‘Tis the season…

To be joyful.

To rejoice.

To give thanks.

To sing praise.

To celebrate the coming of our King, our Messiah, our Savior, our Lord, the little baby born of a humble virgin one night in David’s town. The Creator and Sustainer of all things, knit together in His mother’s womb, made flesh, to grow and play and learn and work and serve and face temptation and sweat drops of blood and die.

‘Tis the season to remember the beginning and the end. To look back and remember the promise made to Adam and Eve, and yes, to Satan too. To look back and see the fulfillment of that promise in that little baby boy born in that lowly stable. To look forward and see the end of sin and death- to the day that we will be with the Lion of the Tribe of Judah in never-ending glory, holy and blameless before our Father forever.

The Christmas season is full of joy and hope for the Christian. For some, the holiday season brings with it a dark gloom of remembrance of those who are no longer here, of painful memories, of heartache, and for some, deep seasons of depression. But take heart, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the one who annihilated all of that evil and brokenness. Jesus Christ, Lord of all. Our resurrected King.

I think that my favorite passage to read during the advent season is Luke 1. I read it over and over all month, daily asking the Lord to remind me of His grace and mercy on display in the birth of Jesus, in the climax of that promise made in Genesis 3: That One would come to be bruised and to crush the head of the snake. My favorite part of Luke 1 is probably the song that Mary sings after the angel, Gabriel, comes to tell her that she is to give birth, despite never knowing a man, that the Holy Spirit would place in her womb the very One who created her and sustains the very heartbeat that sends the blood flowing through her veins, the very One who breathed the breath into her lungs, the very One that knew the sum of her days before there was yet even one of them. I keep it no secret that I have a strong distaste for the song Mary Did You Know. It is a bit obvious that, yes… MARY KNEW. Did Mary know all that she would see Jesus do, all the miracles he would perform? No, of course not. Did Mary know that she was going to watch her son be beaten and mocked and pierced for her own transgressions? I seriously doubt she had that in mind. BUT, just read Mary’s words in this passage and tell me that she didn’t know she was to give birth to the Messiah, the One promised to come to redeem God’s people:

Luke 1:46-55

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

47  and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48  for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

49  for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

50  And his mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

51  He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

52  he has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate;

53  he has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

54  He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

55  as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Mary knew the Savior was coming. She knew redemption was near. She knew the Lord was faithful and that He was keeping and fulfilling His promises. An angel, who lives in the presence of God, told her so. And she believed the Lord. Mary knew.

I say all of that not to start an argument about famous Christmas songs, but I say all that to share the hope I have. The hope that Mary had. The hope that “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy.” This is our hope today. We have the whole counsel of Scripture to remind us. Genesis to Revelation. The promise of the Messiah who will one day come (fulfilled in the birth of Jesus) to the prophesied return of our Messiah and Lord riding on the cloud, coming to get His Bride, the Church. We get to see the extension of this promise to the Gentiles, to us. We see the command to go and tell the nations… my prayer is that we obey. And, like Mary, we wait and we believe that the Lord is still steadfast, still faithful, that He still keeps and fulfills His promises.

‘Tis the season to praise the King, for He is good and powerful, and His Kingdom will never cease.

-Mo