Mary's escape from abortion and civil commitment
And the taxes levied by Cæsar Augustus and the slaughter of the innocent ones ordered by King Herod
It is not Christmastime, but it is never untimely to remind ourselves of those peculiar circumstances in relation to the behavior of officials of modern-day religious establishments and local governments.
[Mat. 1:18] Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Supposedly a woman found with child would have been expected to press rape charges, procure an abortion, or collect child support from any named father, but Mary did not do any of those things that a woman who was not a virgin would have done, and therefore it is accounted to her for eternal virginity.
[Mat. 1:19] Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
Joseph also refused to make himself look good and saintly in court and he did not consider it just to pursue a civil commitment of his fiancée to have her put away in a mental hospital, as he was minded or told to do.
[Mat. 1:20] But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, 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.
Nor is it mentioned in the Bible that they washed and dressed up for court appearances and dutifully paid their taxes to that worldly emperor with the gifts bestowed upon them by the wise men. Absolutely not. A few spices, something not to stink so bad with on the road, a little bit of gold or money and no active warrants out for them and they fled in the middle of the night and departed for Egypt.
Not being exactly Christmastime this month, we still meet a lot of people who say they believe in Jesus Christ, but they are not in such good faith about it.