Mary’s Christmas
December 8, 2023
A very young Jewish girl at this time in history would have been engaged to their husbands as early as 12 years old. The Bible does not give the age of Mary when Gabriel gave her the news that she would be pregnant by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Son of God. Many Scholars put the age at 12-14 and around 15 when she gave birth to Jesus.
With that information shall we give thought to why this is Mary’s Christmas? This little Jewish girl was not that much different than her playmate, she was like them being promised to a man by her parents who believed would provide for her and come to love her. And then one day an angel, rocked her world. We have the account in Luke 1:26-37, and it is not a fable, it is the Word of God.
“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
As we research the Scriptures, we find that both Joseph and Mary are descendants of King David. In that, Joseph was not the one that Mary got pregnant from, is his being a descendant of David important? Yes, God has given him the reasonability to raise His Son and teach him a trade.
Now back to Mary, why did God pick her over all the other girls in her hometown? We find the answer in Luke 1:38, “And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (WoW) And the angel departed from her.” If only we the Church could have the obedience of Mary, and that is why God picked her to carry His only Son.
Let’s move on to her visit to Elizabeth, found in Luke 1:39-45, “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice, she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Mary’s reply, And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.” Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
We are not told how Mary told her parents or Joseph about being pregnant, but for a moment give thought to whether your daughter or bride-to-be came up with a story like Mary’s. Would you have believed her?
At that moment, Mary may not have understood the situation she found herself in, we are not told but I am sure that this would not have changed her faith in what the Lord had promised through His messenger Gabriel. But God, had her go to Elizabeth to assure her that He was in total charge of Joseph and her parents. Joseph by Jewish law could have had Mary stoned to death, he could have divorced her and that was in his mind, but God knew and had prepared Him to be the dad to His Son, and He sent an angel to speak to Him in a dream, that Mary had been without a man, and it was God’s only Son, who was to be called Jesus.
But that is only the beginning of Mary’s Christmas day, it was around nine months, Joseph had taken her as his wife and we have this account of how Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Luke 2:1-7, “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.”
And that was Mary’s Christmas, witnessed by the angels, and told to the shepherds who came to see the Child, the Messiah, and there was great rejoicing. The Message from the angels was “Pease on Earth and goodwill to Man.” Mary’s Christmas is also our Christmas, but it is not about us it is about Jesus.
Merry Christmas
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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