Tags
Is it not interesting that in Luke 1, here on this Mother’s Day occasion, the announcement of heaven was given on two separate occasions to women who have yet to know the experiences of pregnancy and motherhood? That is, however, what we read in this chapter of Luke.
Elisabeth, an older woman who looked on her life as one not blessed by God because she had no child (or no children) to raise and nurture. She may not have considered her and her husband (Zacharias) as cursed, but it is more than likely she saw herself and them as not blessed (cf. Deut. 7:14: You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. ESV). She was very much on the Lord’s mind (as was her husband) and she was very much in the Lord’s good graces. It goes to show (teach) that reality as one thinks of it in her life may not be reality at all.
Mary, a young woman, the age of which no one knows (perhaps a middle to late teenager). She was young enough that she was not married, but she was old enough to be betrothed (all but officially married) to the man Joseph. The same angel who came to Elisabeth’s husband six months earlier, comes now to Mary. Mary was perplexed and confused about the situation, but she was wise enough to accept what she did not understand because of the source of the information, that source being the Almighty.
These two women had a story to tell, a story to tell that turned the world upside-down!
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us (Luke 1:1, ASV), Many people in the world have stories to tell about their own experiences relative to God, Christianity, the Holy Spirit, salvation, the church and Jesus. During the days of Luke many were telling the story of Jesus; those telling that story may not have been blatantly wrong or mistaken, but perhaps incomplete. On the other hand, some Bible expositors put forth the perspective those Luke had in view were Matthew and Mark, so Luke set out to complete this message of the Lord toward a particular audience of people. Unfortunately, in our day, many who speak about the Lord, Holy Spirit, salvation, etc., are blatantly wrong or mistaken. The only way to determine accuracy in matters pertaining to God is to go to His revealed Word, as the Bereans did (Acts 17:11). even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word (Luke 1:2), The Word of God must be preached to people, and preaching the Message of God to people means the Word of God must be taught to people who do not know. Unlike in the days of the first century, we are a most fortunate people because we have a Bible in our house (likely more than one), a Bible on our phone (perhaps more than one translation), but because it is so common, people don’t respect it like they should. “I can read the Bible any time I want” saying this as they lightly set it aside for another day. What a shame! Those in Luke’s day had a zeal for God to teach it with compassion and passion; it cost them much, but they taught it just the same. it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus (Luke 1:3); who Theophilus was is not known, but the writing document put together by Luke was not only to teach and reaffirm to him the truthfulness of what he wrote, but also for us. Peter said of those things written, man now has all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) and Jude says that those things revealed must be defended, that is contended for when others speak against it (Jude 3; cf. Phil. 1:27). that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed (Luke 1:4). The Gospel message is a message of hope, but the message of hope is surrounded in this world by much darkness. While the gospel message will never be defeated, those to who the Gospel message is give can be defeated, and their defeat will be the result of 1) neglect or 2) reject.
We may not have a story to turn the world upside-down like Elisabeth and Mary, but we do have a story to tell. That story is the life of Christ in the life of us each. As you thank your mother for being who she is, be sure to thank the Lord because of who He is and what He did for each of us. That is the story we can tell others and should tell from the mountaintops. RT
