Luke 1:30-33

Luke 1:30-33

And the angel said to her, “Fear not, Mary, for you found grace with God.  And behold!  You will conceive in the womb and you will give birth to a Son.  And you will call His name Jesus.  This one will be great and He will be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of David His father.  And He will reign upon the house of Jacob into the ages.  And there will not be an end to His kingdom.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Once more we hear an angel tell the recipient of their presence – not to mention God’s message – to not fear.  Once more we hear the reminder that a person has found grace with God.  This truly gives us another snapshot of God’s character.  So often, human beings stood in fear of gods.  Ancient people feared the wrath of gods.  But our God is different.  Yes, He can bring judgment and wrath.  But His preferred default position is a God of grace.  He wants to extend grace to us.

When you think of God, do you fear His wrath more often than you feel His grace?  Why is it easy to fear God?  Why should we focus more on His grace?

Second Thought:

We are told by Gabriel that Jesus will be called the Son of the Most High.  As I read through this passage, I think that there is something that we typically miss as we focus on Mary and her encounter with Gabriel.  While we focus on Mary, Gabriel focuses on Jesus!  This passage is about the savior of the world, not about Mary.  This passage tells us about God’s Son, God’s Messiah, and the savior of the world.  He is the one who is great.  He is the one who deserve the focus.

Do you find it easy to place your focus on things other than Jesus and the Father?  Why do you think it is easy for humans to focus on things of less importance than God?

Third Thought:

I’ve never really took the time to dive deeply into the promise of Gabriel before.  However, Gabriel tells us that Jesus will rule the house of Jacob forever.  That is a really neat promise, actually.  Gabriel tells us God’s plan from the very beginning.  The Jews were looking for a worldly Messiah who would overthrow the Romans.  God was looking for a Messiah who would rule of the people of faith forever.  Of course, that is exactly what has happened.  Jesus came, lived, and taught.  He discipled.  He died.  He was resurrected.  From that point on, He has continued to rule over the house of Jacob – God’s people of faith – forever.

Who is your king?  Who reigns in your life?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 1:34-38