Whenever Christ was Born

Whenever Christ was born,
How anxious Mary and Joseph must have been,
Having been chosen to raise the Messiah for whom they had yearned,
And many generations had anticipated.
Government stepped in to require a census.
So they had this to think about:
First a place in Bethlehem,,
Then the birth.
And after that, as prophecy would have it,
Those who came---both the most humble and the most learned--
Then the trip to Egypt to save the Savior from those who wanted to kill Him,
Then years in Egypt, fulfilling the prophecy,
"Out of Egypt have I called My Son."
Then silence as He grew and as siblings were added to the family.
Then His conversation in the temple when He was 12.
Then silence again as He grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man.
Then His baptism and revelation as "The Lamb of God who had come to save His people from their sins."
While people came and went during the next three years, crowds gathered and gaped and gasped--Christ fulfilled His Father's will.
And it was that will for Christ to live a holy life, keeping every one of the commandments, and then to die as if He had broken every one of them.
But death was not the end for Christ or of Christ, for it was also the Father's will for Him to conquer death and Satan and sin, so He raised Christ from the dead, the firstborn.
And after He was seen by hundreds, Christ ascended into heaven, taking His place at the right hand of the Father where He intercedes for His own, until the time set for His return.