Luke 1: 26-38
Today we will begin the Christmas Story:
Now in the sixth month the Angel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,
This was the sixth month of the pregnancy of Elizabeth, which we just read about in the previous verses. Nazareth was not in Judea, but north of Samaria in Galilee. This is where Joseph and Mary lived.
to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
Actually, both Joseph and Mary were descendants of David: Joseph through the line of kings of Judah, through Solomon and Rehoboam, and the other kings; while Mary came through David's son Nathan, Solomon's brother. (See the genealogies, Matthew gives Joseph's: Matthew 1: 1-16; and Mary's is in Luke 3: 23-38, all the way back to Adam.)
And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."
But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.
Mary knew she was no one special, just a simple girl about to be married, just living her life every day. And this amazing person comes to her calling her, "favored," and that the Lord was with her. Why would he be saying these things to her? This got her totally discombobulated!
The Angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.
So the Angel told her not to worry, God's got her back. Calm down, everything will go just like God planned for you.
"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.
This is what God wants you to do, to bear His Son in your womb. God is fulfilling His promise to send the Messiah, and He wants to use you to do this. Name him "Savior."
"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
Now Gabriel is really getting into who this Boy will be, the actual Son of God, who will rule and govern as King from David's throne. Which is actually the Lord's throne that He let David sit on; I Chronicles 29: 23, says that Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father. The Lord was King over Israel until they asked for a king.
So the Lord God allowed the Israelite kings to sit on His throne to rule His people, and now the Lord God who is conceived in Mary's womb will be born to reclaim His throne.
"And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His Kingdom will have no end."
The Lord God will become a human Man, take the Name, Jesus, and will fulfill the prophesies. This is enormous! What a great honor God is giving this girl Mary, to be the vessel by which the Lord God will enter our world!
Mary said to the Angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"
Mary asked the same question Zacharias had asked, but got a completely different response from the Angel. Zacharias had asked how it could be possible, because it was impossible and he doubted. And he was struck dumb.
Mary didn't doubt, but was curious as to how God would do this. So Gabriel explained the process to her.
The Angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.
This is the process by which God the Father would implant His Seed, His Word into Mary's womb; a spiritual process that would result in a physical manifestation of the Lord God Himself.
"And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.
And the Angel relayed the good news about her "cousin" Elizabeth, as verification of the power of God to do whatever He wants, even the impossible.
"For nothing will be impossible with God."
God is Almighty God, who can do anything. And He has done everything, possible and impossible, to draw us to Himself, to cleanse us so pristine that He could come to live inside us, without our being destroyed by His Presence.
We cannot even look at the Sun without destroying our eyes, and it holds only a tiny portion of His glory. So we would need to be perfectly clean and pure, with no trace or shadow of any sin at all to be able to withstand His Presence.
And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." And the Angel departed from her.
Mary knew that she would be vulnerable to gossip and slander, becoming pregnant before her marriage, but she had full trust in God and submitted to His will for her, in spite of the probable consequences.
God never violates the free will He gave us. Mary could have refused this honor, but God knew that she wouldn't, because she and Joseph had the precise genes and DNA to give humanity to the rightful heir of David's throne.
God had promised David that his descendant would rule forever, and Jesus was born with that precise heritage to accomplish that, and fulfill the prophesy.
I respect Mary for her decision. I honor her for her trust in God to be willing to endure the consequences of this choice she has made, and for putting herself into God's hand.
Mary was a strong woman, and strong in her faith and trust in the Lord her God. She was given a very difficult road to walk in life, and she walked it admirably.
May each of us, as God's children, be as strong and faithful as she was, following her example, as we are given her story to emulate. She is one of God's saints, and I'm looking forward to having a long conversation with her when I get to Heaven, too.
And I would hope to be as courageous as she was in her trusting God to make that life-changing decision that brought so much sorrow into her heart.
May I also be willing to endure whatever sorrows and trials and disappointments I will encounter on my path. I want to remain faithful to my Lord, and to also be an example other people can follow to grow more like the Son.
O my Father, thank You for telling us about how Mary risked everything to follow You, and was willing to endure so much for Your sake. I know that her rewards are great, and that she is now enjoying Your Presence, as I will some day.
Help me, Father, to continue to follow You in the road You have placed my feet upon, not fearing the evil that is around me in the World, but to keep on keeping on, doing what You give my hand to accomplish, and to help others to also know You better and follow You more closely through my ministry to them.
And may You fill Your great house to overflowing with the innumerable, uncountable children You will draw into Your family, all around Your grand Banquet Table, to enjoy the feasting and fellowship with You forevermore.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus, the Son of Mary, our Messiah and Redeemer, is Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
