This passage is neglected 11 months out of the year. It is rich with application during the non-Christmas months as well.
There’s never been another night like it, nor will there ever be. Mary had been chosen for her purity and dedication to God. Purity mattered to God then; purity matters today. Joseph had been chosen because he was “good and righteous.” Righteous living mattered to God then; righteous living matters to God today. As a bonus, Mary and Joseph were both “of the family of the House of David”. Thus the prophets’ words were fulfilled in them.
Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Liberal theology say it’s just a story -- no way was she a virgin. Mormon founder, Joseph Smith’s original writings denied her virginity.
Both unbiblical explanations couldn’t be further from the truth. If God can create enough apples for 1000 apple pies out of one apple seed, turn a pitiful caterpillar into an inexplicably graceful butterfly and create the universe with a word (big bang or big God?), He can easily create a life inside the security of a mother’s womb.
And so from a virgin Jesus was conceived.
That was the night that turned the “BC” calendar into an “AD” calendar. That was the night that “the law” became “grace”. That was the night that our biggest failures became God’s biggest mercies. That was the night that a distant God became closer to us than the nose on our face. For that was the night that God became a baby.