Luke 1:31-3
31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Wednesday, December 3 - Week of Hope
This is the moment in Mary’s story where she became intimately involved in God’s story of salvation for the world. Her job was one that nobody else could do, and God chose no one other than Mary to bear God’s own self as the child we know as Jesus the Christ.
By invoking the names of Jacob (whose sons brought forth the tribes of Israel) and David (for whom the throne was named), Gabriel made sure to include the birth of Jesus the Christ into the greater story of God’s people. This part of the Christ Child’s identity was not meant to burden Mary, but to offer a greater perspective of what took place. While Christ’s birth was a new thing, it was also a continuation, a fulfillment of what God had already been doing for generations. Furthermore, because we remember the birth of Christ year after year, we are now part of the story of what God continues to do for all of God’s creation.
Our Hope lies in the promise of the future and is supported by God’s fulfilled promises of the past. It is realized in the very presence of Emmanuel, God with us, the one we call Jesus the Christ.
Prayer: God who is Alpha and Omega, help us strengthen our hope for the future as we remember where you have been for generations. Amen.
