The five women in
Matthew’s genealogy: Mary
A Series on
Advent
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 1:26-38;
Matthew 1:1-17
[In
Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, there are five women mentioned. All
of them were in some sense outsiders. In this Advent series we will be looking
at these five women to gain a better understanding of “the word who became
flesh and made his dwelling among us”.]
Have you ever felt disoriented? It might have been from
something very simple. Like when you went to your favorite grocery store only
to find out that they had totally rearranged the isles. Or, maybe while driving
at night the street that you were expecting to turn on wasn’t where you thought
it would be.
But it could also be something major. Maybe you had
a crisis in your life that turned your world upside down and left your head
spinning. Mary had a head spinning experience that not only changed her life,
but the world.
Mary was a young, Jewish girl living in the small obscure
town of Nazareth in Galilee. She was engaged to be married to a carpenter named
Joseph. No doubt her family, friends and faith filled her life. She was
following in the path of most young girls her age.
But then an angel appeared to Mary flipping her
world upside down.
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 forever; his Kingdom will never end!” NLT
Because she was a virgin, Mary questioned the angel about
how this could happen. He responded with a matter-of-fact answer that was
anything but that.
35 “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”. NLT
After two thousand years, the story of Christmas has
become a cliché. It goes something like this: In a pristine scene of a clean
stable with no manure or smelly straw, there’s a perfect newborn baby wrapped
in swaddling clothes. Shepherds and wise men surround the family with a star beaming
brightly in the sky.
The story of the birth of Jesus has been told so
many times that it’s been romanticized, homogenized and commercialized to the
point that it has no impact. But for Mary… it had an immediate impact!
Somehow though, in the midst of this head spinning
event, Mary managed to gather her wits.
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May
everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel
left her. NLT
Imagine what Christmas would be like if it was a head spinning event for you and me. Immanuel: God with us. That’s anything but a cliché.
Below is a link for a song by Faith Hill with the
title “A Baby Changes Everything”.
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