Luke the physician wrote how the “angel Gabriel” told Mary, “you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, your cousin Elisabeth, she has also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.”, and in chapter one and verse thirty-eight Luke shares how Mary says, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord” where we read:
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord;
be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
The verse reads, “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; ” Luke began with the words, “and Mary said” or “and Mary whose name means their rebellion uttered, declared and proclaimed”,“Behold” which means “look, lo and consider” “the handmaid” or “the female slave or bondmaid” “of the Lord” which means “belonging to the One whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, and the title given to God the Messiah”. Luke shared how Mary responded to “Gabriel” by assenting to the fact that she was the “female servant” of the Messiah.
The verse continues, “be it unto me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.” Luke added the words, “be it unto me” which means “allow and permit it to happen to Mary herself” “according to your word” or “down from, through out and toward the speech, discourse and utterance of Gabriel”. “And the angel” which means “and the messenger and envoy” “departed from her” or “left and went away from Mary”. Luke shared how Mary desired that she be the “one” whom God chose to bear His Son Jesus, and after consenting, the “angel Gabriel” left her.
When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we see how Mary submitted to the “word” from “Gabriel”, and she considered it to be her privilege to “serve” the Lord in this manner. God's “angel Gabriel” left her afterward, and now she awaited the fulfillment of all he told her to come to pass. God loves people, and His desire is to save them from their “sins” so they may live with Him forever. Those who are wise will “submit” to the word of the Lord even as Mary submitted to “Gabriel's words”.
Next time Luke shares how, “Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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