What WOULD Jesus do?
A/N: I normally put a disclaimer in here, but the Bible is not in its original form copyrighted. I don't believe I'll be using any quotes, but if I do, it will be either from the KJV or my own translation from the Spanish Biblia de las Americas. This story was conceived when I realized that in modern times, "Christians" are extraordinarily selfish. I asked myself, "What if Jesus came today?" Who would he converse with? What would he do? And most importantly, who would hate him?
Prologue: The Conception
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"Why not, Mary?" Joe's voice was confused. "Don't you trust me? Don't you love me?"
"Of course I love you, Joe," Mary replied. "How can you doubt that? I just think it is something we should save for after marriage. There are a lot fewer headaches that way."
"Well, I still think we should, but I respect your decision. We will wait." Joe resigned his point once again. "That ring looks so much better on your finger than in the box."
Mary looked down on her diamond ring with pride. "I love you so much, Joe. I can't think of anyone I'd rather spend my life with."
"I love you too."
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Mary.
"Wha—Who is it?" Mary looked around her apartment fearfully.
Mary. Don't be afraid. I am Gabriel, an angel of the Lord.
When was the last time an angel appeared on Earth? Mary picked up her Bible and held it in front of her. "What do you want?"
Trust me, Mary. I am Gabriel.
Mary set the Bible down and walked toward the voice. "Speak, for your servant will hear."
Mary, you are the Chosen One. You will conceive and bear a child and you shall call his name Jesus. He shall revive God's children, the Christians, from their lukewarm state. For God wishes that you were hot or cold, but being lukewarm, he will spit you out of his mouth. Rev. 3 Your people must repent, or heaven will not be filled with rejoicing Christians, as the Lord wishes. There has been an entire day wherein not one person has come to trust Christ. Your people must be revived, and therefore, God sends his Son to you.
Mary stared dumbfounded. She had realized that her church hadn't actually done very much in the past few years, but she had thought that they were all spiritual. "Lord, it is a great honor… but… why did you choose me? For one, I thought Jesus was white!"
Jesus does not have a race, nor does he have a skin color. Jesus is God, and God is a Spirit. The previous manifestation of Jesus was as a Jew, but he was not white. In fact, he was more of an Arabic race. However, that does not mean that Jesus is Arabic himself. Jesus is God. God has no race.
"I will do as my Lord commands," Mary said. Outwardly, she was humble and obeisant; yet inwardly she was bubbling over with joy. Then it hit her. "What would Joseph say?"
The angel had already gone.
Wow, what a dream… Mary thought.
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"Joe, I have some wonderful news. You aren't going to like it at first, but I want you to know that I love you very much." Mary wasn't sure how she would tell Joe that she was pregnant.
"Yes, hon?" Joe looked at Mary with questions in his eyes.
"Joe… I—I'm pregnant."
Joe stopped still for a minute. "What?" He must have heard wrong.
"It's true. I've missed my period and I took a test. It came back positive. I'm pregnant."
"But, I never—" Joe was still confused. "How, what…"
"It wasn't you, Joe." This would be the hardest part.
"Well, who was it? I thought you said you loved me! Oh my—, have you been raped?"
"No, Joe. It was God. Last week in my apartment, the angel Gabriel came to me. I thought it was just a dream, but I know now it wasn't. I'm a virgin still, but I'm pregnant." Mary looked into Joseph's eyes. "Please believe me. I'm yours forever. Nothing can tear us apart. Remember?"
"Everyone will think I got you pregnant. Everyone will blame me! How can you do this to me!" Joe's anger grew into a passionate rage. He turned and stormed off.
"Joe! Wait! Don't leave me alone!" Mary collapsed in the middle of the park, sobbing.
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Joseph.
"Go away, Mom. I'm sleeping." Joe was not quite awake.
Joseph.
No response.
Joseph! Get out of bed! I have something to tell you.
"Ah, sure, whatever… wait a minute." Something wasn't right. Who would be in his apartment this late at night? Joe looked at his clock. "2 A. M.?"
Joseph, do not leave Mary. She was chosen by God, and so are you. Marry her and keep her safe.
"Who are you?" Joe groped around his bed for anything he could hit someone with. His hand landed on his Bible.
I am Gabriel, the angel of the Lord. Your fiancée will give birth to a child, and you shall call his name Jesus.
"But, my lord, what will people think? I never—I mean, we never—she can't be pregnant!"
Have faith, my child. Everything will be for the better. Life will be difficult, but God must send his Son again. The churches have refused to preach his Holy message, and instead have infused their own self-righteousness. Your son will teach the people to be humble.
Joe finally understood how the Joseph from the Bible stories felt. "Thank you, Lord, for such a great gift," he prayed.
He grabbed for his phone. He didn't care how late it was; he must tell Mary right now. The phone rang for six times before it was picked up.
"Hello?" Her voice never sounded better, even though it was caked with fatigue.
"Mary, it's Joe! I have some great news!" Joe couldn't realize how obnoxious his alert voice sounded to Mary.
"Couldn't you wait until morning? I'm tired and it's… uh… 2:30 in the morning? What are you doing up so late?"
"I just received a vision, hon. Like yours! An angel came from God and told me that your son was Jesus! He told me I shouldn't leave you. And I won't leave you, Mary! I love you!"
"Well, Joseph, that's great… but I'm kinda tired, so if you wouldn't mind…" she let her voice trail off, hoping her fiancé would get the hint.
"I'm sorry, love. I'll call you back in the morning. I just love you so much! I couldn't wait another second to tell you!"
"Yeah, yeah…" she yawned. "I love you, too. Now goodnight."
Click.
Joseph hung up his phone, but he couldn't sleep.
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Mary turned over in her bed, trying to get back to sleep. All of a sudden, she realized what had happened, and what was happening. She was pregnant! Joe was going to marry her! Jesus was actually coming back!
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A/N: Just so everyone knows, I don't believe that my story will take place. I am writing this to see what might happen. If anyone has any ideas on how I might do certain miracles, etc., please PM me. Feedback is graciously accepted. Thanks once again to Dalamar Argent for being my beta in this story. I couldn't make it half as good without you!
--JBRam & Valgorúth
