PROMISE FULFILLED

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DECEMBER 8, 2023


 Luke 1:30-33

And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His Name Jesus. 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, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." 

 

Mary would have been familiar with this promise, odds are any Jewish girl would. A son to inherit the throne of David? To rule over Israel forever? This baby will be the Messiah. Two thousand years after God announced it to Abraham, God is keeping His promise at last.

 

While hesitant and bewildered initially, Mary becomes overjoyed! She will be a part of this great thing. This promise that will be fulfilled, is going to be very intimate. Mary’s body, for nine long months will experience God’s promise, profoundly culminating in the wild circumstances of Her labor and delivery. I am always struck by the fact that Mary will be nursing this baby, changing His diapers, teaching Him to walk, to talk, to do His chores and mind His manners, all the things any human child must learn. She must have felt joy.

 

Mary must have felt fear as well. This blending of Joy and fear is a truly biblical experience. Many in the Bible, experienced Joy, and fear in living the reality of God’s promise being fulfilled.

 

Here is the message that comes through all this, God would be with Mary, as God is with us when He asks us to take on life-changing challenges. That is what the hope of Emmanuel, God with Us means.

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