Luke 1:26-38 The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you![d]”
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel[e] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. 37 For the word of God will never fail.[f]”
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
“The Lord is with you!” Have you ever noticed that those are the first five words the Angel tells Mary after he says hello? Those words were very carefully chosen by the Lord. Even before God wanted Mary to know that she needn’t be afraid, He wanted Mary to know that her God was with her. You see, to a young Jewish girl, those words would have spoken to the very heart, the very center, the very truth of who she was. She was God’s child and her Heavenly father was with her.
Those five words connected her with all of the rescuers in all of the stories of her people that she had been told her whole life. To find God’s favor and to know that God was with her in that moment was like a string that tied Mary’s life to the lives of those such as Abraham, Moses, Ruth and King David and it reminded her that she was part of the promise for the people of God. It was a reminder of who God is and who Mary was…chosen, loved and set apart.
You see, before God told Mary what He wanted her to do, before she knew her part in the story of God’s greatest rescue of God’s people, he wanted her to know that He was with her, and knew her. She was no stranger, He had been walking by her side her whole life.
And then the angel told Mary what her very special part in God’s story would be. She would be the mother of the promised rescuer of the people of Israel. He would be their King and there will no end to his power and love for his people.
But first, Mary had to say yes. You see when God wants us to be part of His plan, we have to say yes first. We are not God’s little robots that God programs to do exactly what He wants us to do. No, God wants us to choose to love him and choose to serve him. And when Mary’s moment came, she said yes. She said yes to becoming God’s servant and to being ready to do exactly what God had called her to do in his plan to rescue his children once and for all time.
Mary said yes to her part in God’s big plan of rescue and love for his people and God has a special part in his plan for you too. Will you say yes?
Discussion Questions:
1. How do you think Mary felt when the Angel told her about God’s plan for her life and her people?
2. Why do you think God wants us to say “yes” to His plan for our lives instead of making us do what He wants?
Family Activity: Color your ornament for day 23. God has a purpose and a plan for our lives, not just when we grow up, but right now as well. Talk about the things that you think God wants you to say yes to in his plan for you right now.
Prayer for the World: Pray for our teammates today-
Lynn is a 27-year old college junior who came to faith one and a half years ago. She’s very smart and has a deep longing to see her people enjoy God’s grace. Her father is deceased and her mother has deep convictions in the majority faith.
Pray for Rebecca, our teammate who is pursuing a master’s in the performing arts at a prestigious local university. She’s a talented musician and evangelist. We pray regularly that the Father will provide she and Lynn with great husbands at just the right time.
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