Closing Thoughts on Christmas: Speaking of Joseph

I'm closing out 2005 with some leftover Christmas thoughts. For some reason, I found myself more interested than usual in re-reading the familiar Biblical passages this Christmas season. Two things struck me:

When Mary was found to be pregnant, a young unwed mother, it was a much bigger deal than those circumstances would be today. We sometimes overlook the fact that God could have provided for her and her child in many ways: through her relatives Zachariah & Elizabeth, her extended family, or through the provision of the Magi. Instead, He chose to provide for them in a way that is often sneered at in today's feminist society. Jesus was raised by a mother and father (although not His own), in what appears to have been a large family. Imagine that!

Then, after the visit from the Magi, God spoke to Joseph, instructing him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to preserve Jesus from the murderous Herod. I will refrain from commenting on the symbolism of the whole Egypt thing and just note that it appears the newlyweds had a season to bond as a couple, albeit with a small child, before returning to Nazareth and their extended family.

Just a couple of thoughts I had never really considered before.