Unborn Jesus Our Hope
Chapter 8 - Excerpt
Sent By God to Bethlehem
We can picture Mary, now in the final trimester of her pregnancy, perhaps working at home or on an errand out in the town center, when she suddenly hears the news – a census decree by Caesar requiring Joseph and her to travel to Bethlehem.
A wave of joy and relief breaks upon her soul as she sees God intervening not only in her life, not only in the history of her own people, but with one universal sweep of His Almighty Hand in the history and destiny of the entire world! She is in awe, realizing that yet another prophecy is to be fulfilled – not abstractly or disinterestedly, as some "head count" might be – but intimately in her own life, in her own person and body and family, in the city of David….
It was prophesied that He, shepherd like, would lead the sheep. Unborn Jesus was to Mary as an "inner voice"; the voice of the Good Shepherd, the very voice of God! He was leading not only Joseph and Mary, but many others even then before they reached Bethlehem His birthplace. For example, by supernatural means He used a natural phenomenon a "star in the East" to lead wise men from the East, to meet Him as by a specially arranged appointment after His birth.
So, as three of the Chosen People (Joseph, Mary and Unborn Jesus) make their way southward toward Bethlehem, also on another road westward three heathens were heading toward this convergence of cultures, beliefs and the fulfillment of Heaven's plans and prophecies which would occur at Bethlehem. Bethlehem – crossroads of the world!
As Father Faber wrote, the unborn Jesus is not only leading, He is also approaching: "The nine months draw to a close, and our Lord's last act is to journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. It is toward us, as well as toward Bethlehem, that He is journeying. He is about to leave His home a second time for the love of us. As He had left His uncreated home in the Bosom of the Father, so is He now going to leave His created home that He may come to us and be still more ours."
To read an excerpt from CHAPTER 9 of "Unborn Jesus Our Hope," click here.
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