Luke 1:26-38

An Angel Promises the Birth of Jesus to Mary

My family and I would like to wish you and your family a very

Merry Christmas!!

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The Nativity Story

1:26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,

27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

28 And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."

29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.

30 The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.

32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."

34 Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"

35 The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

36 "And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.

37 "For nothing will be impossible with God."

38 And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

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This is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change the way that we think, and the way that we live.

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Commentary by Bob Pardue

Mary

Have you ever really stopped to think of what a miraculous event this is?

 

Mary, a virgin, giving birth to a child is a miracle that many people find hard to believe.

 

But, there are many things in our society nowadays that I sometimes find difficult to believe. A few are ..

 

• Computers - How can a chip (don't even know for certain what a chip is) hold millions of pieces of information?
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• The Internet - How does it work and who actually runs it?
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• A light switch - When I flip it a light magically appears
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• The human body - A miracle in itself.
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• A lightning bug - Astounding!!
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• And on and on ...

Just because we can't explain all these things does not mean they do not exist, does it?

 

Is not the existence of the birth of Christ to a virgin just as possible? Let's look also at the author of this version of the Christmas story.

 

Luke was a medical doctor, and he knew perfectly well how babies are made. It would have been just as hard for him to believe in a virgin birth as it is for us, and yet he reports it as fact.

 

Another attribute of Luke was the fact that he was a painstaking researcher who based his Gospel on eyewitness accounts.

 

It is widely believed that he talked with Mary about the events he recorded in the first two chapters. This is Mary's story, not a fictional account.

 

Christians and Jews, who are all of one mind that God is the Creator of the universe, should have no trouble believing God has the power to create a child in a virgin's womb. He created Adam from nothing.

 

If you still find yourself having a difficult time in believing the story of Christ's birth, just pray to God for guidance.

Love in Christ

- Bob

Christmas Story Contents

Luke 1: 16-17 Mission of John the Baptist - This Scripture lesson tells of John's mission and how it relates to Christ.