READ: MATTHEW 1:18-25; LUKE 2:1-21

I was gifted a beautiful Advent wreath for Christmas. The ceramic candleholders depict a winter scene, with the four words that represent the four weeks of Advent labeled in gold. I must admit, for a few years the labeling bothered me. The word wonder was used for the first week of Advent instead of hope. When I hear the word hope, I think of anticipation for something to happen. When I hear the word wonder, it makes me think of feeling doubt or surprise at something beautiful and unexplainable. For me, hope and wonder weren’t interchangeable words.

Then one year, while reading Matthew 1, I considered Joseph’s point of view. Joseph had to wonder, “What on earth is happening?” In good faith, he’d pledged to be married to Mary. She’d accepted, then they found out she was expecting a baby that Joseph knew wasn’t his. He had doubts about the situation and formed a plan. Matthew 1:19 says, “Joseph…was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.”

After an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, he had even more to wonder about. The angel said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (verse 20-21).

So Joseph accepted Mary as his wife. The message from the angel may have removed some of Joseph’s doubt, but for months he had to wonder what exactly was going to happen. After a long journey to Bethlehem, Mary gave birth. Joseph was there when the shepherds found the newborn Jesus and praised God for the message the angel had told them: “The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!” (Luke 2:11). Joseph, Mary, and the shepherds witnessed something beautiful and unexplainable. Wonder was turned to hope by Jesus’s birth—for them, and for us. • Rose Ross Zediker

• For years, God’s prophets foretold the advent (coming) of the Savior. In dark days, the prophets’ message gave people hope of light coming into the world, yet they must have wondered how and when this Savior would come. Now we know the answers! When you read the Scriptures about Jesus’s birth, what makes you wonder— what questions or doubts do you have? And does anything fill you with wonder—with awe and amazement?

• Why does Jesus’s coming mean hope for the world? (If you want to know more, see our "Know Jesus" page.)

All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished. Luke 2:18 (NLT)