Verses: Luke 1:26-38, 46-55
30 The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary; God has shown you his grace. 31 Listen! You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of King David, his ancestor. 33 He will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you. For this reason the baby will be holy and will be called the Son of God. 36 Now Elizabeth, your relative, is also pregnant with a son though she is very old. Everyone thought she could not have a baby, but she has been pregnant for six months. 37 God can do anything!”
38 Mary said, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!” Then the angel went away.
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46 Then Mary said,
“My soul praises the Lord;
47 my heart rejoices in God my Savior,
48 because he has shown his concern for his humble servant girl.
From now on, all people will say that I am blessed,
49 because the Powerful One has done great things for me.
His name is holy.
50 God will show his mercy forever and ever
to those who worship and serve him.
51 He has done mighty deeds by his power.
He has scattered the people who are proud
and think great things about themselves.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
and raised up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with nothing.
54 He has helped his servant, the people of Israel,
remembering to show them mercy
55 as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his children forever.”
- And this is the scripture where the life of a young girl took a drastic change, and would go down in history as the mother of the Savior. The name “Mary” literally means “exalted”. How special is God’s plan? Of all the girls that God could choose to bear His holy son, God has chosen a poor, ordinary Jewish girl from a small village that was not famous for anything at all – her credentials could not be more ‘ordinary’. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians, God’s plans are foolish to the world, but it’s a great mysterious wisdom to those connected to the creator!
- Do we sometimes feel average or even sub-standard compared to others? Do we feel overwhelmed by others because of our education? Our job? Or wealth? Or family background? As we see in how God chose Mary, God doesn’t see people for these at all, instead He chooses people for their heart and their faith. Conversely, do we sometimes feel superior or more important because of our education? Our career, our wealth, or our abilities? May God humble our hearts so we may become useful tools to glorify Him.
- Being pregnant while still unmarried may be somewhat common in today’s North American culture (and that is not a good thing), but in the first century Middle East Jewish culture this was totally unacceptable. Not only would the girl be considered impure, she would bring shame to the entire family. Read the scripture again and consider yourself in the place of Mary. How would you feel if God’s calling would put you in a somewhat difficult situation?
- Despite not fully understanding the plan of God, Mary responded to God’s messenger saying, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!” What courage does Mary have?!! Knowing full well the stares and name-calling and even possibly persecution she would get from her peers, her family, the society and even her fiancée, Mary bravely threw herself into the unknown future on faith alone! Slowly read Mary’s prayer to God (v46-55) and reflect on it.
- How has our Advent season been so far? Have we spent quality time meditating and devoting, preparing our hearts for Jesus’ birthday? Or have we been pre-occupied with the busy-ness of the commercial season, with parties, gatherings and shopping? Sometimes it is indeed difficult with the craziness of the season, but with 2 days until Christmas it’s still not too late! Let’s spend quality time with God and put Christ back in our Christmas season this year!