The Obscure Years II

Jesus, who was conceived in Nazareth by the Holy Spirit, had impact on those around Him even before He became visible to the human eye.  When Mary made the visit to Elizabeth to see if she indeed was pregnant, the Word says, "When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb."  (Luke 1:41)  The child was Elizabeth's unborn child who was to be called John and would become known as John the Baptist.  In a moment of unbelievable mystery an unborn child responds to the presence of the Holy One who was still without any form in the womb of Mary.  

And then an even greater mystery unfolds as we contemplate the story of the angel coming to Mary and Joseph telling them that the child about to be born would not be a child of human passion, but a child of the Holy Spirit.  The child would be holy and would be known as Son of God.  When the moment of birth came, these two young parents no doubt looked at their newborn son to see if they could see the extraordinary in Him, but alas, He only seemed as ordinary as any child.    When they began to live out their lives in Nazareth with this son sent from God, they surely must have felt such a tremendous responsibility for this boy who seemed very much like any boy.  

The presence of this holy child in the womb of Mary and then around the hearth of their home impacted their lives in ways none of us can imagine.  After the visit of the angel, they were never the same.  And, surely, this was even more true after they returned to Nazareth from Bethlehem and began to teach their son the ways of growing up.  From conception to birth and beyond, this holy One sent from God had life changing power there in the village of Nazareth.