Christmas Advent Devotional Day 19: The Coming King

 

 

 Luke 1:26-33

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

²⁹ But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. ³⁰ Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. ³² He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. ³³ And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (NKJV, emphasis mine)

 

Today, we pick up where we left off yesterday. The angel, Gabriel had appeared to Mary, a young virgin, and dropped several bombshells on her.  But what she hears in these verses must feel like a supersonic boom!

Still trying to digest the very appearance of a heavenly being, as well as what Gabriel meant in the previous verses, had left Mary feeling utterly confused.  What does any of this mean? Why is this happening? Gabriel would next provide an “explanation” that probably sounded like more confusion to her perplexed mind.

“Do not be afraid” are words that should be especially reassuring when spoken by an angel.  Problem is, they are usually only spoken before an event that is fear provoking.

Then, to dispel all doubt, Gabriel calls her by name.  Mary.  This visitation is not one of mistaken identity.  She was, in fact, known by God and handpicked for an important assignment.  Once again, he reminds her of her favored position in the Lord then, boom! - the birth announcement to end all birth announcements! She, a virgin, was going to be pregnant. She would give birth to a Son and His name was already decided- she was to call Him Jesus, which means the Lord saves! (On a previous day we have seen Joseph also told to give Him the name Jesus.  It was imperative that there was no confusion by the earthly parents when it came time to pick a name!)

These verses are probably as familiar to you as they are to me. We've read them all our lives, especially during the Christmas season. But have you ever taken the time to sit with them, to put yourself into the story and imagine how you would respond to such news? I'm sure if this happened in modern day, Mary would say this does not compute. There is no way for her to wrap her mind around what the Angel has spoken. She has never in her life- or throughout all of history- heard of such an event occurring. Much less to little ol’ her!

Next Gabriel tells her the significance of such a miraculous birth! The son that she is to bear will not be an ordinary Son in any way. He will be great in every way. His manner, his speech, his actions, his thought processes, the impact he would have on the world, all of this would be unprecedented. Who he would be is unlike any person ever born before or after. He would be called the son of the Highest.

Being yet not legally wed, the child's parentage would be questioned by all. But Gabriel makes it plain that this is God's doing. This Child would not only be extraordinary in every way, but he would be the Son of God. The Firstborn of the Father. Truly, the only born of the Father (unless you count our adoption as children). He would be her child, but she would struggle to relate to Him because all of His attributes, He would get from His Father.

Not only is she giving birth to God in the flesh, but she is giving birth to a King. She, a poor unwed teenager, would give birth to a King. His lineage would tie back to that of King David. Understand that every Jew would know what that meant. They had long been awaiting such a King! 

Yes, Mary’s life was about to change.  But so would the lives of every human ever born from Adam to the last to be born on Earth!  Change was coming.  An eternal shift was occurring. And it all started with a common girl.

 

Note: Usually, my devotion blogs are written with personal application in mind.  But for this Advent devotion blog, the Lord keeps impressing me to keep it about Him.  Fully focused on Him.  We tend to bring Christ down to our size.  To our terms, where we can best relate to Him.  But He desires to bring our viewpoint of His birth up to His standards.  Otherwise, we dim the miraculous that He has done!