This is a short message for Christmas Eve. It focuses on the Virgin Mary's pondering the events surrounding the birth of her first child.
Imagine it: Mary had been an unmarried teenager, pregnant, but not by the person to whom she had been engaged to be married. Had God not revealed the miracle of the Virgin Conception to Joseph, he would have put her away.
Now they are married, but in a strange town, staying where animals are kept. They have just been visited by shepherds who report the message of the angel of the LORD that the Messiah has been born in the city of David. They recount the chorus of peace by the army of heaven.
Naturally, Mary hides these words in her heart and tosses them back and forth as she reflects on all that has happened to her. She a mere human has given birth to him who is both truly God and truly human.
She is the Theotokos (Θεοτόκος), the God-bearer; the Mater Dei, the Mother of God -- not in his divine nature, of course, but in his human nature.
However, from reading through the Gospels, it is apparent that Mary did not fully commit herself to her Son until after his death and resurrection. This can be clearly seen in the accounts of her joining with her other children in attempting to stop the Lord Jesus in his mission (Matthew 12:46-50; Mark 3:20-21, 31-35; Luke 8:19-21; John 7:3-5).
This may account for the Lord Jesus' entrusting her into the care of his beloved and trusted disciple, because he knew that she needed encouragement and comfort in the wake of his death, not the cynical unbelief of the rest of her family (John 19:26-27).
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After serving Grace Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, Louisiana, Bob was honorably retired on Sunday, September 27, 2015, and given the title "Pastor Emeritus." This was forty years to the day after he became their pastor.
He now works for the Presbytery of the Gulf South as...