Interesting to me is how the Christ, the most important person in history, was promised after the one that is basically the one that introduces him. Even more interesting is looking at Revelation 13 we see the exact opposite. In Luke it's the Messenger then the Ruler, and Revelation it's the Ruler, and then the Messenger.
But while looking at Luke, I am reminded of something that Jesus has said, "The last shall be first." Jesus is promised after John, but Jesus is more important that John, and in this case, the last promised is the first in importance.
But what we see leading up to this Christmas season is that there is this young girl, promised to a man named Joseph, just going about her day as usual. She's living in a town called Nazareth, which has a pretty crappy reputation, much like Will-kill-yinz-burg in Pittsburgh. When suddenly a wild Angel appears! This being the same angel that visited Zechariah, who, oddly enough, was married to Mary's cousin Elizabeth. This family is obviously looked upon with favor by God. Mary is promised that she will bear a son. She is called favored one, and told that God is with her. She's incredibly confused by this, and probably a bit scared with this super bright being showing up and talking to her. Yet the angel, Gabriel, told her there was nothing to be scared of, because she has found favor with God. And because of that she's going to have a child, and not just a child but a son, and his name will be Jesus, the Greek for Joshua, which means, "YAHWEH is salvation." Alright, this is pretty, normal? I mean a child is given to a mother when she shouldn't be having a child, which we've seen multiple times, Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth, this isn't outside of one's imagination. The name was given by the Messenger, alright a bit strange, but not horribly so, if God's giving a child he kind of has a right to give the name as well. They still got the middle name right? But then looking at Luke 1.32-33 we see the purpose of this child, which is a lot different than what we've seen in the past.
"He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
Any Jew during this time will hear that and go, "It's about freaking time!"
Why? Because Gabriel just described what they call the Messiah, also known as the Christ to the Greeks. Properly translated we would call this person The King, or Lord. And yes, The was capitalized intentionally because this is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords that Gabriel is talking about. And he just told this young woman that she's going to give birth to him.
He's going to be called the Son of God. He's from the line of David, which is in the Tribe of Judah of which Jacob, Judah's father also known as Israel, said that the scepter will never leave Judah. He will rule over Jacob's house, which is the entire nation of Israel. And he's going to do that FOR-EV-ER. And his Kingdom will never end. All of this points to the Messiah, the Christ, The King.
This is the child that was promised to Mary. This is the birth that we are supposed to celebrate around this time. The coming of the Messiah, the promise of one who's name is YAHWEH is salvation. Who is the Son of YAHWEH, and also the bridge to him, the bridge to salvation. This child is a gift to us, and in him is hope and salvation, given to us by God so that we may be reconciled with him, adopted and brought into the New Israel, and letting his son rule over our lives.
This is what the Christmas season is all about, the anticipation and excitement of this particular child that was promised to us, and the celebration of his coming. So get excited, get hype, and prepare to celebrate the coming of our King.
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