RickJW

Great joy, I would say, is missing in my life. While I am happy and joyous when in worship or reading and studying the Bible, most other times I don't really live a life that exhibits joy. Praise, I do praise the Lord many times every day, though we all need to do more! Curiosity is one that abounds in me, and has led me to want to delve deeper into the Bible. Amazement is a response that I often have, both to God's word, and to my own life in general. Telling others, or evangelizing, is another response that I do not often do. Thoughful meditation is something that I do on a regular basis. I am in one of those situations where it is easy to say 'I just don't have the time to ...' for many of the above responses, my quandry is that I know that by allowing myself to feel that way, and not making the time to meditate, or pray, is only making things worse.

The angels call Jesus 'Savior, Christ (or Messiah), and Lord' - this tells us that Jesus is our God incarnate, come to live among the people.

Jesus came not in the glory that would certainly be deserved by God, but to be servile - to even the lowest of the low. The 'hired' shepherds were among the lowest class among the Jews of Israel at the time. Adding to the picture of humility, first Mary and Joseph had to endure the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, then they could not find lodging, and were forced to stay in a barn with the animals. Their child then had to be laid in the animal's food trough, wrapped in rags. God is certainly starting out his life with a very humble begining. He is the living example that 'you who wish to be first must be last' that Jesus would teach later in life.

The trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem was a four-day journey, they were not a wealthy couple, so, most likely, it was Mary, Joseph and one donkey on which she rode. Being late in her pregnancy, I'm sure she was very uncomfortable to say the least. I don't think that our experiences in our earthly lives are in a direct correspondence, or a measure of, God's will for us. He has a plan for each and everyone of us. Since we are mortal men, we need to develop certain strengths in order to carry out His plan for us. The only way for God to give us what we need to follow His plan is to put us in situations where we need to use those strengths. I think that on the surface, 'being a consistent Christian causes more hardships ...', but if we look at the longer view, these perceived hardships lead to greater rewards. As Paul said in his letters, while we may endure hardships in this life, the rewards in heaven by far out-shine any of them.

Luke names the rulers of the time to give a historical footing to the birth of Christ. This makes the point that Jesus was, indeed, a person that lived during a definite, verifiable time in history.

The fact that Joseph accepted Mary as his wife, shows that he has faith and trust in her as well as in God. It shows his compassion, commitment and righteousness. In the custom of the times, the fact that Joseph named the Son, showed that he was claiming him as his own son. This would give Christ the link back to David required by the prophecy, as well as establish Joseph as a righteous, faithful person.

The virgin conception of the child of the Holy Ghost fulfils the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, in that this is a second fulfilling of that prophecy. The first virgin birth, possibly in Isaiah's time, was in itself a prophecy, or type, of the ultimate fulfillment that came with the birth of Christ to Mary.

The name Jesus has been translated to mean 'Yaweh saves', God wanted His child to have this name on earth, to remind Mary and Joseph who they were raising. The angel came to Joseph and Mary separately to instruct them to name the child Jesus, so that they could share with each other this common, though separate experience. That they both had visions, and were both instructed to give the child the same name, adds credence to the notion that this vision was a visitation by an angel of the Lord.

Mary had few, if any options, and was, in fact, in great danger - it would have been quite legal for her to be stoned to death in this situation. Joseph shows great compassion first in his plan to divorce her quietly - in his mind she could possibly live out her life with her family, although she most likely would never marry, and would have the stigma of this child to deal with. With the visitation of the angel, Joseph shows great faith and agrees to raise God's child. Even though they will now go through with their marriage plans, Joseph and Mary will certainly be viewed as a couple that 'had' to get married.

In addition to the skills of carpentry, Jesus would learn how to deal with people in a business setting, from negotiating contracts to collection of debt, he would have the full experience of running a business.

Mary was blessed with the opportunity to bear the most important Son that man has ever known. As with many of God's blessings, this could easily have been seen as a great burden for Mary. Firstly, there was the fact of her being betrothed to Joseph - how would she explain this child which he had no part in? Secondly, these were not wealthy people, raising a child would not be an easy task for them. Since she was willing to commit to this lengthy process, the title Mother of God is appropriate for her - Jesus was fully human and at the same time, fully God. I think that we are hesitant to exalt Mary due to the Lord's commandment that we are to 'have no other God before me'. It is difficult enough to deal with the Trinity, given that we are to worship the one true God, to add to that what could be interperted as worship of Mary is very perplexing to me.

The essence of Mary's response is that she accepts that God wants to use her to bring His eartly incarnation, Jesus, into the world, and consents to her part. She shows herself to be a willing servant of God, therefore showing great faith. Her questioning of the angel's announcement, 'How will this happen?' is not a 'challenge' to God, but an innocent expression of amazement, I think both in reposonse to her wonderment at how can she have a baby without the normal human process of conception, and also, how did she come to be chosen for this greatest of honors. We should feel so honored when God asks for our consent. When we respond to God, we are consenting to accept His unconditional grace, we are granting Him the privilege of giving to us the ultimate possible gift in the universe - eternal life at His side.

The virgin-birth of Jesus Christ confirms for us that His coming is a divine miracle, this child is 'of God the Father'. It is the very cornerstone of the Christian message. Many times in the Old Testament, God has intervened, and made it possible for barren 'couples' to conceive and have children, however, in those cases, God made it possible for the two humans to join together fruitfully - the child was not 'of God'.

Mary - (KJV) "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? " Zechariahs - (KJV) "Whereby shall I know this?" Mary asked out of wonderment, amazement at Gabriel's announcement, and at the same time, showed that she had faith that God could do such a thing. Zechariah's response was more of an 'I will have to see this to believe it' or 'how will I know this is true?', challenging God to do what he has said.

Gabriel says that Mary will bear 'the Son of the Highest' and 'the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David'. Thus, Mary will bear the son of God, a direct descendent of David, to whom God had promised an everlasting reign over Jeursalem.