Luke 1:26-35 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. And 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 give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the 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 His kingdom will have no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the holy Child will be called the Son of God.
Pastor Herk preached an Advent message stating that Christmas is a confirmation that you really matter to God and that He loves you more deeply than you can comprehend. There are so many traditions that have made their way into original Christmas story that people start to replace the actual history and assume that things happened which really didn’t. We are under many misconceptions about the actual Christmas story that are not biblical accounts.
In the Christmas story, Joseph and Mary were betrothed to each other. A betrothment
is defined as mutual promise, commitment or contract between two parties, for a future marriage between the persons betrothed; espousals. To become betrothed means a contract with one for a future spouse; to espouse; as, a man betroths a lady. The word “troth” means Belief; faith; fidelity; Truth; verity; veracity. A betrothal is to contract to any one, in order to a future marriage; to promise or pledge one to be the future spouse of another; to affiance; used of either sex. "The father betroths his daughter. An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself. During this period, a couple is said to be fiancés (from the French), betrothed, intended, affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged. Future brides and grooms may be called fiancée (feminine) or fiancé (masculine), the betrothed, a wife-to-be or husband-to-be, respectively. The duration of the courtship varies vastly, and is largely dependent on cultural norms or upon the agreement of the parties involved. Long engagements were once common in formal arranged marriages, with no sexual relations.
Isaiah 7:14 declared, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
It was during this betrothal period that Mary became pregnant, yet not a betrayal of her betrothal fidelity. Mary had been visited by the Archangel Gabriel of the immaculate conception of the promised Messiah in her womb by the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. But, upon discovery of Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph only knew that the baby wasn’t his. In Deuteronomy 22, God gave the Israelites many laws concerning this situation. But, Matthew 1:18-24 explains, “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,”
Let's continue Pastor Herk's Advent of Christ message in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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