A Christmas Series: Week Two
Before Jesus Christ came into the world, his earthly parents had to make the treacherous journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. This Christmas Season, we will be partaking in this journey, from the foretelling of Jesus’ birth, to the beautiful night we celebrate each year. Each week, a new miniature devotional following the Christmas story will be released. On Christmas day, join our Perennial Community on any podcast platform to hear A share the Christmas story as told in the Book of Luke.
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Scripture
Luke 1:26-38
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazarath, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went 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. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and he 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 Jacob’s descendents forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on 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. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Matthew 1:18-25
Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Devotional
During the first year of my undergraduate studies, I was taking 21 credits and working three jobs. While I initially tried to avoid working on Sundays, it became a requirement if I wanted to keep my job. For me, the worst part of working on Sunday was losing my chance to go to church, worship God with other believers, and feel nourished for the week to come. Only a handful of Sundays passed before I began searching for a church service I could attend.
One evening, knee-deep in my studies and feeling exhausted, I was invited to join a girl in my sorority for Tuesday night Mass. I had never been to mass before but at that moment, all I could think about was how God had provided a way for me to attend church. When I walked through the threshold of the church, the aroma of incense tingling my senses, and holy water dripping from my fingers, I felt at peace for the first time in a long time.
After that first service, I attended Candlelight Mass every Tuesday night for the rest of my undergraduate degree. There was just something about kneeling before God, with only candles to light the way, that spoke to my soul. Slowly but surely, I fell in love with the gentle kindness I had found within the campus’ Catholic Church. Feeling at home, even though I wasn’t catholic myself, I participated in their events, enjoyed mass, studied in their student center, and found solace participating in adoration.
It was during this time, where I could often be found in the Catholic Student Center, that the friend who first invited me to mass, gave me a precious gift. Amid a conversation about Christ, faith, and the perspectives of different churches, she paused and removed a miraculous medal from her neck. It was a gift she had been given and something about our conversation called her to pass the gift to me. To this day, I keep the miraculous medal of the Virgin Mary in my devotional corner. On days, when the weight of the world feels extra heavy, I slip it into my pocket as a physical reminder of who God is and what he has done.
The necklace holds a small, silver, oval charm with the Virgin Mary emerging from the center. Wrapped in a frame around her are the words: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” Whenever I look at the necklace these words, and what they mean, tumble through my mind. They seem so simple and yet so profound at the same time. These words engraved on the necklace bring us to the beginning of the books of Luke and Matthew, where we learn who Mary is.
Luke 1:26-27
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazarath, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
Matthew 1:18
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
The prayer on the miraculous medal starts with “O, Mary,” a direct referral to the young woman introduced in the story of Jesus’ conception. The scripture from Luke uses Elizabeth's pregnancy to create a time-frame reference for when Mary was approached by the angel. This timestamp tool also works to help the reader understand that Mary and Elizabeth are related to each other. We also learn that the angel, by the name of Gabriel, visited Mary in the town of Nazareth in Galilee. In last week’s devotional, we read Isaiah 9 and learned that the child of hope would come from Galilee. By learning that Mary, and Joseph, lived in Galilee, we see just one part of the prophecy in Isaiah 9 coming true. This prophecy is further reinforced when Gabriel explains to Mary who her son will be.
Isaiah 9:7
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
Luke 1:32-33
He will be great and he 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 Jacob’s descendents forever; his kingdom will never end.”
The angel Gabriel directly reinforces the prophecy that Mary herself would have learned by using the wording from the Prophecy while describing who the conceived child will be.
The next part of the phrase on the miraculous medal is “conceived without sin”. When Mary is introduced in the book of Luke and Matthew, we learn that at the time of her conception she was a virgin pledged to be married to a man by the name of Joseph.
Luke 1:34-37
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on 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. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
During the time Mary lived, becoming pregnant outside of marriage warranted death. Mary knew that she was a virgin when the angel told her she would conceive a son and God, in his mercy, had her conceive through the Holy Spirit - an act that never broke the sacredness of her virginity. However, to Mary’s people, her becoming pregnant before Joseph took her into his home, meant that either she and Joseph had broken a vow, that Mary had been unfaithful with someone else or, someone had broken her promise by taking advantage of her.
While God showed mercy to Mary through how she conceived, it was understandably a means of becoming pregnant that her people would have seen as a lie. To provide further comfort to Mary, and reassurance that what was said would be, the angel shares that God even helped her relative Elizabeth conceive a child in her old age. This simple act of kindness reinforced for Mary that God had already done what man had deemed impossible.
Matthew 1:18-19
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
The Book of Luke shares the conception of Jesus from Mary’s perspective, and the Book of Matthew shares it as it happened to Joseph. As was mentioned, when Mary became pregnant, she was betrothed to Joseph. Mary “breaking” this promise by becoming pregnant could have been punishable by death and at the minimum, warranted a divorce. Because of Joseph’s inherent kindness, he chose to quietly divorce Mary to protect her life from the eyes of the law. While, by choosing a quiet divorce, Joseph was acting kindly towards the situation, God intervened and saved the covenant of their marriage by sending Gabriel back to Nazareth.
Matthew 1:20-22
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Just as God reassured Mary by sharing with her the news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Joseph is reassured by being told directly how Mary conceived and with whom Mary was carrying. God took a situation that humanity would have destroyed, and turned it into a beautiful symbol of two people’s ultimate trust in God and his plan.
The final words on the pendant are “pray for us who have recourse to thee”. Within the Catholic Church, it is believed that you can pray to a saint, and ask for them to share your prayer - similar to how we can pray to Jesus so he can appeal to the Father. The words “who have recourse to thee” are the ones that always end up confusing me. The word, recourse, is used to refer to help being found in a hard situation. When Mary conceived Jesus, she was thrust into a situation that was glorifying to her God, but condemned her to her own people. Nonetheless, she gracefully accepted the task God had in mind for her, portraying a faith we can only hope to have.
The story of Mary conceiving through the Holy Spirit is one that should not only give us joy but immense hope. As we learned through Gabriel sharing the same message with Joseph, God stayed faithful to Mary throughout the work he had in mind for her. God had the impossible in mind for Mary and carried it to completion according to his word. Despite the fact that God’s work was just beginning when the Holy Spirit fell upon Mary, God remained faithful to his children and protected the covenant of their marriage.
Mary is our recourse - a shining reminder that when we find ourselves facing trial while doing God’s work, we can rely on Him to not only carry us through, but to remain good all the same.
Reflection
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If God sent an angel to tell you that God was calling you to do something glorifying to Him, but perceived as condemning by your culture/family, do you think you would be able to graciously accept without question?
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Think about a prayer you have learned: be it something you heard growing up, a prayer your church commonly uses, or something you heard once that stuck.
When you think about the prayer, do you know what it actually means?
Rather than seeing just a string of words, break the prayer apart to provide insight on what is being prayed for.
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Prayer
Heavenly Father,
So long ago, you upheld your word and sent a child into the womb of a young woman by the name of Mary. You took a girl who was known only to her family, fiance and town, and made her name a symbol of faithfulness. You saw Mary for who she was at the core, rather than the mistakes she had made or services she had provided, and you saw her as worthy to carry your son.
Lord, I pray that we will be filled with the Holy Spirit. May our lungs fill with the reminder that you have wrapped your great mercy over all of your people. By being called to be light in this world, we all carry a part of your son inside of us.
This season is one that is full of hope for the future, joy in the present, and faith for your plan.
Give us hearts’ like Mary Lord. Give us the gentle peace, courage and faith, to accept any task you hand to us.
You are a good God and we trust you to see us, and use us accordingly.
In your Holy and Faithful name we pray,
Amen
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