Friday 21^st December

Luke 1:26-38

Today’s reading is taken from the first chapter of the Gospel according to Luke. We read of the Lukan account of Jesus’ miraculous conception. The events that unfold in this story changed the world, as it was known in ancient times. A Saviour was born to the most unlikely of people. A young virgin named Mary.

We read in verses 27-38 that God sent the Angel Gabriel (the ‘messenger’) to tell Mary of how she had found favour with God and how she would bear the Son of God. There are so many valuable points to expand upon in just these few verses. The two things to highlight of great importance is firstly of how God viewed and used Mary and Mary’s response to Gabriel’s message.

Mary lived in Nazareth, a simple town in Galilee. She was to be married to Joseph, a just and noble man. Then one day an angel appeared to her and said that she was favoured by God. This is not to say that she was God’s favourite but rather that her lifestyle was favourable in God’s eyes; that she had caught the attention of God by the way she was living. This is something that struck me when I read this text. Am I at a place in my life whereby if an angel came to deliver a message to me, would they refer to me as a favoured man of God?

Upon seeing Mary’s fear and distress the Angel Gabriel again comforted her with the words in verse 30 ‘don’t be afraid, you have found favour with God’. Are we living with the favour of God over us? God’s favour comes from obedient hearts with a willingness to serve Him fully. God saw this in Mary, favoured her and gave her the greatest honour and privilege of conceiving God incarnate. Not only was this Boy going to be the Son of the Most High but also that Jesus was to have a Kingdom that will never end.

Can you imagine how Mary must have felt? First of all an angel appeared to her and then she is told that she will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and that her child will be the Saviour and King of Israel and of the world. In verse 34 her distress and fear turns into confusion as she asks how all this wonderful news would happen, after all she was a virgin. Gabriel explains the intricate details of this conception and with his final words appeases Mary’s fear by confirming that ‘nothing is impossible with God’.

Would you in this situation have had the same response as Mary’s, found in verse 38? Commissioned with this great task of bearing the Saviour of Humanity and still Mary’s faithfulness to God stands strong against her most probable fleshly fears. “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.” Wow. If Mary didn’t answer in this way, what would have happened? Yet Mary, in her faithfulness and obedience to God answers with humility (servant hearted) and a willingness to serve. This is how we gain the favour of God. Mary’s response is why I believe God chose her as the vessel to carry His Son, Jesus. Her obedience and willingness to be used by God, despite her fears and confusions, should challenge us all when we are commissioned by God, whether that be in small tasks or greater tasks. Our response to God’s Word and His Will in our lives, determines the favour that is given to us.

“Nevertheless, Not my will, but Yours O Lord”

(Luke 22:42b)