I am still celebrating the real Christmas story. The journey from Bethlehem to Egypt has me fascinated. Today, I am thinking about Mary and Joseph's neighbors and what they must have observed.
I have been taught that Joseph, as a carpenter, established shop in Bethlehem and worked, until it was a better time to travel for Mary. That Jesus was about 2 years old when the Magi arrived. That Joseph and family lived in a working class neighborhood.
So, this working class neighborhood watches this entourage of animals and foreigners parade down the road to Joseph's house. I can't image this was quiet or that people just continued with their tasks. When I was a kid, we all stopped and commented when we saw a car in reverse on our road - hey, it didn't take much.
Did the neighbors talk to the entourage? It's hard to imagine that the children didn't ask questions. I wonder if there was a language barrier. Did they watch the parade of gifts and watch the value of Joseph's home double? triple? Did every housewife on the street decide she was taking Mary a fresh pomegranate tomorrow, so she could hear the scoop straight from Mary?
And the next morning, Joseph's house was vacant. Except for a small pile of fresh pomegranates.
And in just a bit, all the babies were gone as well.
She refused to be comforted,
because her children are dead.” Jeremiah 31:15
Do you think the neighbors ever connected all this?
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