December 4, 2022
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;
40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.
Ok; let’s get the silly stuff out of the way first: when you hear that song this month, “Mary Did You Know?” You can shout YES at the radio. Of course she knew. Angel Gabriel explained it to her pretty thoroughly. Ok. Rant over.
Verse 35 always gets me, “… that holy thing which shall be born of thee …” When I read the Bible for the first time (I was probably in my thirties), I was shocked when I read ‘holy thing’. I mean, how rude is that, calling Jesus a ‘thing’. But over the years and many additional readings of the Bible, it occurred to me – what do you call something that has never been before and will always be and is awaited in the Second Coming? What do you call something that is both human and divine all at the same time in the same body for all eternity? The Oxford Languages online Dictionary defines the word ‘thing’ in this manner: an object that one need not, cannot, or does not wish to give a specific name to. Gabriel had, in fact, given a specific name and he can not explain what Jesus is – that was above his pay grade, so to speak, as it was Jesus who revealed Himself as being from and with and in the Father. I’ve become comfortable with ‘thing’ but if this is possible – my eye ‘stumbles’ over that word every time I read it.
This is just an aside but it’s what I’m thinking so I’ll share it with you. When Mary and Elizabeth met on that particular day, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy. Jesus and John knew each other pre-birth. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, they recognized each other. Later on, how else could John have known, “26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.” (John, chapter 1) It sort of gives me goose bumps. How great is God? John knows Jesus because he always has. When things become bad for John, he sends his disciples to ask of Jesus, are you the one? From Matthew 11 “And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? 4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:” John had a time of doubting – we all have had our time of doubting. Jesus reassures him by reminding him of the miraculous things Jesus has done.
The Bible tells us the God knew us before we were born. Jesus and John knew each other before they were born. It’s a God thing.
Words on the Word 