Luke 1:26-38 You are Valued

 

Luke 1:26-38

NKJV

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He 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. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”

Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

 

NLT

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”

Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.  “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. For the word of God will never fail”

Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

 

This verse starts out with the angel calling Mary the “highly favored one”; saying that the Lord was with her and that she was blessed.  And then we read that Mary was troubled (or confused and disturbed) by what was said.  Mary shows her humility here, maybe surprised by the words.

 

Do you know that’s how God see’s us as believers?  And it’s always a surprise to us because we don’t really understand our value.  Our value was defined by a God who came to this world to experience everything as a man.  Jesus Christ was born in a manger, not a pretty clean, well lit little barn.  But a dirty smelly little lean-to that was built against the side of another building.  There was everything you would expect to be in a barn….animals and all the by-product that comes along with them.  It’s wasn’t the pretty little nativity scene that we all have at our house.  Urine and manure covered straw; animals right on top of them….I hope you get the picture because this is part of the value God sees in you.

 

Jesus could have come to this world as a grown man and started His ministry.  Instead, God chose to experience everything that we experience, from birth to death and all the moments in between.  If you’re asking yourself why….I’ll tell you.  Because God values you enough to do it.

 

God chose a dirty little lean-to and a cross to show us our value.  Jesus came to serve and love and tell us truth.  He gave up the glory of heaven to come and say “I love you”  No greater sacrifice can be seen than the one where a birth in a manger and a bloody death on a cross are in the details.  God loved you that much. 

 

Do you understand your value yet?

 

Valued,

cej