you, even amid a census, social rejection, or in the long days of a pandemic.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas, and to my distant friends and family, I am thinking of you, and love and miss you.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Mark 14