The Countdown to the Birth

There is a very interesting timeline across the Gospels concerning the birth of Jesus.  It starts in the Gospel of John, John 1.  "In the beginning was the Word (Jesus) and the Word (Jesus) was with God, and the Word (Jesus) was God."  That is a theme in John, the identification of one God in two ‘beings’, the Father and the Son.  But that’s for another time.

Jesus is at the Creation, John 1:1.  Then God promised to send His only Begotten Son into the world, John 3:16, and we are given his Kingly ancestry, Jesus’ official genealogy going back to Abraham set up in Matthew 1: 1-17. 

And the story in Matthew continues in verse 18, “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.  When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit…”

This was the sermon text this past Sunday and we skimmed the backstory of Mary to go ahead with the call of Joseph.  But you can’t leave a line like “she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” by itself.  This is a unique event in the history of the church, in the history of the WORLD!!!

For that, we need to go over to the Gospel of Luke.  Luke 1, beginning at verse 5, that gives us the backstory.  We are looking at the sequence of events that leads to the Miracle birth of Jesus.  It starts with the Miracle birth of John the baptizer.  Gabriel sets that promise in motion, to Zechariah and Elizabeth, a Miracle birth for people, as verse 7 puts it, “both were getting on in years”.

This is all backstory that doesn’t make it into the Christmas Pageant, I am talking about the birth of John.  That story sets up what is to come in the Christmas Pageant and what is to come after the birth of Jesus.  Two pieces of the Story are for Christmas.  First, a miracle marks the coming of Jesus.  Secondly, when Mary comes to visit Elizabeth while Elizabeth is very pregnant, John leaps in the womb, excited by the power of God in the presence of the mother of Jesus.

Notice the sequence of the story.  Gabriel comes to speak to Mary.  He tells her she is going to be the mother of Jesus.  Her response: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  I am just saying that this is not the most enthusiastic response she might have given.

But when we read this story in church, we usually read to verse 37-38, where she responds with cautious optimism, then we jump to verse 46, where she sings out “My soul magnifies the Lord!”  What we miss are vss. 39-45, where Mary goes to see Elizabeth, and the baby leaps, and the Holy Spirit overcomes Elizabeth and she declares the Hail Mary, “Blessed are you among women...and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” 

But Elizabeth goes on to a second blessing, verse 45:

“Blessed is she (blessed is Mary) who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”  Blessed is Mary who bought into what the Lord told her!  That is when it clicked for Mary.  That is when she sings out “My soul magnifies the Lord!”

It was her visit with Elizabeth that made it real for Mary that she was truly blessed by what the Lord promised.

After Mary’s Magnificat, after her Song of Praise, Luke says she was with Elizabeth for another three months before returning to her home.  Luke does not say that she was there for the birth, but first babies generally start to kick between the fourth and fifth month, the reference books really don’t speculate on when babies start to ‘leap’ in the womb so she might have been there or not.  But that is not critical to the story.

Luke’s gospel does not jump to Jesus’ birth yet.  It finishes the story of John.  John was born, his father prophesied about his future, and we found out he grew up in the wilderness of Israel before his public appearance.

That is important because of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  All four gospels agree on this point, that before Jesus began his ministry, John the Baptist (I prefer Baptizer so we don’t stick John with a denominational affiliation) came to prepare the way of the Lord.  He did it for Jesus’ ministry and he did it for Jesus’ birth.

Now we can return to Mary, after three months, she went home and she got engaged.  We are not sure if she was engaged before going to visit Elizabeth or not but “When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit…”

Joseph’s reaction was that of a good, yet injured man.  He was going to divorce her quietly, not subject her to public ridicule.  But then the angel of the Lord comes to him and pronounces that Jesus is the Son of God the Holy Spirit.  His birth is not the act of a woman getting knocked up, but the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, “a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel”, literally “GOD WITH US”.  This is the son of David, as Joseph is the Son of David.  The history and prophecy of the Old Testament are aligning by the power of God to bring the Messiah into the world. 

And, in verse 54, “Joseph took her (Mary) as his wife…and she bore a son; and he named him Jesus.”