The Divine Announcement

Today in our preschool Sunday school class we began the story of the birth of Jesus with Mary hearing the good news. Below was the scripture reference for today’s lesson. For the month of December, I thought it would be interesting to follow along with them, perhaps on a little deeper level, as we move through the events surrounding Jesus’ birth.

"Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, 'Hail, favored one, the Lord is with you.' She was greatly troubled at the statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be. And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His Kingdom will have no end. And Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I am a virgin?' And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.' And Mary said, 'Behold, the bondslave of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her." Luke 1:26-38

The Old Testament is filled with prophecy and promises of the coming Savior, a child to be born. So much so that at the end of the gospel of Luke in chapter 24 when Jesus after His resurrection was walking with His disciples, it says that He spoke to them and said, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you that all things which are written about Me in the law of Moses and the prophets and all the holy writings must be fulfilled. And He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures," talking about the Old Testament. And He showed them Himself in the Old Testament, in the law, in the prophets, in all the holy writings. Every book of the Old Testament anticipates the coming of the Savior, every book. All throughout the Psalms, all throughout the prophets, all throughout the law He is seen as the ultimate and final sacrifice. The general prophecies of His great Kingdom, the specific prophecies such as Micah's statement that He would be born in the town of Bethlehem, 350 predictions concerning this child who would be born are given in the Old Testament, at least.

So this is the story of God coming into the world but it's not the first time we've heard about it. It's been promised. This is the story of its fulfillment. Here's the beginning of the greatest moment in human history, a moment all generations in Israel and the world have awaited. Gabriel comes with the most astounding and significant birth announcement ever made. Amazingly, Gabriel comes right from God. Back in verse 19 it says, "I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God." That's where Gabriel stands, to be dispatched by God Himself to this duty. He comes down out of heaven to a city in Galilee called Nazareth.

The divine messenger was Gabriel, the divine choice was Mary, and the divine blessing was grace, "Hail, graced one...Hail, favored one," says the angel, "the Lord is with you." God the Almighty, eternal creator of the universe has come down with a message through this angel to be with this girl, to bestow upon her a grace the likes of which no other human being in the history of the world will ever experience, a grace that is beyond comprehension. The issue here is God's choice. You'll notice it says nothing about Mary, nothing at all except she was a virgin. She was just a simple, humble young girl. It was to her that this immense grace was to be given.

In Luke 1:46-56 Mary offered praise for the greatness of God and thanksgiving for being used by Him. At this wonderful season of gift giving we should all take the time to meditate on the gift God gave us in His Son, Jesus Christ!

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16