For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed,
we will share in all that belongs to Christ. (Hebrews 3:14 NLT)
Let’s focus on the story of King Jesus’s birth – the Christmas story. For many of us, this is a story we’ve heard year after year after year and it’s pretty familiar to us. We sing many songs during the Christmas season about the angels’ message to the shepherds and can lose some of the amazement in the original story.
Although God spoke regularly to his people in the Old Testament, especially through the prophets, between the time we now call the “Old Testament” and the “New Testament” were 400 years of silence. The Israelites lived for 400 years without a message from the Lord. So when God “suddenly” starts speaking to people in our Christmas story, we have to realize how surprising this must have been to them. And, then, we must consider the messages that were given to the people!!
The first angel visitation in the Christmas stories in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2 was when the archangel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah, an elderly priest. The angel’s message that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a baby in their old age, was met with doubt and disbelief. Truthfully, if you were old and childless, would you have responded any differently?
The second message Gabriel carried was to a teen girl named Mary, engaged to be married, but still living with her parents. Gabriel’s greeting was, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Depending on the translation, it says Mary was “startled,” “troubled,” or “perplexed.” I think I’d be, too, if an angel showed up to talk with me. I’d probably doubt what I was seeing and hearing. Gabriel follows by saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”
Then Gabriel tells Mary she will have a baby who will be the Savior of her people. Mary’s response is HOW this can happen if she’s an unmarried virgin? Gabriel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.”
Ok, so let’s pause a moment in this story. Imagine you’re a maybe 14 or 15 year old Jewish girl, living with your parents in Roman Empire-occupied Judah, just going about your normal life. Suddenly, an angel shows up to give you a message that you are “favored” and, therefore, will have a baby – without having a husband first. This seems like a bit of a stretch from the reality you would have known. Unmarried girls don’t just have babies without husbands – in that culture adultery is a sin punishable by death.
So, Mary has a choice: to listen to the voice of her culture or to listen to the voice of the angel. To doubt or believe the angel’s message. What response should she give to this messenger of the Lord?
Again, if you have heard this story, you know that Mary’s answer was simple and direct. She said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” She listened to and believed the spoken Word of God that Gabriel brought. She had faith in the angel’s message. And she responded with trust in her God.
She believed – she had faith – and she trusted.
These are strengths that I expect each of us hope to have in our relationship with God.
Word of God,
Thank you for speaking to us through your Word, Holy Spirit, dreams, visions, prophecies, and so many other avenues. Thank you that even when a message seems surprising, it never goes against your Word and your ways. Help us to have the deep faith and trust of people like Mary and Joseph so that we know and believe what you tell us to do. And give us great wisdom and courage to face the realities of this life. Remind us that you goodness and your loving-kindness last forever and are poured out on your children as they seek you. Strengthen our relationships with you so we honor you with all we are and receive all you have to give us. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
“Jesus answered, “This is the work of God: that you believe
[adhere to, trust in, rely on, and have faith] in the One whom He has sent.”
(John 6:29 AMP)
“Immediately the father of the boy cried out [with a desperate, piercing cry], saying,
“I do believe; help [me overcome] my unbelief.”
(Mark 9:24 AMP)