LUKE 1

This is a good time for a simple reminder of why I write this blog. My goal is to simply encourage others to be in the Word daily. I love sharing what God shows me as a result. I will continue to try to stay on the lighter side of theology. So I head back to a gospel, and Luke seems most appropriate. Please, won't you read along?

Luke, a physician by trade, sets down to write his account of Jesus life and ministry. It is interesting to realize that his primary purpose is to make sure that Theophilus understands the exact truth about what he has been taught. Luke tends to have a more technical writing style as a result, descriptive and informative. The theme related to Jesus Christ is that of His humanity.

I started reading, and was quickly reminded of something I never really paid attention to. Here is Gabriel, the same angel who I just read about ministering to Daniel, talking to Daniel about when the messiah would come, how the end of time as we know it would unfold, and here he is with the same message and how the people in this gospel are affected specifically. Gabriel gets the privilege of delivering yet another divine message.

Gabriel appears to Zacharias, explaining that the son to be born to him and Elizabeth would be the next major player to attempt to turn Israel back to the ways of the Lord. By now, they had become merely “religious”, and God wanted their hearts. Malachi 4:6 prophesied there would be another “Elijah”, and that would be the case for who we know to be John, John the Baptist, that is. Elizabeth is excited and steady in her faith to see what God is doing.

In verse 26, Gabriel next appears in Nazareth to Mary. She humanly asks “How can this be?” And Gabriel reminds her that it is possible with God, and that she would carry the Son of God, in human form. She was to give birth to Jesus, fully human, fully God. Don’t ask me to explain it. She would be the envy of all young Jewish maidens. Her response? She considers herself to be a bondslave of the Lord, a willful, obedient servant of God.

Mary visits Elizabeth, her cousin, and they share their joy and excitement. One is carrying the forerunner of the Savior, the other, the Savior. And Mary sings what many know to be called the Magnificat, in which she clearly exclaims that God is her Savior. Mary is special, sure, and she is not divine, she is not a go-between for us and Jesus; and yet she and her name is indeed blessed forever. How could she carry the baby Jesus and not be blessed?

Her spirituality shines through, as she quotes Psalms in her praise to God. She leaves, and shortly thereafter, John the Baptist is Born, already with the Spirit, ready to grow up and take on the mission God has for him. The people around him waited in great anticipation of what kind of man he would be, seeing that God’s hand was in this birth.

SO WHAT…?

So my mission is the same as how John’s is described: Show others the Light! He is coming again.

So I enjoy the godly example of Mary, of Elizabeth, even Zacharias, though he doubted initially. We’ll see Joseph come up soon, how much God had to think of these people to entrust the raising of these crucial pieces of His redemptive plan. God said he would send each of them. He did, and I praise Him for that.