December 19, 2012

Luke 1 (selected verses)

 

"In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.  But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years….Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.  When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.  You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord….. Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son."

 

            There is no doubt that the story of the birth of Jesus is a story of a miraculous birth.  Yet, in Luke's gospel, the story of God's coming to us in Jesus begins not with his birth, but with the birth of a child who would later be known as John the Baptist. According to the biblical account, improbable births are among the ways God captures the attention of his people.  Think back to the story of Abraham and Sarah. God had promised them many descendants, but, they had no children. Since both were well into their nineties and the possibility of having children seemed non-existent which only added to their dilemma.  Sarah even laughed out loud at the thought that she could conceive a child.  But God fulfilled his promise as Sarah, even as she was approaching 100 years of age, conceived and gave birth to a bouncing baby boy she named, Isaac, the Hebrew word for laughter.  Thousands of years later, another geriatric couple was promised a child, and at least one of them wasn't so sure God could make it happen.  Yet, Elizabeth conceived, and nine months later, John the Baptist was born.  Then, there was Mary, a young virgin, to whom the angel proclaimed she would give birth to God's Son.  Impossible!  Mary thought so at first, but when the angel responded, "Nothing is impossible for God," Mary was willing to put her faith in God and soon gave birth to Jesus.

            There are times when our lives confront us with what we may consider to be impossible situations, times when we have no idea of what to do or where to turn.  Perhaps the next time such a situation confronts us, we will have the courage to follow Mary's example and place our trust in God, for whom nothing is impossible.

 

Prayer:

            Gracious God, the Bible is filled with examples of how you transformed what seemed to be impossible into reality.  Help us, O Lord, to trust in your providence that when difficult times come our way, we will place our faith and trust in you.  Amen.