Thursday
We have been reflecting this week on the significance of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Let’s see if we can’t use our imagination to reset the scene in which she first heard of God’s plan to save the world through her son. Let’s suppose that Gabriel first appeared to Mary one day when she was out in the backyard in the late afternoon, getting ready to go to the well to draw out some water for the evening washing and cooking. She looks up and sees a tall figure dressed in pure white standing nearby. She was both attracted and frightened by the strange figure all at the same time. Then he spoke, and she got really scared: “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
This greeting is both beautiful and powerful. The angel recognizes Mary’s God-developed character as a young teenager who has accepted God’s grace and has been living it out in quietness, peace, and purity. This greeting does not mean that Mary is so full of grace that she can forever bestow grace on others, nor does it mean that Mary is somehow super-spiritual or above all other women on the earth. The context here is that because the Lord is with her, she is favored. That’s what grace is all about. Mary, like all of us, is totally undeserving of God’s favor and grace on her own, but because God is gracious, He sends His Son Jesus to be with her and with us!
Verse 29 tells us “Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.”
Mary was troubled because she probably did not think of herself as one who was highly favored. She was not from a wealthy or politically important family. She, more than anyone, knew all about her shortcomings and insecurities. She is thinking deeply about the meaning of what this stranger has said to her.
But that’s not the half of it. Gabriel proceeds to tell her something that blows her mind. He tells her that she’s going to have a baby, and not just any baby. She’s going to give birth to the Son of God!
Listen again to these words in verses 30-33. But this time, try to put yourself in the sandals of a teenager in love: “But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
The first time Gabriel spoke to Mary, he said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!” This time he tells her again that she has found favor with God and adds that she does not need to be afraid. This phrase does not so much describe her character as it describes how God’s grace is going to affect her and work through her to impact all of human history. The preposition with, literally means that she has found grace by the side of God, in the fellowship of God.
Did you catch the emphasis here? It’s not on Mary - it’s on her Son! Gabriel uses beautiful poetic language to recount the Messianic prophecy from the Old Testament, which is fulfilled in Jesus. Gabriel is saying, “Your baby boy will incarnate all of the godly Messianic personhood foretold for hundreds of years. This is the one. He is the savior of the world – and Lord of life.”
Jeff Frazier
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment