Luke 1:5-37
Key verse: “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.” (Luke 1:35).
Introduction
Christmas is celebrated in many parts of the world, including all Western countries, Sub-Saharan African nations, the Middle East, and Far East nations like China, India, Japan, and Korea. In your understanding, which religions honor Jesus’ birth? Muslims may not celebrate Christmas, but they honor Jesus as one of their prophets; Hindus celebrate Christmas as the day of when the Ramakrishna mission was founded. The Baha’I religion also honors Jesus and participates in the celebration of Christmas. As we see from looking at a map, except for several countries in the Middle East, most of the world celebrates Christmas, either as an official holiday or as a cultural holiday, such as Japan and China. As we know, Christmas is the day of Jesus’ birth and practically all of the nations of the world knew or was acquainted with Jesus and His birth; the majority of them think they are worthy to believe in him. This leads to the question of how they relate to Jesus. This question leads to another question, “Who is Jesus to them?” Or who is he to you? This is the fundamental question that each of us has to answer, for ourselves as well as for the world. The first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke provide us with the best and most important clues to this question.
This Christmas, we will explore Luke’s report on Jesus’ birth (1:5-2:40), dividing it into three parts. In the first part (1:5-38), we will learn how God orchestrated His plan to send Jesus in such a way that would convince people to believe he was His Son. In the second part (1:39-56), we will find out the impact of the coming of the Son of God had upon the lives of the individuals who believed in his presence in their lives. In the third part (1:57-2:40), we will look at the actual births of John and Jesus, and the impact the Son of God had on the world.
A. God delivered the message of His Son’s birth through the Angel, Gabriel.
Though we will focus on the first of these three sections today, I would like to look at the entire story of Jesus’ birth at a glance, so that we may have a clear view of each of these three messages.
- In the first part of this story, God delivered His word to both Zechariah and Mary. His message was very difficult for them to accept, as well as for all of us. However, God did this in such a way, that no one should mistake this for anything other than His word.
- In the second part, there were two women, who became pregnant with child, according to God’s word. Both pregnancies spoke to the Messiah’s coming, according to God’s word as given through the Angel, Gabriel, displayed the impact his coming would have on each individual’s life.
- The third part speaks of the fulfillment of God’s word as delivered by Gabriel, in the sense of the Son of God’s arrival and the joy the Messiah would bring, which would extend to the whole world.
God sent His word to Zechariah
“In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.” (Luke 1:5-7).
During King Herod’s reign, God sent an angel to a priest named Zechariah. King Herod the Great was born in 74 or 73 BC and died between 4 BC and 1 AD; he was a Roman and was King of Judea from 37BC to about 4 BC or 1 AD. His rule is well recorded in world history. Near the end of Herod’s rule, God sent Gabriel, one of His angels, to a man named Zechariah. He was a priest, belonging to the division of Abijah. By lot, he was chosen out of several thousands to serve in the temple on that day. He and his wife Elizabeth were righteous, observing all of the Lord’s commandments, but they did not have a child; Elizabeth was barren throughout her life and was so old at that time that it was unthinkable for her to have a child. It seemed like their lives were about to end fruitlessly. This signified disgrace or the fact that they were out of God’s favor, not to mention hopelessness for their future.
This couple’s condition mirrored that of the nation of Israel; the priests were the ones who were most knowledgeable of God’s word, and were the most holy among all of them. Among these priests, this couple were kept the Law of Moses well and lived godly lives, and yet they did not have a child. If God were to bless this couple, then they would need a godly child to inherit the father’s priesthood. If not, then the priesthood, a treasured blessing for Zechariah’s family, would be cut off, and the nation would be without one of its godly priests. Therefore, the situation of Zechariah’s family was a crisis for them and signified the crisis facing the nation of Israel. In this crisis, God deliberately chose this man to serve in the temple when the lot fell on him. God had a clear purpose, which was revealed in His sending Gabriel, one of His chief angels.
At the time, Zechariah was on duty, burning incense in the Temple’s Holy Place ,while people were praying in the temple courts. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw the angel, he was startled and fearful. The angel delivered this message from the Lord:
“But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous-- to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Luke 1:13-17).
Zechariah’s prayer had been heard; his wife Elizabeth would bear a son and he must call him “John”. God named this child, even before his birth, and the implications of this are enormous. Not only was God Himself bringing about John’s life, but He was also providing a clear purpose for his life. In order to find out the significance of this, we can look back at a little of the history of this event. God delivered a message to Israel through Jeremiah, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years, in order to pay off their sins (Daniel 9:2,24). So, the entire period, from Judah’s exile in BC 587 to this time, i.e. near the end of King Herod’s reign, was a time of paying off Israel’s sins. Now for the first time in a long time, His angel, Gabriel, announced God’s grace, both to Zechariah and to the nation of Israel, by sending a baby. Here, God was actively intervening to show His grace, so He told Zechariah to name the baby John, “God is gracious”. His grace was so evident in John’s life that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from the womb. This indicates that God broke the silence and began something new, distributing His grace on His people. He described what John’s role would be; he would be filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb and would turn the hearts of Israel back to the Lord their God. The ultimate goal was to make Israel ready for the Lord’s coming. As Zechariah heard the angel’s message, he wasn’t sure how this could happen to him and his wife, for they were so old. Therefore, he asked:
This was an expression of doubt and unbelief. This was quite disappointing for both Gabriel and the Lord, because God had made sure that no one, including Zechariah, would fail to recognize His mighty hand on this issue .
God selected a man of faith among many, i.e. Zechariah and his wife. As far as observing the Law of God, they were the only ones that stood out at that time. In this sense, he and his wife were the best among Israel’s faithful.
Second, God chose to deliver His message in the temple, where Zechariah was serving as the priest while the people were praying, asking God for His mercy; this was the perfect setting for them to wait for His answers. In this setting, He responded yes to their needs by sending Gabriel. Gabriel said that God had HEARD Zechariah’s prayer. So if He was to give any message or appear before any men, His positive answer to their (his) prayer in the temple, was particularly effective during the time when people were praying and seeking God’s grace and mercy, without doubt. So, the angel’s appearance was not unexpected, unreasonable, or unbelievable. In this way, God made it clear that His angel came directly from Him, with all of His authority as God Almighty.
Third, the message itself spoke clearly that this was from God, for the entire message was in line with His will and hope for His people (John, filled with the spirit, brought Israel’s heart back to the Lord, and make them ready for His coming).
Yet, to Zechariah, the most faithful man of his time, his current situation looked too impossible to enable him and his wife to have such a wonderful child, and cared more about the difficulties of his situation, such as his and his wife’s frail bodies, than God’s words; he was discounting God and His power. This was truly his unbelief in God and His word. Even though Zechariah kept the law faithfully, he did not have meaningful trust in God’s grace and power. He lived in uncertainty and fear; his faithfulness in observance of the Law did not give him the faith that trusts in God.
To this unbelief, Gabriel gave this word:
“The angel said to him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.” (Luke 1:19).
First, the angel revealed himself; he was the chief angel, Gabriel, who stood before the Lord. He was the same one who delivered the message to Daniel (Daniel 9) that, on the sixty-ninth week, the anointed one would come. So, this time, i.e. during King Herod’s reign, or when Zechariah met the angel, Gabriel, occurred during the sixty-ninth week (ca BC 37-AD 32) from when God gave the word for the Israelites to restore the temple (Ezra 4; BC 445, according to A McClain). This was the week when the Anointed would come. Since Gabriel had originally delivered that prophesy, and God sent him again on this mission, Gabriel’s appearance surely spoke of its fulfillment, strongly alluding to the Messiah’s arrival.
At the same time, since Zechariah was the most faithful man of his time and was eager to find God’s solace, it is almost certain that he did know of God’s prophecy, given through Gabriel, concerning Israel’s restoration. In this way, God made sure that His word was given to Gabriel during Daniel’s time, and was being fulfilled through this mission. All of these events were pointing to the fact that what Gabriel was about to deliver was a part of that prophecy’s fulfillment as he announced that Zechariah’s son was to be called John, meaning God-is-gracious, and that he would prepare the Israelite people for the Lord’s coming as the Anointed Son of God. However, Zechariah failed to sense the imminence of God’s grace, the coming of a new era and the Anointed One. Furthermore, it is noteworthy to carefully consider what the angel said:
“I am Gabriel and stand in the presence of God” (Luke 1:19).
Gabriel did not address this message as something pertaining to the past; rather, he was saying this to Zechariah as though he were standing in God’s presence at that moment. Here, the emphasis was now. What the angel was saying was also what God was saying right then. The implication was that Gabriel fully represented God’s word, and that word should not be ignored, overlooked, or taken lightly! Therefore, he made it clear what it meant for Zechariah to reject his word:
“And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time." Luke 1:20).
Gabriel punished Zechariah with muteness. The ground for such punishment was clear; he did not believe God’s word. Therefore, rejection or unbelief of God’s word is unbelief in His authority and power. In this way, Gabriel fully exposed Zechariah’s lack of faith and the insufficiency of his godliness. Zechariah’s situation, as well as his faith, reflected Israel’s condition, which was far short of deserving God’s blessing. The angel delivered a declaration of punishment for Zechariah’s unbelief; he would be silent and unable to speak until the birth of his son, John. His muteness was a sign of God’s power living in him. This was, first of all, a punishment, as well as the last attempt to help this old priest to believe in God’s word. Also, Gabriel added that what he said would come true at its appointed time. God speaks words and His words are fulfilled in their appointed time, without fail. God demonstrates all of His authority through the fulfillment of His word. The kind of faith that He seeks is faith in His word, no matter how improbable or impossible it looks. So, men are to note, see, and pay attention to God’s word and its fulfillment. Out of this comes faith, honor, and trust in the Lord. Secondly, since making Zechariah mute was God’s indirect injunction for him not to disseminate any human ideas, God’s purpose was to help people to pay attention to His work, by giving them concrete evidence of His word’s fulfillment. In other words, everyone would see His work in light of His word and its fulfillment, upholding His authority and power. Thirdly, God wanted to show Zechariah something totally different from the mind that was framed by the knowledge contained in and revealed through the Law and its covenant. What was God going to show him? In silence, Zechariah must observe what God was doing and how He was doing it in totally different way from what he knew.
As a whole, God planned and carried out the first step of His plan to send His Son. His key concern was regarding how to help His people to believe what He had promised - to send His Anointed Son. This was beyond human thinking, and God had devised a plan to present them with a condition whereby air-tight evidence was provided that His hand was on it in His almighty power, speaking directly and forcefully against the unbelief framed by man’s sinfulness.
As Zechariah came out, it was obvious that he was unable to speak. This muteness continued while his wife became pregnant; as her tummy grew bigger and bigger, he had ample time to muse over what the angel, Gabriel, had said. His wife, Elizabeth, remained in seclusion for five months. No one knew what or how this happened, and Zechariah could not tell them anything about it. Many of their family members and friends asked how she had become pregnant, and yet everything was left unknown to them. Any word of unbelief would not fly; all Zechariah and Elizabeth could do was watch and see what God was doing or how Gabriel’s word would come true. As her pregnancy was approaching the sixth month, Elizabeth broke the silence and said this:
"The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people." (Luke 1:25).
Mary’s unbelief or insufficient faith saw the work of God’s grace, and she began to realize the grace He had given to her and her family. God changed Elizabeth’s disgrace into His grace by sending John, ‘the grace of God’, in her old age. The sign of His amazing power and grace had come upon their family and upon the nation of Israel.
God sent His words to Mary:
“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.” (Luke 1:26).
The virgin's name was Mary.
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, her tummy was big, obviously from pregnancy. As it became evident to all that an impossible thing had happened to her, God sent the same angel, Gabriel, to Mary in the small town of Bethlehem. This was a continuation of the mission that He began when He delivered His message to Zechariah.
Mary was an ordinary girl in Bethlehem. In every aspect, her life was totally opposite to Zechariah’s. She did not have any social or religious ‘prestige’, like Zechariah did, her godly character had not been proven, and she had not yet lived long to demonstrate her godliness by blamelessly observing all of the Lord’s commandments and decrees. She was not from a prominent place like Jerusalem or Judea, and her family was totally unknown. The only thing that could be counted as significant about her life was that she was a descendant of David and was pledged to marry Joseph, a descendant of David as well. The angel said to Mary:
For Mary, this was totally unexpected and uncalled for, but God, in His own decision, sent Gabriel to deliver a message of blessing to her.
“Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.” (Luke 1:29).
This was great shock, because Mary could not make anything out of God’s sudden visit. While she was guessing the nature of this visitation, the angel detailed his message:
“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." (Luke 1:30-33).
The message was this: she had found God’s favor and would conceive and give birth to a son. She was to give him the name Jesus. The reason for this was that he would be great, and would be called the Son of the Most High. God would give him the throne of his father, David; he would reign over Jacob’s descendants forever and his kingdom would never end. Concisely, God revealed three things about the Son that Mary was to bear - Jesus, the Son of the Most high, and he would reign over Israel as their king forever, establishing a new kingdom. All three of these aspects of his character are important. Among these three, the most important thing about him was that he was the Son of the Most High; the other two characteristics are derived from this divine sonship, namely, his kingship and the eternity of his Father’s throne. But, how could his birth be possible? Mary asked the same question:
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" (Luke 1:34).
She was not asking how the son she would bear could be the Son of the Most High, but rather how she could be with a child since she was a virgin. She recognized God’s power and authority to make her son be the Son of the Most High, but it was impossible for her to imagine bearing a child as a virgin; she was pledged to be married, and must remain a virgin until she and her betrothed got married. Thus, she understood the immediacy of the angel’s words; because of her virginity, she was completely locked out of any relationship with a man! How could she bear a child alone! This was beyond her understanding or that of any human being. We can all fully agree with her reasoning and question. How can a woman bear a child without a man? And, if she was to be the first to do so, how could this be possible? 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.” (Luke 1:35).
God’s power would overshadow Mary and she would be with child; this could only be possible by His power upon her. Since she became pregnant by God’s power, the son to be born would be called the Son of the Most High. In other words, Mary’s bearing a child, Jesus, was of God’s power and he would be full of that power. How could this be possible? This was a great puzzle for Mary, since there was no example of such history. It was unfathomable by any stretch of the imagination.
When other people could not believe in God’s power, they remained entrenched in their own understanding. God created man and women to unite in order to have a child; this truth has stood evident throughout all human history. No one had ever been born of just a woman. This was the reasoning behind all of the contentions and refutations surrounding Mary’s virgin birth.
Out of these came all kinds of ‘reasonable explanations’. From the Church’s beginning (3rd century), various ideas have come up, such as Jesus was not God but he was like God, Jesus had God’s spirit enclosed in a human body, or Jesus was similar to God. One popular idea is that the event of Jesus’ birth was merely a symbol of the greater abstract truth of God’s going forth into the world (G. Hegel). Muslims believe that Jesus was born through the breathing of the "Spirit of God" on Mary; the Qur'an compares the nature of his birth to the birth of Adam, who had neither mother nor father. Baha’i believers see the virgin birth as symbolic and indicative of the very strong spiritual relationship between Jesus and God (Wikipedia). Simply, all of these understandings deny that Jesus is God; they are rooted in human understanding of what had happened since the creation of the world. No one in his right mind with any reasonable thought could deny this.
However, God put all things together so as to plant or create something new through faith in Himself as God Almighty.
This was new in two ways; first, such a thing had never happened before and would never happen again, in regards to God in His fullness coming to dwell among men. Second, this was new, because it could not be understood, except by faith in God’s power as well as His grace. God had shown His grace from the beginning with His election of Israel as His firstborn son. Since then, His grace had been exuding throughout Israel’s history as they walked with Him and observed His Law of the Covenant; yet that grace was never as concrete and full as this demonstration: that God Himself came to be with man in His fullness in order to show them His love and to redeem them. John saw this and said:
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14 NIV).
However, was this sufficient for Mary to accept and believe that she would bear the Son of God? The angel added this:
“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." (Luke 1:36-37).
Zechariah faced difficulty in accepting the angel’s message, and now Mary also faced a similar difficulty. Though there are differences in their situations, one thing is the same; it was regarding the bearing of a child in an impossible human condition. For Zechariah, he and his wife were as good as dead, as far as bearing a baby was concerned, so this was impossible for them. For Mary, it was impossible for her to have a baby, because she was a virgin and a virgin had never had a baby all by herself.
At the end of Gabriel’s declaration, he appended the news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. After this, Elizabeth broke her time of seclusion to meet Mary when she came to visit her; she came out to praise the Lord for His grace upon her life (1:25). In such open praise to the Lord, Elizabeth recognized God’s power upon her in giving her a child, so as to let the world know of His grace in her life, specifically in bearing a child. This news would not have been so much important for Mary, if she did not face a similar situation. However, when she was told of this story by the angel, Elizabeth’s pregnancy spoke as an amazing testimony of God’s power in her mind. In other words, Elizabeth’s pregnancy bore a great impact on Mary’s understanding, leading to her decision of faith. It may not be too much to say that, if she did not see the living example of God’s power in Elizabeth, she could not have made such a decision in faith to accept God’s offer. It was so important for the Lord that Mary accept His word by faith, even though His offer sounded so unreasonable to human minds. For this purpose, God wanted to make sure that His power, as revealed in Elizabeth’s pregnancy, became evident in time, so that Mary might be able to believe His word by faith. Out of man’s sinfulness, He had to bring about the kind of faith that He could be pleased with. In the past, God took twenty-five years to bring about Abraham’s faith. Now, in order to bring about the same faith in Mary, God had to put everything together, the most important of which being Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the most vivid display of His power. [[God’s prophecy concerning Elizabeth’s pregnancy could not be reasoned or believed, no matter how much one tries to explain it, because men were caught in their unbelief.
It was impossible to break that unbelief by ordinary means, such as explaining how the angel appeared or what Zechariah saw and heard; the current reality was too much to ignore because of this old man’s experience which no one else knew or witnessed. By making Zechariah mute, everyone paid attention to Elizabeth’s pregnancy as her tummy grew bigger and bigger, which was too odd, strange, and impossible for them to accept. How could someone prove that this happened not by chance, but by God’s power? God did not want anyone to think that this was one of those rare coincidences. Instead, He wanted everyone to know that it was Him who did this with a clear will and intention. He wanted them to recognize His power, grace, and purpose in this event. During Ezekiel’s time, no one believed God’s message concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, which came as a great shock to Israel. God told Ezekiel not to mourn when his cherished and loving wife died the next day, as a sign of the temple’s pending destruction (the destruction of the temple was equated with the death of Ezekiel’s wife). Even after his wife’s death, he could neither wear sack clothes, or mourn. This looked so strange to the eyes of everyone who refused to believe in God’s prophecy about the temple’s destruction. To them, he explained that his wife’s death signified the coming destruction of the temple. God eventually made Ezekiel mute until the time when the temple was totally destroyed, at which time, God opened his mouth (Ezekiel 24:15-27; 33:22). As He did in Ezekiel’s case, God also made Zechariah mute, and his muteness was visible evidence of His power upon him, which would be made clear when his mouth was open at a specific time and occasion. No one was to add, amend, or subtract anything from God’s word, until this was fully fulfilled; between the prophecy and its fulfillment, there shall be nothing but God’s word. In this aspect, we can also see that Zechariah’s silence was God’s silence, and He would not add or explain further to suit people’s minds; let them wait and see how His word was being fulfilled.
Just as Ezekiel’s muteness was a sign to an event that could never be thought of, so John’s birth was a shocking sign that Israel could never have fathomed]].
What was the ultimate message that Gabriel wanted to convey that Mary must accept?
“For no word from God will ever fail." (Luke 1:37).
In Greek, ‘no’ and ‘fail’ are the first two words of this sentence, giving the impression of an emphatic no or never failing.
Zechariah failed to accept God’s word and was punished. The angel specified that the reason why he was punished was because of his unbelief. Here, the angel once again made a very final and emphatic NO Failure statement regarding God’s word, this time to Mary. In this way, God hung all of His authority and power in His word, so that, by faith in His word, one may rise or fail. To know and accept the virgin birth never depended on human minds or intellectual abilities. In the human mind, there is nothing much to reason or figure out concerning how this could be possible, for this was of God’s power that He had never exercised in this way before this or thereafter. In this regard, God’s word of prophecy and its fulfillment set the foundation of His authority. When Mary came to sense the full impact of the power of God’s word, she uttered a decisive statement of faith:
This was a simple and concise statement. Mary accepted who she was before the Lord; she was the Lord’s servant (slave). In this way, she acknowledged and honored God’s full authority and power upon her life. A Lord-servant relationship was the way to honor His full authority. This was not just her willingness to obey what God told her to do, as we might see between a human master and a slave. Rather, she was acknowledging that her life itself belonged to the Lord and He could do whatever He desired with her life. This is evident in her next words:
The NASB translation reads “may it be done to me according to your word.” Mary’s life, including her body, i.e. her whole being, was the object of God’s work. She was willing to be used as His instrument. What was unique about Mary? We cannot think of anything, except her ‘faith’. Her faith was in obedience to God’s word, as a faithful servant obeys his Master’s word. This is new and totally different from what we saw in Zechariah. He had all of the same expressions of faith, including observing all of the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly; however, when God’s word came to him, he doubted and could not His promises. So, he was rebuked for his lack of faith in God’s word (20), which would come true at the appointed time. Likewise, the angel Gabriel expected and even demanded faith from Zechariah; he also expected the same from Mary (37).
If Zechariah and his faith were the setting for the beginning of God’s work, then Mary and her faith represented the end of God’s ministry, in the sense of His imparting faith that He wanted to create in His people. Through His word and Jesus’ coming as the Word to dwell among us in flesh, a new day was dawning on God’s people whereby their salvation would be accomplished by faith in the Word. **
Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God.
How someone is born is an important part of our understanding of that person. Muhammad was born and grew up as an orphan. He lived like an ordinary man until he became forty, when he received some spiritual experience (p 40 Corduran). Gautama Buddha’s birth occurred sometime in the sixth century; he was a prince and lived as an ordinary man, struggling with the sins of mankind. So, it is a fair conclusion that all of the founders of the world’s major religions were all born in the flesh like anyone else, and no one was born out of the ordinary, for they were all sinful men at birth, having a sinful mother and father; they were all corrupted by their own sinful natures, suffered from all of life’s troubles, and eagerly sought the answer for life. At the same time, no other religious founders had such clear proof of God’s power surrounding their birth. None of them had any association with God’s prophecy and its fulfillment. None of their birth stories was concrete enough to give evidence of God’s power. Simply, their lives had nothing to do with the God of creation and His purpose. At best, they were either ungodly forces of this world or man-appointed leaders. They were governed and controlled by worldly spirits, which opposed God’s will as the Creator (1 John 4:1; Revelation 16:13). If any of them tried to deny Jesus as the only begotten Son of God, then their religions are nothing but what men have created within their own minds.
On the other hand, Jesus our Lord is different. The record of his birth is anchored in history, God’s power was evident in the actual lives of Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary; through them, all of the doubts that we or someone else may have are answered fully and provide evidence, by their changed lives, of God’s power that fills His people with great joy. Likewise, God’s power is evident in everything that led to Jesus’ birth — in life and in death; faith in these events is only possible when we accept Jesus as the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father.
This Christmas, while the people of the world remain skeptics or rationalists in their rejection of Jesus as God Almighty’s only begotten Son; however, to us, he is the Lord and has all authority and power over all humanity. He was in the beginning and came in the flesh, dwelling among us as the true light for all elements of man’s darkness. Now he sits at God’s right hand, and still speaks of the faith to which Mary attained and asks us all to have that kind of faith in His Word as well. We can begin by acknowledging that we are His servants, slaves, or possessions, upholding the Son’s authority, and let God’s word come upon our being to enable us to do what He wills. We should not undo Christ’s full humanity, and must not undermine his authority and power as God himself. I see this in Thomas’ word, as he was looking at Jesus’ nail-pierced hands:
“Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28).
Merry Christmas to you all!
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