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Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Read Luke 1:26-28

God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee, to a virgin who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. —Luke 1:26b-27

In Jesus’s time, Nazareth was a tiny little village of maybe four to five hundred people. It was overshadowed by the much larger town of Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee, about five miles away, and was even considered a bit disreputable. Nathanael scoffed at the idea that the Messiah could come from such a place in John 1:46 by saying, “Can anything from Nazareth be good?”

In that town lived a girl named Mary. She was probably about 13 or 14, as girls were usually betrothed as soon as they hit puberty. Chances are she was promised to Joseph by her parents when she was a little girl, and they just waited for her to come of age. Then they were formally engaged for a year before the wedding. Joseph was probably between 18 and 20, marrying a little older so that he had the means to support a wife, although the Bible does not mention either one’s age. (The Pirkei Avot, a book of Hebrew ethics said to originate with Moses, sets the perfect age for marriage for men at 18.) Even so, we know he was a man of limited resources because they gave a sacrifice of doves when Jesus was presented at the temple, the usual sacrifice of the poor.

Therefore, it seems that the greatest gift ever given to the world was entrusted by God to two poor teenagers from a tiny, disparaged town. They had no distinction, few resources, and little experience. They were thrust into a very difficult situation that forced them to trust only their faith and each other. God blessed them in ways that were confusing, demanding, and even life-threatening.

God has a history of choosing those the world would say are ill-equipped or unsuited to the tasks ahead. From Moses, who stuttered so badly that he had to have his brother speak for him, to impetuous Peter, who denied his Lord, the story of God’s people is that of the strength and power of the Holy Spirit overcoming human weakness and deficiency. When God calls someone, God is not choosing them because they have the abilities that they need to do the job. Instead, God is asking them to trust that they will be strengthened, empowered, and guided along the way.

Two untested teenagers were entrusted with parenting the Savior of the world. May we all respond to God’s call with the same confidence in God’s providence.

Prayer

Help me to trust in your power. Amen.