LUKE 1:32-33
32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.33And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
In these verses the angel Gabriel has already told Mary that she would have a son and that His name would be Jesus. He has told her not to be afraid and one of the reasons she should not be afraid is that her new son would be great. Her baby was no ordinary human who would be born and then grow up and eventually die. He would be great. Of course, we know how great He would be because we can look back at what He did and who He is. But Mary couldn’t do that. She could only listen to Gabriel and accept what He said. And He said the most amazing things! Jesus would be called the Son of the Highest. There is only one way to understand those words: Mary’s little baby boy would be called the Son of God. Can you imagine how she felt looking down into the manger nine months later and thinking that this little child was the very Son of God? But Gabriel had more amazing things to say about the baby that was growing inside Mary. He would be given the throne of David and therefore rule over the people of God forever. God promised that David would never be without a descendant on His throne and now Mary’s little baby was going to sit on that throne forever, ruling God’s people in love and justice.
—Pastor Gene Franklin, Jr., St. David’s Church, Hockley, Texas
PRAYER
O Lord, you have been so gracious to keep your promises to your people. Long ago you promised that David would always have a descendant on the throne of Israel, then you sent your Son to make sure that will always be true. Please give us that same spirit of faithfulness. In Jesus’ name we ask it, AMEN.
ADVENT APPLICATION
Talk with your family about the importance of keeping your promises and show then that God was always faithful to keep His.
