The Annunciation
Mary
when she was engaged to Joseph, received from the Archangel Gabriel the
surprising message that the Messiah would he born through her. (Luke 1:31) In
those days, if an unmarried woman became pregnant, she could be killed. But
Mary accepted the will of God with absolute faith, saying, "Behold, I am
the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." (Luke
1:38)
Mary
immediately left her home and journeyed to consult with the priest Zechariah,
who was her relative and was highly respected. Zechariah's wife Elizabeth, with
the help of God, was pregnant with John the Baptist. She said to Mary,
"Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why is
this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke
1:42-43) With these words she testified to the coming birth of Jesus. In this way,
God let Mary, Zechariah, and Elizabeth know about the birth of the Messiah
before anybody else. All of them had the absolutely crucial mission of
following the will of God and sewing Jesus. Zechariah's family let Mary stay in
their house. Jesus was conceived in the house of Zechariah.
Elizabeth
and Mary were cousins on their mothers' side. But according to God's
providence, they were considered sisters, with Elizabeth as the elder (Cain)
and Mary as the younger (Abel). Mary received Elizabeth's help in the presence
of Zechariah. Through this cooperation, Zechariah's family, on the national
level, indemnified the lack of unity between mother and son with Leah and
Rachel in Jacob's family. (Genesis 29-30) This allowed Jesus to be conceived.
For the first time in history, there could be born on earth, free of satanic
accusation and through a prepared womb, the seed of the Son of God. In this
way, the only begotten
"How
will this be." Mary' asked the angel, "Since I am a virgin?" The
angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to he born will be called the
Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old
age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is
impossible with God."
"I
ant the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it he to me as you have
said." Then the angel left her:
At
that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,
where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.
This
is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be
married to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be with child
through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did
not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her
quietly.
But
after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream
and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your
wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy
Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:18-21
The
Son of God, the owner of the first love of God, was born for the first time in
history.
Mary
had to achieve something that could not be understood by common sense, nor
easily tolerated under the law of those times. Mary, Elizabeth, and Zechariah
had been spiritually moved. They followed the revelation that came from God,
and unconditionally believed that it was the will and desire of God.
Although
the Son of God could be born on earth, he needed a wall of protection to grow
up safely in the satanic world and fulfill the will of God. God had hoped that
these three people in the family of Zechariah would establish that protective
foundation. There are many points to consider with regard to how seriously the
three had to dedicate themselves to protecting and serving the Son of God, and
how long they should have been united with each other.
In
the Bible it is recorded, "And Mary remained with her [Elizabeth] about
three months, and returned to her home." (Luke 1:56) After that, there is
no biblical record of any further communication between Mary; Elizabeth, and
Zechariah. From the time Mary left Zechariah's house, difficulties began for
Mary and Jesus. The family of Zechariah should have been the wall of protection
for Jesus until the very end...
Because
Mary made up her mind to give her life for the mission of God, God cooperated
to help her. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, telling him not to fear
taking Mary as his wife. Joseph was also a man of God, and where another man
might have dismissed this as but an absurd dream, he took it seriously. He
turned his back on the external appearance of the situation and accepted it as
God's will. He took Mary as his wife, knowing that she was carrying a child
that was not his. Do you think that as a matter of course he asked her whose
baby it was, since after all he had saved her life? Could she reply that she
conceived through the Holy Spirit and expect Joseph to accept it?
But
Joseph was a righteous man. He believed in the revelation of God and defended
Mary, saying the pregnancy was his responsibility Mary may have been ridiculed
for becoming pregnant during her engagement, but she had avoided death by
stoning. Joseph, who loved Macy, protected her this way in the beginning.
However, there was a great deal of anguish deep in his heart.
Sun
Myung Moon, View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation
April 16, 1996
Christ
So
Joseph also went tip from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to
Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of
David. He went (here to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to
him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the
baby to he born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in
cloths and placed hint in a manger; because there was no room for them in the
inn. Luke 2:4-7
The
Christian world honors Christmas by setting up nativity scenes of Jesus in a
manger. Actually, a manger is a very lowly place. They celebrate Jesus' being
placed in a manger, but is this the kind of place God's Son, the King of kings,
should he born? Do you think God truly wanted his Son to be born in a stable?
What
about Jesus' mother, who knew through revelation what kind of son she was
bearing? Do you think she was happy that her son, the Messiah, was born in a
stable? I'm sure Mary would have thought that the Son of God would deserve more
than the most elegant palace. The appropriate way for the Son of God to arrive
would be with announcements of hour-by-hour bulletins and a proclamation
throughout the land when he arrived.
If
the priests, scribes, and rulers of Israel had known of Jesus' coming, I'm sure
that during the months before his birth everyone would have been eagerly
awaiting his arrival, and would have come to worship even before he was born.
Mary would have been treated like a queen wherever she went. A record would
have been kept of everything she did -- if she ate a snack, how many times she
went to the bathroom, how long she slept. If people had truly known that the
Son of God was in Mary's womb, the twelve tribes of Israel would all have
competed in trying to serve him before his birth.
If
that had been the case, do you think the people would ever have allowed him to
be born in a stable? A great fanfare would have been prepared, great bells
readied to ring and bands to play. Should the birth of the Son of God be an
event greater than Americas Independence Day? America preserves her cracked
Liberty Bell, but a small bell that rang to herald the day of Jesus' birth
would be preserved in a shrine as a priceless item. If there were a record of
people fighting each other to be the first to offer the new baby some gill at
his birth, would that make Jesus unhappy?
Sun
Myung Moon, Day of the Victory of Heaven October 4, 1979
Jesus
came after God had worked for 4,000 years in preparation. After all that
preparation the greatest event was the coming of God's Son to this earth. Is
the fact that he then came in such a humble way to a lowly place the pride or
shame of history? Ultimately Jesus was crucified, but if Jesus had begun his
life in the recognition that he was the Son of God, would the history of his
life have been different? Truly he would have been treated as the king of
Israel. Furthermore, if he had been embraced by the chosen people, then he
should have received more glory as God's representative than the emperor of
Rome.
God
wanted to see all the great priests of the day gather to hold the holy child.
If Jesus had been recognized from the moment of his birth as the Son of God and
the long-awaited Messiah, then all the chiefs of the 12 tribes would have
competed to serve him as he was growing up... From the early days Jesus would
have known he was born as the Son of God and his mission was to be the King of
Kings, who would initiate Gods kingdom here on earth. Would history have been
different then? Then wouldn't the entire world celebrate Jesus' birth,
generation after generation?
Will
fruitcake and ice cream make a merry Christmas? Christmas is truly the
celebration of the birth of God's Son, but without knowing God's purpose for
sending him there cannot truly be a celebration of Christmas... After hearing
me speak, "Merry Christmas" becomes "Concerned Christmas."
The true content of Christmas is the amount of love you gave during the year.
That is far more dazzling than any amount of decorations.
Sun
Myung Moon, The True Meaning of Christmas December 25, 1979
