“Therefore
the Lord Himself shall give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His
name Immanuel.” –Isaiah 7:14 ( ESV).
For days now the “Tempus Adest
Floridum” tune (Spring Carol, 14th century, arranged by Ernest
Macmillan in the early twentieth century) has been playing in my mind, and the
words of the Christmas carol written by Joseph Simpson Cook (1859-1933) have
been voicing themselves in my thoughts:
“Gentle Mary
laid her Child/Lowly in a manger;
There He lay
the undefiled,/To the world a stranger:
Such a Babe in
such a place,/Can He be the Savior?
Ask the saved
of any race/Who have found His favor.”
It is marvelous that in a dark period
of Judah’s (the northern kingdom’s)
history (under King Ahaz’s reign, about 733 BC), through the prophet
Isaiah a hope for redemption came forth in the words: “Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a
Son and shall call His name Immanuel” (God with us). To say that God is with a nation, a people or
an individual is to indicate that He is guiding and helping them to fulfill
their mission. Seven centuries later,
Matthew used Isaiah’s words in his account of the birth of Jesus (see Mt.
1:23).
Consider Mary’s role in this prophecy
and its fulfillment. Probably a young
girl of about fourteen, but devout and having heard, no doubt, of the
forthtelling of a Messiah for years in her religious upbringing, she
nevertheless would have been very surprised to have been designated as the one
to bear God’s Son. We read with great
interest Mary’s response to the angel’s announcement to her in Luke
1:26-38. Mary was highly surprised and
said, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (v. 34). Scholars believe that many Jewish maidens knew
the prophecy and wondered if they might be the chosen vessel for bearing
the Messiah, the one who would come to
save the people. Seen by the Jews as a
conquering, reigning earthly ruler, the Messiah was anticipated eagerly and
hoped for fervently. As Mary visited her
cousin Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant with the Messiah’s forerunner,
John the Baptist, the baby moved in Elizabeth’s womb (according to Luke 1:44-45). This was in recognition of the Messiah’s
presence in Mary’s womb. Mary, in
response, gave forth with the words of what scholars call “the
Magnificat”—derived from the first statement of Mary, “My soul magnifies the
Lord,”(Luke 1:46) and the reason for the
praise: “for He has looked on the humble
estate of His servant” (Luke 1:48). “
Lying at the heart of our faith is the
fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son.” As she said in her own song in Luke 1:50: “And His mercy is for those who fear him from
generation to generation.” Praise be to
God! -Ethelene Dyer Jones 12.15.2013
No comments:
Post a Comment