“In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”
“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Look, even Elizabeth, your relative, has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.” (Luke 1:26-38 BSB)
Luke chapter 1 starts with Elizabeth and Zechariah, but we are going to begin this series with Mary. There is so much we could cover in this passage of Scripture, but I want to focus on a few areas, because I believe they apply to us as well as Mary. They are a foreshadowing of things that were to come.
First, let’s look at the “house of David.” Luke tells us that Joseph was of the house of David. That means that Joseph was of the lineage of David. I believe Mary was too.
Matthew (chapter 1), and Luke (chapter 3), both give us genealogies of Jesus. They both go back to David, but one goes to David’s son Nathan (the one in Luke), and the other one goes to Solomon (the one in Matthew.) Joseph cannot come from both ancestries, so one has to belong to Mary. There are differing opinions about which one she belongs to, but I am going to side with Matthew today, since Matthew actually mentions her name.
What does that have to do with us? Well, the genealogies prove that Jesus is in line to be King. When we are born again, we are born into this kingdom. Jesus repeatedly mentions the Kingdom of God in the Gospels.
Revelation 5:10 tells us,
“and didst make us to our God kings and priests, and we shall reign upon the earth.”(YLT)
Jesus has made us kings and priests.
Remember in the first post when I mentioned that the Holy Spirit came on the prophet, priest, and king part in the Old Testament? Mary and Joseph would both be in line with the king. And we also become part of that royal family line when we receive Christ.
Next time we will discuss the favor of God.
Many blessings to you this Christmas season,
Beth
To read more about kings, please check out my post on the Fragrance of Kings and Queens. You can also read more about Mary at my post, Women in the Life of Jesus: Mary the Mother of Jesus.
