The first Christmas was an invasion - an invasion in which the living God himself came into our world. Mary and Joseph were engaged - they did not yet live together as man and wife, but they had entered into a binding union that could only be ended in those days by divorce.
Few things hurt more than to be wrongfully doubted.
What pain it must have caused Mary to see the doubt and disappointment in Joseph's eyes. There must have been some apprehension too, for they would have known that Joseph could bring her into public disrepute if he wished. Joseph had decided to divorce Mary quietly, but God's angel uncovered the truth of the situation to him. What a marvellous moment when Joseph heard Mary vindicated and realised that God's plans had come to a climax in the child she would bear. Various remarks in the lifetime of Jesus leave little doubt that the story of Mary's pregnancy was known, and a subject of gossip.