11/7/2025
"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit
has rejoiced in God my Savior."
Luke 1:46-47
Already as it gets closer to Christmas all the stores are decorated, holiday music is being played, and kids are preparing for the annual Christmas pageant reenacting the birth of Jesus. It seems as if all the hoopla of trees and decorations begins way too soon, and the celebration of Thanksgiving is pushed to the side, except for the over abundance of turkeys and hot ticket sales for all the fixings. Churches prepare for their Thanksgiving meal for the church family, and boxes of food are prepared for the families in need. It would be so nice if a Thanksgiving meal would include those in the community who are without family or friends, without the means to prepare a meal for themselves, or those who become snared in the web of depression because of extreme loneliness or the loss of a loved one. Holidays can be particular hard for one who are grieving. Perhaps the church will figure it out one day, and the concept of true giving becomes alive all year round and not just on holidays.
I began reading the book of Luke today, which is the most read account of the Christmas story. It details the story of John the Baptist and the angel's words spoken to Mary about the birth of Jesus. Mary and Elizabeth, John's mother, are cousins, so Mary pays a visit to Elizabeth, who is already six months pregnant with John. When Mary arrived at Elizabeth's house, she called out, and the baby leaped within her womb filling Elizabeth with the Holy Spirit. Mary stays with Elizabeth for three weeks, and I am certain they swapped miracle stories of how they each had angelic witnesses. Imagine experiencing such an encounter and living to tell about it! Mary's song, beginning with the words quoted above, are beautiful and describe how Mary felt, a virgin, betrothed to a wonderful carpenter named Joseph, not certain how it would all turn out, but so happy and humbled by this great honor. She sings:
"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever." (Luke 1:46-55)
The angel Gabriel also appeared to Joseph, explained the blessing, and Joseph accepted the mission. He would be the earthly father to the Son of God. Not a small task! Imagine to looks and stares they received over the nine months until delivery. Tongues always wag, and I'm sure Nazareth was no exception, although one would love to hope it was different and full of people who knew the signs. But, it simply was not. The Chosen has two well done dramas on video or streaming of the shepherds hearing about the birth of Jesus and the second one includes Mary's visit from Gabriel and her subsequent visit to see Elizabeth. It's good that this part of the story has been included, as it is most important and very relevant. The Chosen tries hard not to leave out the important parts.
I enjoy studying the genealogy of Jesus Christ as noted in the first chapter of the book of Matthew. The list in Luke goes back to Adam and Eve, but I much prefer the account found in John, as I am familiar with the names. It begins with Abraham through whom the covenant with God was made, and the covenant continues with Isaac, his son and, then Jacob, Isaac's son. Abraham was told by God that he would be the father of many nations through whom all nations would be blessed. Isaac had twin sons born from Rebekah, from Abraham's family chosen to be his bride. Esau was the first born of the twins, but he was not the one chosen by God. Jacob deceived Esau into giving him the birthright, so he had to flee for his life back to Rebekah's family for safety. During his time there Jacob worked for Laban, Rebekah's brother, and he fell in love with Rachel the younger daughter of Laban. Laban was a very deceiving sort of fellow, so Jacob promised to work seven years to marry Rachel. After the seven years, however, Laban tricked Jacob by marrying him to Leah, the older daughter. So in order to marry Rachel, Jacob promised to work an additional seven years, and after the first week of marriage to Leah was complete, Rachel would also be his bride. Sounds like a tangled web, right? It gets stickier! Because Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, God blessed Leah with children and closed Rachel's womb. Leah gave birth to four sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah from whom the line of Christ was given to Judah. The first three sons were not chosen for reasons I won't include, but it adds much to the twist and turn of the plot of Jacob's story. Since Rachel could not have children, she offered her maid, Bihah, to Jacob, and she gave him two sons, Dan and Naphtali. Leah became upset, because she was not conceiving children any longer, so she offered her maid, Zilpah, to Jacob, and she had Gad and Asher. Then one day Rachel swapped time with Jacob to Leah for mandrakes. Leah gave birth to Issachar and Zebulun, and one daughter, Dinah. God took pity on Rachel, and she gave birth to Joseph. Later, she gave birth to Benjamin, but she died from a curse for stealing Laban's household idols when Jacob escaped from Haran. So Jacob was blessed with twelve sons who would become the patriarchs. The story of Jacob's time with Laban in Haran can be visited in Genesis, Chapters 29 - 31.
Obviously, there is much more to the story of Jesus' lineage, as it spans three periods, each including 14 generations. Obviously that is a long list, and it is very interesting to see and learn about the ancestors in Jesus' family line. I'll pick it up another day, but take the time to read the stories, putting the pieces together. The interesting thing about Bible history is that God had this plan all worked out before creation. He knew exactly how it would play out in the lives of each of us. Looking at the humble birth of Christ, his death, and his resurrection, everything is intricately designed. It is indeed a mystery that we will have eternity to understand how it all worked out. But we still have a way to go, because we are definitely into some of the most debated times in history at this present time. Prophetically the plot is set, the characters are in place, and events are heating up to the time of Christ's return. Our stories will depend on how we choose to live our lives, whether based on God's design or the enemy in this story. But, I am so grateful that He thought of me. How about you?
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