Luke
1:26-38
26 In the sixth month the angel
Gabriel was sent from 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. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the
Lord is with you!”
29 But she was greatly troubled
at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And 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 bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be
called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to 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.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a
virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon
you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to
be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative
Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month
with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible
with God.”
38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of
the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from
her.
This time
of year I often wonder how many names Jesus really has? I know there are lists
of names that explain who Jesus is and what he has done. But are any of these
names really his names, or names by which he will be called. Jesus Christ is
our Immanuel, but he is also the Son of God or Son of the Most High.
The angel
Gabriel comes to Mary to announce the birth of Jesus Christ. Luke records for
us this announcement in conjunction with Zechariah being told of John the
Baptist’s
birth. These two children are connected. It is almost like one is proof of the
others destiny.
Many
people would love to have a Mary or Zechariah like experience. They would love
to have an Angel come and tell them what their future will be. Even as we look
forward to celebrating the changing of another calendar year, what is next for
us? The Word of God tells us what we are supposed to do. It also tells us how
we are supposed to live our lives. The problem is even when we try we will
fail. You have failed to do all God commanded you.
You may
even be thinking to yourself of all the ways you can justify yourself. You even
want to prove to yourself that you are doing the right thing. Mary and Joseph,
Zechariah and Elizabeth, even Peter and John are all given great tasks, but
fail to do all that they are commanded. Jesus Christ is the one true and only
human who has lived a holy and perfect life. He is perfect as the Lord our God is
perfect, because he is the Lord our God. He is Immanuel who comes to die for
the forgiveness of our sins. He comes to save his people from their sins. All
things are possible not with me or with you, but with God.
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