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God With Us - In the Fire and Through It


What does the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have to do with Mary and Joseph? Being Christmas time and all, it seems obvious that our attention would shift to the young newlyweds...excuse me, they haven't tied that knot quite yet. In fact, this fact is part of what got them into such hot water...or maybe we can say they came under fire? 

In the book of Daniel we know that God helped the three youngsters when they were thrown into the furnace. God was with them. However, sometimes it is easy to forget that the reason they were thrown into the furnace was for the same reason: because God was with them. They took a stand for God and wound up in the fire. 

Now we can see a connection to Mary and Joseph. They got engaged and somewhere between signing up for their gift registry at Target and deciding whether or not to have a dance at their reception they found themselves up to their necks in controversy. What was it, you ask? It was Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). I certainly don't want to give you all the wrong idea about this. This is ultimately good news. However, what we shouldn't miss is the fact that carrying baby Jesus for Mary put her in the crosshairs of death. How?

The quickest way to summarize it was that Mary was pregnant before she was married. The assumption around the village would have been obvious: Mary and Joseph couldn't wait and they sinned sexually. We have to check our own cultural baggage at the door at this point. We read this from the perspective of a culture that celebrates sex before marriage. In Jewish culture in the first century it was condemned. Under Jewish law Mary was subject to death for such an offense (Deuteronomy 22:21). Had Joseph publicly divorced her it could have spelled her death because it would have reinforced any suspicion that Mary had been unfaithful and promiscuous. At the same time, if Joseph had stayed with her he would have found condemnation because people would assume he was the guilty party when he wasn't. When we see that Joseph had resolved to quietly divorce Mary (Matthew 1:19) we can start to grasp how difficult and agonizing this decision was for the both of them. We can see that Joseph cared for Mary and wrestled to make the best decision possible for the both of them at the time. 

We should ask ourselves again, how did they both get into this fire? Wasn't it this, that God was with them? In a very real way, Jesus was being knit together in the womb of Mary who was now facing death row. It really begs the question, why would God do it this way? If you brought the Savior of the world into the earth you probably wouldn't choose to do it this way! Did God know that impregnating Mary before she was married would put her in the fire? Didn't he understand that her reputation would be seriously questioned? Why would he subject these teens, probably not even old enough to drive or smoke cigarettes to such a trial for bringing the Savior of the world to life upon this earth? 

We have to face the very real fact that God doesn't just deliver his people from the fire, he puts them in it. God with us might put us into the fire, God with us will also bring us out. Psalm 77:19 tells us that "your way was through the sea" even when it would have been a more direct route for the Israelites to avoid it altogether. 

Consider Isaiah 43:1b-3a

Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Perhaps one of the reasons God causes his people to wind up in the fire is to build their faith. Through the fire is where faith is forged and shaped. Only through the fire do we get tested and purified so that "dross is consumed and gold is refined."  

As we celebrate Christmas we celebrate the way God desires to bring his people into the fire and prove to them that he is with them when he brings them out. Interestingly, when Mary and Joseph were delivered from their impossible situation it also tells us that God with us is able to deliver and redeem all his people from the impossible situation of the consequences of sin. If God can get sinners out of their sin and its offense to a Holy God, surely he can deliver Mary and Joseph, with baby intact, from Jewish law and wicked kings.

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