The Women of Christmas: Mary, Part 2

“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”(Luke 1:26-30 BSB).

In today’s devotional about Mary, we are going to focus on the grace of God. We see the grace of God in Mary's conversation with the angel. The grace of God would bring about a huge change for the Jewish people and ultimately the Gentile world as well. There was a transition taking place from the Old to the New.

Under the Old Covenant, the Jews lived under a system of rules known as the Law. It was given to them by God through Moses and they had lived under this system since shortly after their Exodus from Egypt. But, why did they live under the law?

Romans 5:20 tells us,

“The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,” (BSB)

And Galatians 3:19 reads,

“Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred. It was administered through angels by a mediator.”(BSB)

In John 1:17, it says,

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (BSB)

What was coming under the New Covenant through Jesus was new to them. They were looking for a military leader in the Messiah. They weren’t expecting this.

In the lives of the women of Christmas, we begin to see this transition that was taking place. Grace was coming. In fact, it was already here.

In verse 28 of chapter 1, the angel says to Mary,

“Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you” (BSB).

That phrase “you who are highly favored” is actually the verb form of the word "charis" (grace) in the Greek. It is the Greek word

“charitoó” and is found only in one other place in the Bible, and it is a verse about Believers in Jesus.

“to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One”(Ephesians 1:6).

Later on in the passage in Luke 1:30, the angel tells Mary,

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” (BSB)

That word favor in that passage is a noun and is the Greek word "charis." According to Biblehub, there are 157 occurrences of the word “charis” in the New Testament. It means “grace, favor, kindness, and blessing.” Grace was coming through Jesus. There would be a transition from law to grace.


They would no longer live under the law, because Jesus would fulfill it. A new way of life was coming. What was happening to and through Mary, was also coming to and for us. Tomorrow we will discuss that new way of grace, one that would involve the Holy Spirit.


Blessings to you as you continue to grow in grace and the knowledge of Him!

Beth



To learn more about the word "charis," please check out my post here on Grace in the Greek.


If you missed yesterday's post on Mary, Part 1, you can also find it at my blog, The Women of Christmas: Mary, Part 1.

Women in the Life of Jesus: Bathsheba, Part 2

The book of the geneagology of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.  Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.  Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.  David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.

Matthew 1:1-6 (NKJV)

Scriptures where she can be found: 2 Samuel 11 & 12, 1 Kings 1 & 2, 1 Chronicles 3, Matthew 1 (listed as wife of Uriah)

Her Story:

In part 1 of Bathsheba, we looked at 2 Samuel 11, where we are introduced to her.  Today, I am going to look at 2 Samuel 12, and discuss the events that take place when Nathan the prophet comes to David.

Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.  The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him.  And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!  And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.  I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!  Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.

Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’  Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.  For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’”

 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.  However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” Then Nathan departed to his house.

-2 Samuel 12:1-15

The first verse in this passage says the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to David.  Nathan didn’t just go of his own accord, but God wanted this to be dealt with.

I find it interesting the story the prophet tells to David.  In the story, Bathsheba would be the sheep. The sheep would have been defenseless, unable to care for itself.  That is the responsibility of the shepherd or owner.

I have had many discussions about her accountability in this story.  Some people say that she knew what she was doing when she was bathing on the rooftop.  Or she could have said no to David. 

But the scriptures seem to indicate that the Lord held David responsible for this action.  He was the King. Bathsheba gets caught in a difficult situation. She is "encouraged" to be unfaithful to her husband, she loses that husband that she appears to love, and she then loses her first child.

I have struggled a lot with the last part.  It is a very difficult situation to think on.  Why would the baby have to die?

I prayed about it, and I think there are several things we need to consider in regards to how Bathsheba handles this, and how it is viewed by the Lord.  I can only go by what I know about God and what the scriptures say.

First, it must have been extremely painful for Bathsheba.  But the Bible says that God is the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). I would like to believe He supernaturally comforted her above and beyond any natural comfort during this time.

Second, this is my thought, but it occurred to me, what if the child had lived? What would his life had been like?  He would have to live out his days knowing his father murdered his mother’s husband.  And that he was the result of his father exerting his influence.  Not only would that have been painful, but it would have quite possibly influenced his character and who he was to become.

The last thought I want to share is what came to me while I was praying.  Again, it doesn’t say this in the scriptures outright, but I endeavor to look for Jesus in every situation. 

According to Mosaic Law, both David and Bathsheba should have been put to death.  Both of them.  In Deuteronomy 22:22 we read,

 “If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.”

David and Bathsheba were both considered guilty of adultery.  They both were to be put to death. But the prophet Nathan didn’t bring that up.  He said the baby boy would die.  He took their place.

Isn’t that a picture of Jesus?  He died and took our place.  God laid on Jesus the sin of all mankind forever.  He died so we didn’t have to.

After some time, the Bible says that David comforts Bathsheba, and they have another child.  He is David’s 7^th son, and the Bible says “the Lord loved him.”  The Bible says the Lord sent word by Nathan the prophet and he called his name “Jedidiah.”  Jedidiah means loved by God.  An interesting foot note in my Bible says “she” named him Jedidiah, indicating Bathsheba named him.  We know him as Solomon, the King of Israel who wrote several books in the Bible, and whose wisdom was great.

Bathsheba went on to have three more sons with David.  In Proverbs 31, Solomon pens the famous passage about the virtuous woman.  I believe one of two things.  Either Bathsheba dictated that to him, or he wrote it about her.

To read more posts in this series, go here to Women in the Life of Jesus.