This year I started looking at the Christmas story differently. I've taken an interest in what message the angels gave to Mary and Joseph. For this post, I want to look at what the angel said to Mary.
When we know about Mary’s backstory we can look ahead to the news she is about to receive (read Luke 1:28-33). The greeting from the angel is something special but Mary is greatly troubled.
I want to encourage you to read the Bible more often on your own and when you do look at people respond when angel’s talk with them. Their response is typically one of fear. They know they are in the presence of a heavenly being. That is what is happening with Mary here.
The angel has a four-fold message for her.
The first thing the angel tells Mary is that she will become pregnant and give birth to a son.
Do you remember that Luke already told us that Mary is a virgin? For this to happen will be a miracle from the Lord. Not only will she become pregnant but she will have a son and she is to name Him Jesus. All of our names have a meaning. Your name has a meaning to it and it can impact our life. My name means: Champion.
Jesus’ name means: YHWH saves, God saves. Write down Matthew 1:21 because Joseph gets the same message about Jesus.
The second part of the message is that her Son will be the Son of the Most High God.
People are going to call Jesus the Son of God! Think of that. We all know how pregnancy happens, it’s been happening in the same ways for thousands of years. But not in this case, this is a different kind of pregnancy.
If you look at Luke 3:23, most people thought that Jesus was the son of Joseph, but here we read that Jesus will be the Son of God. Take this in with me. That also means that this will not be Joseph’s son. Mary is engaged to a man she loves and is finding out that she will be pregnant but not with her fiancé’s son.
The third part of this message is that her Son will sit on the throne of David.
Israel was longing for this. When we read Scripture we read that David was the ideal king, except for that part of Bathsheba. David had a heart for the Lord. David was loving and caring. He wasn’t prideful or overbearing. David sought the Lord and led Israel well.
Listen to this:
“Jesus Messiah is truly in the kingly line of David, heir to the messianic promises, the one who brings divine blessings to all nations.” -D.A. Carson
At this point in history, Israel was looking for a king to save them from the Roman oppression. Israel was under the governance of Rome and they wanted their freedom back.
If we can pause the story here, isn’t that what we’re all looking for?
We’re all looking for freedom.
We want a magic pill that cure our problems.
We want a book to fix our marriage in six weeks when it’s taken us fifteen years to create all the problems.
We want a pill to fix our weight but refuse to stop driving through Taco Bell at 9pm.
We want a lottery ticket to fix our financial situation that we’ve dug ourselves into.
We want a teacher to fix our kids because by the time we get home from work we don’t have the mental energy to engage them in the way that they really need.
Life is hard, but Jesus came to give us freedom.
The fourth part of this angelic message is that Jesus’ Kingdom will be eternal.
It’s a kingdom that never ends. In the last six years I have heard some of the most difficult political conversations. I’ve sat with people who were crushed when their candidate lost.
I’ve heard Christians say horrible things about people they have never met.
I need you to know that Christians voted for Biden.
Christians voted for Trump. Christians voted for Kanye.
We all cast our vote in hopes of something better. The gospel reminds us that Jesus is our leader. If you are fed up with politics, if you are sick of the leadership around you, pray for them. But make certain that you don’t place your full trust in an elected politician. Make sure that this Christmas you place your trust in the eternal King.
Think about how this message of the coming of Jesus applies to your life.
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