Luke 1:31-33 (NIVUK)
31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 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, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants for ever; his kingdom will never end.’
What on earth would Mary have made of this?! If she could get over the idea that she was going to have baby (life-changing as it is), but not only a baby, but God’s baby (and if that’s not life-changing, I don’t know what is!), then how about the news that he was going to be King, a king following in David’s great footsteps, with all his power, and wealth, and influence, and stature! I suspect after that, there was little chance that she would take in the never ending kingdom bit, let alone understand its meaning. Of course, we know that Jesus would indeed change everything but not quite as Mary might have imagined, but perhaps through trying to grasp what she heard, we can find something of the wonderful, dramatic and shocking nature of this announcement, that is now so familiar, once again.
Like Mary, Father, it is hard to grasp with mind and soul, the impact and significance of the news of Jesus’ birth. Please widen our perceptions this Christmas, so that we might see it a little more.
Leave a Reply