Luke 1: 26-38
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
Matthew 1: 18-25
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a Son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Luke 1: 39-49
At that time (after the angel left her) Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, "Blest are you among women, and blest is the Child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blest is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blest, for the Mighty One has done great things for me--holy is His Name."
O my goodness, there is so much here for Christmas Eve! I think I will just focus on a couple of things here, and maybe come back another time for the rest.
Let's look at who Mary was. She was a simple, young girl who loved the Lord, and had gotten engaged to a man who also loved the Lord, named Joseph. We find that, in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-16), Joseph, the legal father of Jesus, was directly descended from King David through Solomon and the whole list of kings, the regal line. And, from Luke's genealogy (Luke 3:23-38) we see that Mary also traced her line back to King David through his other son, Nathan (v. 31), so she also had royal blood. This gives Jesus the legal right to claim the Throne of David.
Even though Joseph traced his line directly back, he could not claim this throne, because his ancestor, King Jehoiachin (or Jeconiah, or Coniah), the last king over Judah, was so evil that Jeremiah pronounced a curse on him, that, "No man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah" (22:30).
But Jesus was not the "seed" of Joseph, just his legal Son, and His mother also was of King David's seed, his direct line. So Jesus does have the right to claim David's throne!
And Mary admitted that she needed a Savior (Luke 1:47), because she, like the rest of us, was born of Adam, with a human father.
And God did bless her, beyond all the other young women, in allowing her to be the mother of our Savior; and He also "pierced her heart [soul] with a sword" (Luke 2:35), when she witnessed the execution of her Son as a criminal.
God often "scourges" His most favored children (Hebrews 12:6), as we see in the Old Testament with Job and some of His prophets. Look at Hosea, who was told he'd fall in love with and marry a woman who would break his heart with infidelity to show Israel how she was breaking God's heart (Hosea 1:2); and God had Ezekiel's beloved wife die and he was not even to mourn for her, as a picture to Israel how God saw His wife, Israel (Ezekiel 24:15-18). He broke His own beloved, faithful prophets' hearts, and made their lives miserable.
Are we any less loved? When God breaks our hearts, it isn't to be mean to us, He still loves us more than we can imagine. But He trusts us, to still trust Him even when things go wrong for us.
When Mary was found to be expecting, she could've been stoned to death. She knew the consequences of her obedience. And can you imagine how Joseph looked at her when she told him she was pregnant? That must've hurt. So she took off to see Elizabeth. And stayed with her the last three months of her pregnancy to witness the birth and know what was in store for herself. (Luke finished one story before starting on the next, in 1:56.)
So, we find Mary pregnant and not yet married, and Joseph having to dream of an angel to convince him to trust her. And Mary did not doubt that her loving God was sovereign over her life in all of this.
Merry Christmas! We will continue this story tomorrow.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
