 |
| beattieroad.net |
“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 the house of Jacob forever, his kingdom will never end.”
Luke 1:32, 33 (NIV)
God sent His messenger, an angel, to earth to announce to Mary His plan. In our focus passage, the angel Gabriel describes the One He will send and tells of the Savior—his impact, what He will be called, what God will equip Him with, and how long He will be with God’s people.
“He will be great. . .”
The word great has several meanings. Ones that like are: “Much above the ordinary or average in some quality or degree;” And “having or showing nobility of mind, purpose, etc.” (1)
“. . . will be called the Son of the Most High.”
The relationship between a son and his biological father and mother is usually close. In modern times people use the term, ‘son’ to signify a feeling of closeness.
God is very close to His Son. Actually, when Jesus came to earth, it was God Himself that took on human form and experienced the trials of human life.
“The Lord God will give him the throne of his Father David,”
God equipped His Son with all he needed to be among the people of this world. The Father gave Jesus the platform to rule, A throne was a place of dignity that demanded respect and honor. (2.)
“. . . he will reign over the house of Jacob forever”
God intends His Son to rule over His people for all eternity. To state this another way: His plan is for Jesus’ impact to those here on earth will always be felt.
“. . . his kingdom will never end.”
God must consider this feature of the Son’s impact on His people important because he repeats the idea of a never-ending reign for Jesus.
In my last post, I asked two questions. The answer to the second question Do these words speak of a political or a spiritual reign? is Jesus’ reign is a spiritual one. The Hebrew people thought it would be a political one.
______________________________________________________________________________
(1.) Webster’s New World Dictionary Concise Edition, © 1974, The Southwestern Company, Nashville, Tenn. Page 328
(2).The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, © 1988, Moody Press, Chicago, Ill. Pages 1278-1279
Hi Cecelia! God equipped his Son to do everything that was needed. I couldn't help but think that he does that for us too. Whatever we are called to do, we will be able to do with God working for us.
ReplyDeleteMay God reign in our hearts every day!
Ceil
Ceil: Thank you for stopping in; as usual, your comment makes me think. Sometimes, we don't realize that God has equipped us to face those difficult and distasteful times in life but He has. Blessings as you celebrate His birth.
DeleteSon of the most High, this is the ultimate discussion point for people of other faiths. As Christians we know that the words of the angel are true!
ReplyDeleteMarja: Thank you for your thought. We should keep that in mind.
Delete