2 Kings 22--Elisha was bald. Some boys came out and made fun of him, called him baldy or chrome dome, so a bear came out and mauled them.

Once Jesus got out of a boat and a naked guy who was possessed by demons ran at him cursing. This story ends with Jesus throwing the demons into a bunch of pigs who ran off a cliff.

I wonder if we have almost sanitized the Christmas story so its believable as a Fairy Tale for children and yet not believable as adults who know better. 

Baby Jesus came to die on the cross because we had to be forgiven.

But that is too dark for us, so we sanitize it and prefer to think of Christmas this way.

These were real people who had real lives and faced real events that sometimes got real weird and produced real fears in a very real Bible.

 “How did this happen?” 

 “What will I do now?”

What would I do if that happened to me?

Luke 1:26–33 (NIV84) ²⁶ In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Luke 1:34 (NIV84) ³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

Luke 1:35–38 (NIV84) ³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

1. ³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

God chooses people that we wouldn’t choose to do things that we never thought possible in ways that we had never considered.

Faith—the belief that God is who he says he is and will do everything he promises to do.

How did this happen?

What will you do now?