Hey, Mary! Surprize!!

The Annunciation of the Lord

Today's Word:
Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10 (The virgin shall be with child, and bear a son; and shall name him Emmanuel,which means "God is with us!")
Psalm 40:7-11 (Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will)
Hebrews 10:4-10 (We have been consecrated through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all)
Luke 1:26-38 ("I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.")

We interrupt Lent once more for a special announcement. (I'm pretty sure this will be the last time.)

Christmas is coming, nine months from today!!! (Stores are open for your shopping convenience...unless, of course they've gone out of business.)

It doesn't take much in the way of mathematical expertise to figure out that if Jesus' birth is celebrated on December 25 (actual date unknown), backing up the approximate nine-month gestation period, we arrive at today's date.

Doesn't this particular teenage, out-of-wedlock pregnancy set a bad example to girls coming of age in modern society?

Pardon the sarcasm. Of course it doesn't.

Never was there a person more deserving of the honor of being Mother of God('s Son). And never was there a person perhaps more at wits' end when the message was delivered by the Archangel Gabriel. The best visualization I've seen was in Franco Zefferelli's 1978 television mini-series, Jesus of Nazareth. Only Mary is able to see Gabriel, and she's clearly frightened at the prospect. Still, she consents.

Luke's narrative indicates that Gabriel tells Mary that her child is destined for greatness. "The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father." This seems to make about as much sense as being told she's pregnant in the first place. She and her 'bff' Joseph may be descended from King David, but any resemblance between themselves and royalty has been lost over the last thousand years.

Surely a woman's intuitive sense would tell Mary that if her child were destined for glory, it would come at a cost. And what a cost it wound up being!

Mary do you know that your baby boy will some day walk on water?
Mary do you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Do you know that your baby boy will come to make you new?
The child that you'll deliver, will one day deliver you.

Mary do you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary do you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Do you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you will kiss the face of God.

Oh Mary do you know---

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the lamb---.

Mary do you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary do you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Do you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
The child that you are carrying is the great--I--- AM---.

--Mary, Did You Know?
Lyric by Mark Lowry, 1984 (slightly altered)
Music by Buddy Greene, 1990