Mary was a kind, gentle, young woman full of grace and had a smile for every living creature. Of late, she had a constant companion which had shown up one morning on her window sill.
The little fellow seemed extremely tired from flying into the wind and sat there with his tiny head tucked under his wing to rest. Mary approached him quietly so as not to frighten him away. She cautiously extended a slender finger and softly stroked his feathers. He took his head from under his wing and looked at Mary. He could see the loving kindness beaming from her face, so he did not fly away. Instead, he hopped onto her finger and began to serenade her. He sang his most impressive sparrow song and Mary laughed with pleasure. From that day on the two spent a lot of time together.
One day as Mary was sitting in her room with only the dear, little sparrow for company, a very strange thing occurred. Suddenly an angel appeared in the room and identified himself as Gabriel. He was sent from God to deliver a message to Mary who was to marry a man of the house of David. His name was Joseph and he was a just and honorable man in the sight of God and the people. The little sparrow had seen him and knew that Joseph was a kind man. He had often stroked the sparrow’s feathers and spoken to him in pleasant tones. The sparrow had noticed Joseph’s love for Mary and the thoughtful way in which he treated her and was happy that they would someday be married for the sparrow knew that Joseph would never cause Mary sorrow or make him leave his dear friend and fly away.
Gabriel’s message was more than a bit unusual. This is what he said as he looked into Mary’s fearful eyes: “Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”
Mary was troubled greatly by this greeting and looked at Gabriel in stunned silence wondering what his greeting could possibly mean. Gabriel could see that poor Mary was frightened so he said reassuringly, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
The angel’s words seemed stranger still to Mary and she could not understand it. She asked Gabriel, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?”
Gabriel answered, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
Then Gabriel told Mary that her cousin Elisabeth who was now well advanced in years and past the normal childbearing age was also going to have a son and was ,in fact, in the sixth month of her pregnancy. Mary could barely take it all in, but Gabriel assured her that with God nothing is impossible and Mary knew in her heart that what Gabriel had told her was the truth.
She said, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.”
As soon as Mary had uttered those words, the angel departed as quickly and miraculously as he had arrived. Mary and the sparrow exchanged glances and Mary said, “Come with me little friend, we must go to the hill country to visit Cousin Elisabeth for I must speak with her. I will get my cloak first and then we must leave.”
To be continued...
Mary hurried to the hill country with the sparrow flitting along beside her. In her haste, she did not take time for chatting and the sparrow could tell that she was troubled with many serious thoughts about what she had been told by the angel, Gabriel. Her face did not look as cheerful and carefree as it usually did and the sparrow sang Mary a song to try to cheer her up.
When they arrived at Cousin Elisabeth’s house, they entered and said hello. When Elisabeth heard the voice of Mary, the baby in her womb leaped and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke in a loud voice these very words: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
Mary knew that what her cousin had said was a confirmation of what she had been told by the angel. A smile crossed her blessed face and she said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
Mary said many other things that day and from that time she spent three months with her dear cousin before returning to her own home with her companion the sparrow.
Elisabeth’s came to full term and delivered a son and they named him John. He would grow and wax in strength to become the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He would be the prophet of the Highest who would go before the face of the Lord to prepare the way and to give knowledge of salvation unto the people through the remission of sins.
Now Mary was espoused to Joseph and before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Ghost. Joseph loved Mary, but he was troubled by this strange news and decided to put her away privately. Being a just man he didn’t want to see her become the object of ridicule or to make a public example of her.
Joseph’s thoughts were consumed with these worries. He was not sure what to do, but when he went to bed one night an angel appeared to him in a dream and spoke these words of instruction and comfort, “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”
When Joseph awoke he did as the angel had instructed and no longer was his mind troubled about his dear Mary. He took Mary to be his wife, but did not know her until after the birth of the blessed baby.
Now in those days, Israel was under the control of the Roman government and Caesar Augustus decreed that the entire world must be taxed. This decree posed a big problem for Joseph and Mary for it meant that they must travel to the city of their origin. In Joseph’s case this meant he must make the arduous trip with his pregnant wife, Mary, to Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David.
Mary was great with child and to make the trip would be dangerous in many ways, but they obeyed the decree and set out for Bethlehem. The sparrow went with them and did all he could to bring cheer to them on their rigorous trip. Mary smiled at his silly antics as he flew and dipped stopping to have his feathers stroked from time to time. He sang his best songs for dear Mary and it did seem to bring her joy. She never complained for she knew the will of God.
They had no more than arrived when it was time to deliver the baby. Joseph tried in vain to find a comfortable place for his wife to have the child, but it seemed that there was no place for them. He asked at the inn, but they were turned away. Since there was no room for them, the sparrow led the way to the place where animals were kept and they made a place there. Joseph made things ready as best as he could and cleaned the manger which would be the baby’s bed.
To be continued...
That same night Mary brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in the manger that Joseph had arranged. The sparrow looked at the newborn babe and sang for joy. He knew in his little heart that this was no ordinary child and he looked upon the baby’s face in adoration and wonder as he continued to sing his best song in praise of the little king born among the domestic animals instead of some royal palace. Mary smiled contentedly at the babe and at her little friend, the sparrow.
Soon the family was joined by shepherds who had been keeping watch over their flocks that night. They told them a story of how as they kept watch over the sheep a strange thing occurred. They said that an angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of God shined down upon them and round about them. They became understandably afraid at this odd sight, but the angel spoke words of comfort to them. He said, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”
As soon as the angel had uttered those words, suddenly there appeared a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
As suddenly as the angelic host had appeared, they were gone. The shepherds believed what they had heard and decided to go to Bethlehem to see this thing that the Lord had made known to them. They wasted no time, but hurried as fast as they could and were rewarded for their efforts because they found Mary, Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger, and the sparrow serenading the tiny infant boy.
They marveled at the sight and wondered why the Christ would be born in such a lowly place, surrounded by animals, and humble people such as themselves. They worshiped and when they had taken it all in, they departed and spread the word far and wide about their experience in the field with the angelic hosts and what they were told concerning the child. All who heard their story wondered about what the shepherds had told them, but Mary knew and kept all those things in her heart and pondered them. The shepherds were fully convinced for they returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had seen and heard, as it was told to them.
When eight days had passed for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which the angel gave before he was conceived. The days of Mary’s purification according to the law of Moses were completed, so they brought the child to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice which the law required, which was a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
There was in Jerusalem a just and devout man named Simeon who had waited his entire life for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Ghost had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Christ, so he was moved by the Spirit to go to the temple at just the time the parents were bringing the child, Jesus to do all things according to the custom of the law.
He took the child in his arms, blessed God and said, “Lord, now lettest thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Joseph and Mary marveled at Simeon’s words. Then the old man turned and blessed them. He said to Mary, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts shall be revealed.”
Then suddenly at that very instant, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser came in. She was a widow who was around eighty-four years old and lived in the temple. She served God by prayer and fasting night and day and no longer departed from the temple. When Anna saw the child, she gave thanks to God and spoke of him to all them looking for redemption in Jerusalem. After all this was accomplished, they returned to Nazareth. The little sparrow followed along with the happy family, but there was one in the land who was not happy to learn of the good news of a king being born.
To be continued...
At the time Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, Herod was the king. Wise men came from the east to Jerusalem in search of the King of the Jews for they had seen his star in the east and had come to worship him.
Herod heard about this and was very troubled, as was all of Jerusalem. Herod was so troubled by this news that he called together all the chief priests and scribes. He demanded that they tell him where the Christ was supposed to be born and they informed him that according to the prophet, Christ was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea. They also said that according to the prophet, Christ would be a governor that would rule over Israel.
After this, Herod met privately with the wise men and asked them when this star they had seen first appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem to search out the child. When they found him, he asked the wise men to return and tell him because he supposedly wished to go worship the child. When the wise men left Herod, they rejoiced because once again they saw the star and it led them along until, at last, it rested over where the child was staying. They came and found the house and when they entered they saw the young child with his mother, Mary. They fell down and worshiped him. Then they opened the treasures they had brought and presented them with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The wise men had been warned in a dream from God not to return to Herod, so when they departed for their own country, they used a different route.
When the wise men had gone, Joseph had a dream, too. In his dream, an angel appeared telling him to take Jesus and his mother and flee to Egypt and to stay there until he heard from God to go home, because Herod was searching for the child to destroy him. As soon as Joseph awoke, he was obedient to the dream. He took the child and Mary by night and departed for Egypt.
When Herod learned that the wise men had mocked him by returning to their country without seeing him first, he became extremely angry. He had all the children in Bethlehem and its coasts that were two years old and under killed. That was according to the time the wise men had told him that they had first observed the star. This was a fulfillment of a prophecy by Jeremiah which said there would come to Rama a voice of lamentation, weeping and mourning. Rachel would weep for her children and would not be comforted because they had been killed.
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream once more and told him to return with the child and his mother to Israel for those who sought to kill the child had died. Joseph obeyed and returned with them to Nazareth of Galilee.
The boy, Jesus grew and became strong in spirit and was filled with wisdom for the grace of God was upon him. The little sparrow loved him and was his constant friend and companion. He worshiped Jesus each day through his sparrow songs. One day when Jesus was playing with some other boys, one of them wickedly threw a stone which struck the little sparrow. The sparrow fell to the ground dead. Jesus picked him up and when he breathed upon him, the bird came back to life to the amazement of the other children. As much as Jesus loved the little sparrow, he warned him not to return as his close friend. He said that God sees every sparrow that falls and would keep His eye on him. Then he gently stroked the sparrow’s feathers one final time, opened his palm, and the little bird flew away singing one last song of praise for his Lord.
This concludes my little tale of : The Christmas Sparrow. It is my gift to you. It is my prayer that you will have a Merry Christmas and that you will think about the true meaning of the season more than usual this year. Remember, God gave us the greatest gift of all, a Savior, Christ the Lord.
