John the Baptist may have looked rough and ready but he was of good stock, not just the product of two priestly lines, but with his blood connection to the Messiah himself.

Here was a boy destined to have the greatest impact on the world ever, a youth born to be King and Saviour of Mankind. He had just given early signs of his greatness and understanding of his future role, by bamboozling the rabbis in the Temple.

Joseph’s life is very much read ‘between the lines’. Although we don’t read about him any more after these passages, we do appreciate the impact he had on the life of the boy Jesus, who grew and became strong.

It was a dangerous business being born into a world that had such high expectations for you, even to trigger the most evil-hearted to want to rid the world of you.

Can you imagine being told that you wouldn’t die until you have met a certain person? Simeon, a man of holy pedigree, figured that he’d hedge his bets by lurking in the Jerusalem Temple itself, the most likely place to witness the coming of the Messiah

At centre stage is the new-born, resting among the straw and dung, protected by his devoted mother and ‘adopted’ father. Enter stage right the shepherds, these edgy, hardened shepherds.

Teenage virgin Mary had none of the earthly advantages of her priestly relative, but she scored over him in the only way that really mattered, her response to the Angel and the message brought.

Here was a man twice-blessed by virtue of his priestly inheritance and that of his wife’s too. But the greatest blessing was being chosen by God, through the lot, to perform a task that was to be the pinnacle of his career.