Celebrate the Christmas story in the midst of the lenten season!
Luke 1:26–38 (NIV)
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 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 forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 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. 36 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. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 9: The Scriptural Witness on the Trinity
All these things we know
from the testimonies of Holy Scripture
as well as from the effects of the persons,
especially from those we feel within ourselves.
In the Gospel according to Luke
the angel Gabriel says to Mary,
the mother of our Lord:
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
and therefore that holy one to be born of you
shall be called the Son of God.”
Summary
In these verses Luke details the interaction between the angel Gabriel and Mary when he was sent to share the news that she would give birth to the Son of God. Mary had obvious questions regarding this news, to which Gabriel explained that this child would come by means of the Holy Spirit.
Twice in this interaction Gabriel speaks of Jesus as the Son of God. In verse 32 Gabriel states that “he will be great and be called the Son of the Most High”. Then in verse 35 he says, “the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God”.
Dig Deeper
Once again, we find details about God’s triune nature within an important moment in God’s plan of redemption. The divine means of the incarnation are significant for the way they exempt Jesus from the stain of original sin that all mankind inherits as descendants of the first man Adam. Being free from sin, Jesus alone can pay the penalty for the sins of mankind.
Gabriel speaks of Jesus as being the Son of God. This title speaks to both the incarnation and to Jesus’ divine nature. Jesus is the Son, the second person of the Trinity.
On Monday we opened the week by discussing the role the Council of Nicaea played in formalizing the beliefs of the Church surrounding the Trinity. Out of this council came the Nicene Creed, which does not even once contain the word “Trinity”. The important outcome from the Council of Nicaea was the affirmation of the divinity of Jesus.
The revelation that Jesus is the divine Son of God coupled with the consistent teaching of scripture that we have only one God, points directly to the triune nature of our God without ever needing to mention the word “Trinity”.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, and no word from Him will ever fail;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you, just like young Mary so long ago, will make yourself the Lord's servant;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Hebrews 5
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