Mary Rejoices

December 25, 2022 Background Scripture: Luke 1 :46 - 55 Lesson Passage: Luke 1 :46 - 55 There are many ways to react to a promise. Sometimes I tend to take the posture of "wait and see". I don't like to get all worked up about the prospect of some future promise in this world. However, there are other times when I am overly excited in anticipation. It is the latter experience that helped me to identify with Mary in today's Lesson Passage. Mary was visited by an angel sent from God as a messenger. The message the angel delivered would impact the entire worlds Let's consider the circumstances of this visit. We learn later in the scriptural timeline that Mary was a poor unmarried young woman. First, the fact that God would inform her of His plans for all people for all times seemed unusual. Why wouldn't God tell the religious leaders of the Jews about His plans, and they, in turn, inform the masses? The Jewish religious system was already in place, and it did not include Mary as an official. Secondly, Mary was told that God would use her as an integral part of His plan for mankind. Mary would become the mother of God's Son. Yes, God was going to have a human Son, and Mary would give birth to His Son. Mary's question was: How could she have a baby and she was still a virgin? The angel told her that the pregnancy would be a miracle of God. He reminded her that nothing is impossible with God. Then he told her about her cousin Elizabeth, who was beyond childbearing age, being in her sixth month of pregnancy as a result of God's power. That was enough to cause Mary to submit herself to the will of God as His servant. The angel left Mary, and Mary hastily left home to go and visit Elizabeth. When Mary walked into the house and greeted Elizabeth, it set off a chain reaction. Elizabeth proclaimed the very message the angel had delivered to Mary, and called Mary blessed for believing the message. Elizabeth declared that God was going to fulfill the promise He had sent to Mary. Our Lesson Passage is Mary's response to Elizabeth's proclamation to her. There was an overflow of joy from Mary's heart. She knew what God would do through her would cause generations of people in the future to call her blessed. Although Mary was a poor, and perhaps relatively unknown person, God would make her one of the most recognized persons by name of all times. In today's vernacular, Mary would be the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all times) among women. She recognized that her reverent fear, or worship, of God was an integral part of why God chose to bless her beyond what she would have asked. In contrast to her humble existence, the well-known and well-positioned people in her society were overlooked by God in favor of her. Mary would be elevated by God to the highest level of any person on earth. Mary knew that it all connected with the covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants. This was one of the most remarkable things about her expressions. Mary knew that she was blessed by association. Mary knew she was blessed because she was a descendant of Abraham. Likewise, all Israel was being blessed for the same reason. Mary declared that her blessings were based on a promise God made to Abraham thousands of years before she was born. Although she was poor, Mary was taught about the God of her fathers. She was taught to trust the promises of God. And she was taught that God's promise to Abraham covered her with blessings although sh