 |
| LaVista Chruch of Christ. org |
As we enter the season of Advent, let’s look at the one
whose birth we celebrate. We begin with the Angel Gabriel.
“‘Greetings,
you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you. Do not be afraid, Mary, you
have found favor with God.’” (Luke 1:28, 30)
“‘You
will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.’”
(v. 31)
“‘He
will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.’” (v.32)
“This
news stunned Mary. ‘How can it be, I haven’t been with any man.’”
“The
angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon 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.’” (v.:35)
Mary had recently become engaged to
Joseph, a carpenter in their town. How could this be? Will he believe her when
she shares this information with him? What will her parents think? She knew how
the people in their town will treat them. She had seen the citizens of Bethlehem
ostracize young couples before. She even saw young girls stoned because of
their transgression.
But Gabriel said that this child
would be very special—the Son of God.
How do we view Jesus in the 21st
Century? Do we believe He is God’s Son? Jesus asked the disciples, “‘Who do
people say the Son of Man is?” The twelve answered, saying ‘Some say John the
Baptist; others say Elijah, still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Jesus then homed into the crux of the issue, “What about you? Who do you say I
am?’”
Sometimes we have to return to this
question and ask it of ourselves. “Who do we think Jesus is?”
Hey, you've got a pretty good Advent "calendar" going here yourself! This is wonderful. I Love the stories of Elizabeth and Mary and the angelic messengers...so exciting. I believe God does still speak to us today, if we will only take the time to listen. His voice is calling to us in so many ways, through so many different people...ones we may not expect. We just need to have the attitude of Elizabeth and Mary and be ready. This was great.
ReplyDeletePam,thank you. This has been a slow week in some ways. I had to laugh at your comment--that was a good thing. God tends to speak to me when I am in a pensive mood. Yes, He does speak to us today.
Delete