<\/p>
INTRODUCTION
The Roman Catholic church teaches many false things about Mary the mother of Jesus, but in reaction Protestants have sometimes simply ignored her. Like Joseph, she is a model of discipleship; and she is a living portrait of the church, the people in whom Christ takes shape (cf. Galatians 4:19-20). Everything this text teaches us about Mary is true, in an analogous way, of the church. <\/p>\n
THE TEXT
\u201cNow 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\u2019s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, \u2018Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!\u2019 . . . \u201d (Luke 1:26-56). <\/p>\n
TIME IS FULFILLED
In the sixth month of Elizabeth\u2019s pregnancy (Luke 1:5-25), Gabriel appears to Mary in Nazareth. Gabriel has appeared in Scripture before \u2013 to reveal to Daniel the timetable for the coming of the Messiah (Daniel 9:10-27). His reappearance in Nazareth is a signal that the time is fulfilled. Gabriel also announces that Mary\u2019s Son will inherit the \u201cthrone of his father David\u201d (Luke 1:32), fulfilling the prophecies of a renewed Davidic kingdom (cf. Ezekiel 34). Through Jesus, the original Davidic promise of an enduring kingdom (2 Samuel 7:13) is fulfilled. So too, as the Spirit works in the church, Jesus\u2019 reign is extended to us and throughout the earth. <\/p>\n
NEW TABERNACLE, NEW CREATION
According to Gabriel, Mary\u2019s child would be born from the Holy Spirit as the Spirit \u201covershadows\u201d Mary (Luke 1:35). This language alludes back to the glory-cloud\u2019s entry into the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-38), and ultimately to the hovering of the Spirit over the waters of the original creation (Genesis 1:2). As David danced before the ark, so John the Baptist \u201cdances\u201d in utero in the presence of the pregnant Mary (Luke 1:41; cf. 2 Samuel 6). Mary herself becomes a kind of human temple, in whom God\u2019s Son takes flesh. So too, the Spirit of Jesus dwells in the church, forming us into a temple of God in the Spirit, the beginning of a new creation. <\/p>\n
GREATER JAEL
When Elizabeth comes to visit Mary, she greets her as one who is \u201cblessed among women\u201d (Luke 1:42). The phrase is similar to that of Judges 5:24: \u201cMost blessed of women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite.\u201d Deborah honored Jael because she pounded a tent peg through the brains of Sisera, the Canaanite general (Judges 4:17-24). Mary is the greater Jael, who gives birth to the Seed of the Woman who will crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). Mary celebrates the heroic character of her son in her song (Luke 1:46-55): He will do mighty deeds, scatter the proud, bring down rulers, raise up the humble, and help the Israel of God. Like Mary, the church is a warrior-bride, called to join her husband Jesus in trampling Satan underfoot (Romans 16:20). <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INTRODUCTION The Roman Catholic church teaches many false things about Mary the mother of Jesus, but in reaction Protestants have sometimes simply ignored her. Like Joseph, she is a model of discipleship; and she is a living portrait of the church, the people in whom Christ takes shape (cf. Galatians 4:19-20). Everything this text teaches […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-nt-luke"],"yoast_head":"\n