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Thursday, December 6, 2018

Read Luke 1:28-33

“Look! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.” —Luke 1:31

What an incredible moment in history, when an angel told a teenaged peasant girl that she would give birth to the Son of God! From the very beginning of time, this event was foretold. Abraham was promised that his line would be a blessing to all nations. King David was assured that his descendant would sit on the throne of Israel forever. The prophets, including Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah, all sang of a savior for Israel and for the entire world. And he was finally coming. The angel promised Mary that her son, in the line from David, would be given the throne by God, and that he would eternally reign over the house of Jacob, meaning Israel.

The angel told Mary that she should name her son “Yehoshua,” Hebrew for Jesus, which was a common Jewish name at the time. The English translation of the name is Joshua. It means “God saves.” While this is certainly a fitting title for the Messiah, it is not a royal name that would cause him to be recognized as a king. Neither was Mary a logical choice to be the mother of a king. Yet this seemingly ordinary baby with the ordinary name would be the Son of the Most High. Those realities must have created a dissonance that told Mary that this was not going to be the Messiah they had expected.

Added to all of that was the fact that Mary was a virgin. Yet the angel promised her that she would become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Before Mary could question that, the angel told her that her cousin Elizabeth, past childbearing age, had also become pregnant, and that nothing was impossible with God. Mary’s baby would truly be the Son of God, a blessed child like no other in the history of the world.

God had blessed barren women before, reversing the fortunes of those who were cursed by infertility. Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah all were given children when it seemed impossible. Now Elizabeth was pregnant with the child who would announce the coming of the Messiah. But the circumstances of Jesus’s birth outshone all of them. The stunning revelation of Mary’s pregnancy left no doubt that this child truly was the Messiah, the Son of God, and the plan of God’s salvation for the world.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, help me to grasp the wonder of your coming. Amen.