December 22, 2024

Readings:

Micah 5:2-5a

Luke 1:46b-55

Psalm 80:1-7

Hebrews 10:5-10

Luke 1:39-45

“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” (Luke 1:42)

If there is a sadness to our celebration of the nativity of the Lord, it is that, even in the church we have lost the majesty and mystery of Jesus’ birth. Imagine, if you will, a young girl of marriageable age. In Roman law, the minimum age of marriage for girls was 10, and Jewish practices were similar. Marriage generally took place before a girl reached 12 and a half. We think of a girl of that age still as a child. Yet, it was to this young girl that the angel brought the message that she would bear God’s Son.

Mary’s introduction is without any honorifics. God’s favor extends to her for no reason other than that it is God’s character to demonstrate compassion and to bestow blessing. In this way, the narrative begins to undercut concerns with status and honor within the world of Luke; God’s beneficence is a gift and is not tied to notions of just deserts.  (New Interpreter’s Study Bible)

The mystery of how Mary conceives is not discussed. Luke’s language emphasizes divine agency without taking up issues of gynecology. Luke’s narrative gives witness to the view that Jesus shares in God’s identity.

Mary’s response to this mystifying announcement is one of faith and trust. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) Missing from Mary’s reaction are the logical questions of “how?” “Why me?” Those seemingly obvious questions that we can’t resist asking. However, even in the asking, we lose the majesty of God’s divine plan and purpose. Mary got it right. Her response is the response of all disciples, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord;”

The Ralph Carmichael song asks the question:

I Will Celebrate Nativity,

For It Has A Place In History,

Sure, He Came To Set His People Free,

What Is That To Me?

In all our decoration and preparation we need to take a moment and ask the question, “So what?” How did Jesus’ nativity change my life?