Jesus' Joy

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

The Judean foothills. Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea (above.)


The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" (Above). Centuries later, pilgrims worshiped at this candle-lit shrine to our risen Lord. Truly, what the angel said was accomplished!

Commentary coming...

Mary's Annunciation: Surrender the Good

Luke 1:26-38: In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Nazareth Vale. Photo courtesy of bibleplaces.com.

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

Surrender the Good
Sometimes we cling too tightly to the things of this world - even good things. Friendships are extremely important to me, but I had far better luck with them when I wasn't bothering about Christ much. For years I've had problems in friendship after friendship - and nobody would ever tell me what I did. It got incredibly frustrating!

One close friend moved several states away without telling me she was leaving the area, despite the fact that we had a great time at coffee two weeks before she left and parted without a shred of irritation. Calling to work things out was useless.

Another stopped talking to me, looked me straight in the eye and said it was my imagination, then stomped around not speaking to me for months. Yet another moved away without telling me, despite no friction. A woman I'd kept in touch with for years visited a mutual friend they'd long since lost touch with and didn't even grant me - ten minutes away - a phone call. Why? She just assumed I'd be there??

I finally decided close friends weren't worth the heartache.

Mary's Well. John 4:13-14, from the Samaritan woman at the well - "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.God's water is better than any earthly 'water' you're drinking.

Photo courtesy of bibleplaces.com.

One day I realized I clung too tightly to friendships - I had to surrender them to God and let Him take away the ones He wanted, even if they were my favorites. Within hours I got an email from another friend who moved away saying she was so glad we'd kept in touch and thank you for being a good friend and she never intended to lose touch with me! I looked at the screen skeptically and shook my head, knowing she was wrong - until I realized God was giving back to me what I'd given to Him. After repeatedly losing what I fought so hard to keep, I got blessed when I let go.

A couple weeks later I pondered the matter again, reflecting for hours (it was a long drive!) on the situation and repeatedly telling God my friendships were His to do as He pleased with. If He wanted to take them away, go for it.

In all irony, that day I got a phone call from one of my best friends that had moved away a year earlier and never called me once since of her own accord. Later that evening I got an email from another friend that moved away answering a six-month-old email that had gotten lost in her inbox.

Sheep grazing near Nazareth. John 10:14-15 - I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me -just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep. Jesus knows you and laid down his life for you; don't you owe Him what you're holding on to?

Photo courtesy of bibleplaces.com.

Mary surrendered her entire life at the angel's words. "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said." As a betrothed girl, Mary was probably 13 and about to look like an adulterer - paraphrasing her, "How the dickens am I going to get pregnant if I've never had sex?!"

While betrothal made Mary Joseph's legal wife, betrothed couples didn't cohabitate during the year between the betrothal ceremony (legal) and the wedding celebration (social). Thus, Joseph had legal 'rights' to Mary's life - the right to send her away, divorce her, or charge her with adultery. The latter could lead to stoning.

Yet, smart girl that she was, she surrendered everything on the spot. We could all learn from her example - I learned the hard way that God demands everything. Clinging to my friendships left me hurt over and over and over again. Surrendering gave some of them back to me.

We can't cling to anything on this earth, no matter how good it seems. Mary couldn't cling to a godly reputation. I couldn't cling to godly friends. God demands everything - even the good.

Study Questions
Note: If you have no idea what I'm talking about, see the next section, "Back to Basics."

1. What good thing do you cling too tightly to? Appearing holy? "I am the Lord's servant," Mary said. "May it be to me as you have said."

2. Why? Is that a good reaon, or do you care too much about what others think of you and your Christianity?

3. What step can you take this week to surrender that?

Back to Basics: Son of God, Son of Man
Jesus Christ had two natures: the Son of Man, born of a woman, and the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit.

As the Son of Man, He can relate to you and I in every way; He suffered the physical ravages of aging, the loneliness of knowing no other human understands, the frustration of not being able to get through to people, rejection by one of His closest friends and unimaginable physical pain when He was crucified on a cross.

He endured oppressive summer heat, probably got colds, walked until his feet were sore, and had to go to the bathroom. His brothers and sisters got mad at him, his parents scolded him, and his father appears to have died when Jesus was a teen or twenty-something. In other words, he lived an ordinary, human life.

He is also the Son of God, without sin. As such He was nailed to a wooden cross out of love for you and me. God the Father looked away for a moment, and Jesus died with all of the sins of the world laid on him. Two days afterwards - on the third day - he appeared to some of His disciples as a human being. Several weeks later He ascended to heaven and is now with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

So what does He have to do with your life? He wants a relationship with you. God is the source of all love, and He loves you more than your parents or spouse ever could. He wants to set you free from all of the shackles that tie you down - set you free to live your dreams, and be who He created you to be. He has a purpose for your life, and He wants to help you fulfill it.