by David Chadwick

The greatness of God is one of the profound mysteries of the Christian faith. His glory, his majesty, his dominion, his power. Our God is mighty! But in his greatness and might, he chose to come down to earth, taking on the form of a servant, to live the perfect life none of us could live, die the death we deserved, and restore anyone who responds to his salvation by grace through faith back into relationship with the Father.

In Luke 1:50-53, Mary expounded upon what the birth of Jesus would mean for those who are weak or feel insignificant, for those who are hungry and desperate. She emphasized the mercy of God that extends for all generations. The same mercy available to Mary is available to us. Isn't that wonderfully good news?

God doesn't give us what we deserve. He gives mercy to everyone who fears him; to those who have a deep, awesome respect for him. This was Mary. Is this you? Do you ever contemplate how awesome and great God is?

There was nothing significant about this 13-14-year-old virgin girl except her faith. And God chose to use her magnificently. He wants to do the same for you and me. The same God who pursued Mary for his will to be done on earth, pursues you and me as well.

For a moment, pause and think about all the great things God has done for you. As you reflect on his goodness, you will begin to count all of the miraculous deeds accomplished for you. And you will be reminded of his strength. God's strength is big enough to overshadow any problem we face.

Under God's humility and strength, the proud are scattered (verse 51). Just like with the Tower of Babel, God refuses to allow the proud to gather together for harm. He scatters enemies to thwart their malicious plans.

Don't wrestle and fight against God's will. Rather, surrender to it. Yield to his mighty hand. In fact, James 4:8 says that those who humble themselves in the sight of the Lord will be lifted up to a place of honor.

God fills the hungry and the humble with good things. But to the rich and haughty, they will be sent away empty-handed. God uses the seeming foolish things of this world to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27).

Being a fool for Jesus is always the better choice. When we are weak, only then are we actually strong because our strength is found in his strength (2 Corinthians 12:9)!

by David Chadwick

Today we will focus on Luke 1:48-49, which says, "For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name."

God looked at Mary. He saw her. But think about this for a moment. Mary spent her life looking to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac. In turn, God looked to Mary to help him accomplish the greatest mission ever accomplished: the salvation of the world.

The gospel of Jesus is a "to you, through you" gospel. God did not just save us for eternity. He has invited us into a partnership with him to reveal his nature and character and to release the message of salvation to a dying and hurting world. We see this evidenced in Mary's life.

Mary's praise parallels Hannah's similar hymn of praise in 1 Samuel 2:10 when Hannah learned that she was finally with child after years and years of waiting. In both situations, it appears that God "looked" and pursued these women to give birth to special people: Hannah to Samuel and Mary to Jesus.

God's pursuit of us should prompt lives of praise. His love for us should build hearts of worship. Mary knew this. She understood the unworthiness of her life apart from her Creator. She knew that she was just an ordinary human, and she lived from that humble place. God's greatest servants recognize that they are nothing great in the world's eyes. This should serve as a reminder to all of us that God looks for availability more than ability.

Mary continued to be overwhelmed with praise as she realized future generations would look upon her life and call her blessed; that for all time people would know that she was the special vessel through whom God chose to reveal himself in human form.

From there, Mary's praise extended beyond the impact that Jesus's life would have on the physical world. She began to express profound magnification of the greatness of God. She had an eternal perspective. Mary was overwhelmed by God's goodness and by his decision to choose her to bear, give birth to, and raise the Christ child. She could hardly believe this "great thing" God had done for her and for the world. She began to sing, "Holy is his name." She knew the name of God was set apart. It was different from any other name.

The power of God, which would be displayed through the name of Jesus, would be totally perfect in every way.

For Jesus alone deserves all worship, all praise, and all glory!

by David Chadwick

The Christmas season is truly upon us! As a church, we are going through the book of Luke, studying the many characters at the cradle who surrounded the birth of Jesus.

Luke 1:46-55 is one of the most beautiful passages in all of the Bible. Known as Mary's Magnificat, which means "magnifies" in the Latin Vulgate translation, these verses reveal Mary's song of praise to the Lord after being given the news that she was pregnant with the Savior of the world. We now see Mary as a songwriter. A psalmist. A hymn writer!

In this chapter, Mary was visiting Elizabeth, her cousin, who was also pregnant. At the point of her visit, John the Baptist had been growing in Elizabeth's womb for six months. If you remember from last week, Mary was carrying the miraculously conceived Son of God in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As Mary and Elizabeth greeted one another, John the Baptist leaped for joy in the womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. The worship of Jesus was displayed, and the recognition of his coming kingdom was detected, even from the womb!

In verse 45, Elizabeth blessed Mary's great faith for believing Gabriel's prophecy. The Magnificat was Mary's response to all that was taking place, and it was an eruption of praise.

Like David's psalms of thanksgiving, which always began by thanking God for what he had done, this song of praise does the same.

Today, let's look specifically at verses 46 and 47. Mary started off by saying, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Praise was her weapon. Much like in Psalm 103:1, all that was within her was praising her God and his holy name. Her cry out to God as her Savior showed that she was fully aware before Jesus ever arrived of her great need for a Savior.

Notice also that God is a personal Savior. He is loving, good, and kind. Surely Mary's beautiful relationship with God and her deep, abiding faith were important in God choosing her to carry and give birth to the second person of the Godhead. Mary truly was a beautiful human in so many ways.

During this Christmas season, I pray that we will all develop a personal faith in God that is as special as the one Mary had!

And that we all will sing the Christmas hymns with a renewed passion for the power of praise.

by David Chadwick

This week, we have looked at Mary and Elizabeth, two characters at the cradle who loved one another deeply and who both played a significant role in ushering in the birth of Jesus to this world.

These two women were full of faith and chose to play their part in God's redeeming story with the utmost humility. They are both to be admired and respected. Especially Mary, as the mother of Jesus, the Savior of the world.

Today, I would like to wrap up our week by focusing on one more specific insight to Elizabeth and Mary's relationship.

Imagine for a moment what it must have been like for Mary and Elizabeth to share their stories about the angelic visitation. Elizabeth waited for years, even decades, for the promise of a child to come true. She had been hoping for a child. But for Mary, she was a virgin, so her news was startling. It came out of nowhere. She had to fully hear and accept what had been said to her by Gabriel.

Knowing the role that Gabriel played in Old Testament prophecies to foreshadow the coming of the Messiah, it could be that Mary and Elizabeth were both pondering the significance and greatness of Gabriel's appearance to each of them.

I bet they chatted back and forth with questions like, "Why me? Why us? Why cousins? What does the future hold? And for the nation of Israel?" Neither one of them knew all the answers, but both women gladly accepted what God had chosen to do. They embodied lives of full surrender.

And don't forget Zechariah. Surely, he was there as the two cousins chatted. While unable to speak up, I am sure he listened to Mary's story with his own sense of wonder. With a heart of worship. With utter fascination. Full of humility. Fascinated once again by grace and more aware than ever of the salvation that was about to come through this child soon to be born.

With every passing word, Zechariah probably thought about the first words he would speak when his son and Mary's child were eventually born. It would now only be a few more months.

May we, too, ponder with wonder of our awesome God! May we cherish the power of the gospel once again. Oh, how great is our God!

by David Chadwick

Elizabeth's next words to Mary are amazing. Follow along with me as we look at Luke 1:45.

Elizabeth said, "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."

Did you catch what Elizabeth blessed in this verse? She blessed Mary's faith. Mary heard from the mighty angel Gabriel and she believed that every word that he had said to her was true.

We all need examples of faith. It doesn't matter if we are old or young, we all need the gift of faith. We must fight to believe that all of God's promises are true. We must train our minds to believe that faith can cause mountains, the seemingly impossible situations of life, to move from here to there (Matthew 17:20). We must believe that what God has promised to us is received even when we can't see it (Hebrews 11:1).

We can find many examples of people who modeled this kind of faith both in the Bible and throughout history.

Historically, consider missionaries like Hudson Taylor who went to China with little resources to claim it for God's glory. Or Jim Elliott who endured tremendous hardship to reach the unreached in Ecuador, ultimately losing his life. How about David Livingston? He spent decades evangelizing in Africa. There are countless more examples.

Or biblically speaking, take a look at Abraham. He waited 25 years for Isaac, the child God had promised him. Or what about Joshua? Even though the Promised Land was within reach, he had to wait 40 years before entering it. Or King David, who was faithful in the pasture before he was ever entrusted with the palace. How about Paul? He spent years in prison for the sake of the Gospel where he had to wait on the Lord. Yet in prison was where he wrote most of the New Testament.

Then, there's Mary. Perhaps she should be at the top of the list! As a virgin, she believed the child in her womb truly was the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. That this Jesus whom she bore was the Savior of the world. And that all of God's promises really are true!

This is the kind of faith we must seek to emulate!

by David Chadwick

Mary and Elizabeth had a very special relationship. They were cousins. They were pregnant at the same time, Elizabeth with John and Mary with Jesus. Both of their pregnancies were supernatural in nature. Both of them were very blessed. Today, we see how extra significant Elizabeth's honor was for her cousin Mary.

Let's take a look at Luke 1:42-44.

Mary travelled from Nazareth to the hill country of Judea to visit her cousin Elizabeth. If you remember yesterday, when she entered Elizabeth's home, the baby John leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Then Elizabeth proclaimed to Mary, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

Notice Elizabeth's posture as a great woman of God. She took a position of humility. She didn't start talking about her situation and what had happened to Zechariah in the temple. Nor how great it was for her personal prayers to have been answered.

No, she immediately humbled herself before her cousin, Mary. This scene is almost a preview to John 3:30 when Elizabeth's child, John, would go on to say that he must decrease and Jesus must increase! John was raised by a good and godly mom who was humble before her God as well. Elizabeth knew her place in God's story and took the lower seat.

She referred to Mary not as her cousin or her friend, but as "the mother of my Lord." Somehow, Elizabeth knew that this child in Mary's womb was her Lord! The Savior of the world. Could it be that God shared very special things with Elizabeth during her quiet months of pregnancy? It's certainly possible.

Elizabeth knew that Mary held a special place in God's heart and that he chose her to carry his Son, our Savior, in her womb. He chose Mary to raise this child in the wisdom and admonition of the Lord. Before Jesus ever went to the cross or was raised from the dead, the power of the Gospel was so very real to both Mary and Elizabeth!

We will continue the story tomorrow!

by David Chadwick

Mary and Elizabeth. Two women called by God, both of whom were carrying children with tremendous purpose.

Jesus, the perfect God-man, was conceived in Mary's womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. The angel Gabriel delivered the news to her. In addition to this news of her supernatural pregnancy, Mary was also informed of her cousin Elizabeth's miraculous conception in her later years. If we think family news spreads fast, imagine how quickly this news must have spread from family to family and from village to village.

The fulfillment of biblical prophecy was happening before people's very eyes. I can only imagine the relief, the excitement, and the wonder that filled the hearts of all who heard.

Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country of Judea. We don't know exactly where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived, but one could suspect that it was relatively near Jerusalem because Zechariah had regular rounds of service in the temple.

Elizabeth's pregnancy with John was 6 months ahead of Mary's pregnancy with Jesus. I am sure that both of them could not wait to share their stories with one another. Especially with the angel Gabriel being at the center of both narratives! Let's not forget the significance of Gabriel. He is the mighty angel who was always delivering news about the Messiah. He did so in the book of Daniel hundreds of years earlier and now was also the one to bring the news of Jesus's birth.

Mary entered Elizabeth's home. As she greeted her cousin, the baby John the Baptist leaped in Elizabeth's womb, and at that moment, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

There are three significant takeaways that I want to give you when it comes to John's leaping inside the womb. First, this leaping could very well have been prophetic, as John's calling was to rise up as the forerunner of the Messiah, Jesus. Much like a leap displays energy and action, John's fiery message called the world to attention.

Secondly, John's leaping was a sign of worship, as John seemingly acknowledged, even from the womb, that Jesus was God's chosen instrument to save the world, not himself.

Finally, this leap is an undeniable pro-life statement. The term "baby" used in this passage is also the term for a "child" that Jesus later used when he said, "Let the little children (child) come unto me." Only a life can worship Jesus. And the Bible recognizes this baby as a child. To God, this is so very clearly a life both inside and outside the womb. Jesus came to give life and life abundantly, and this message held power even while he was in the womb!

by David Chadwick

This week, we will continue to look for glimpses of glory throughout the life of Mary, but specifically in the context of her very special relationship with Elizabeth. Both called by God to very high, very important tasks.

Let's briefly recap where we are in the story.

Zechariah was visited by Gabriel and given the news that he was going to have a son named John. But because of his unbelief, he was made silent until the birth of his son.

Can you imagine for a moment how Zechariah communicated the news to his wife without the ability to speak? Did he write down what the angel Gabriel had said to him? Or maybe he used hand signals like a game to get her to guess that she would have a child in her old age? It's fun to think about this!

Now, try to imagine what Elizabeth must have felt as she processed Gabriel's visit to her husband. To know that she was called by God. After years of prayers and waiting, she would finally have a son! Per Gabriel's specific instructions, she was to name the baby John, a name that means "God is gracious." John sure lived up to his name! He was a demonstration of God's grace to both Zechariah and Elizabeth, and his life's mission was to pave the way for Jesus, the fullness of grace (John 1:16), to walk out his life on earth.

Afterwards, Gabriel appeared to a young virgin girl named Mary, who we began to study last week. Also called by God, Mary loved God and was a true example of Godly womanhood.

God chose Mary to bear the Son of God, Immanuel, which means "God with us." Her child would be named Jesus. He would be the Savior of the world, forgiving humanity of its sin and restoring people to the heart of the Father. The Holy Spirit's presence overshadowed Mary's humanity and paved the way for the incarnation of Jesus, God in human form.

This week, as we look at Mary and Elizabeth's very special relationship, remember that their closeness was deeper than being biological cousins or even being close friends. They carried similar callings. They were both called by God to extremely hard tasks for his kingdom.

I like to think that there is no greater closeness than the kind that is formed while living on a common mission for Jesus. There is no greater joy than to work alongside other believers to see the gospel message go forward. Mary and Elizabeth shared this kind of closeness and joy with one another!

I would encourage you, too, to prioritize relationships with others who are called by God to live on mission for Jesus and his kingdom!

by David Chadwick

I hope you are enjoying these characters at the cradle. These are stories of biblical figures who find their lives intersecting with the entrance of Jesus into the world. In each story, you will see so much wonder, purpose and significance.

After Mary had the encounter with the angel Gabriel, her response spoke volumes. However, before we see how she responded, do you remember what Zechariah's response was when Gabriel told him that he would have a son after many years of waiting and praying? Zechariah spoke words of doubt and unbelief, and because of that, he was made mute throughout Elizabeth's pregnancy.

As you consider the implications of unbelief in Zechariah's life, let us finish this week by pondering Mary's response to the angel Gabriel after all that she heard.

Mary was different. Of course, she was initially stunned. But after realizing what Gabriel came to tell her, Mary showed nothing but faith. She said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). There was not even a shred of unbelief in her response. Only words of faith.

Mary was the kind of woman who all women (and men!) should admire. Though not sinless, she should be a model for how to relinquish control of our lives and submit to God's call. Instead of shrugging her shoulders with a casual, compromising "whatever" in unbelief, she held herself strong and said, "Whatever you will, my God."

God wants all of us to have a heart that is postured toward this kind of surrender and trust. A disposition that is willing to do whatever God calls us to do, no matter the cost.

After Mary's response, Gabriel departed from her. It is almost as if he knew his task was complete. The message was delivered. Her faith was evident. Job well done.

Gabriel then returned to the Father in heaven for his next assignment…

by David Chadwick

Mary. Cousin to Elizabeth. Betrothed to Joseph. Visited by the angel Gabriel. While she wore many hats, the most important one was this: Mary, mother of Jesus!

After Gabriel visited Mary, she became aware of the divine conception that would take place in her womb. She also found out that her formerly barren cousin, Elizabeth, was now with child. The story of Mary is full of faith, hope, and wonder.

Threaded throughout Mary's life is a strong and fervent belief that with God, nothing is impossible! In fact, these were Gabriel's last words to Mary (Luke 1:37).

Take a moment to break down this verse with me today. It starts with these two words: "for nothing." As I often joke, I looked up nothing in the dictionary. Guess what it means? Nothing. Not a single thing. Then comes that word "impossible." Did you know there is not one single hurdle, roadblock, or setback that is impossible for the Lord?

The next two words are also very important: with God. Communion with the Father. A life of abiding. Perfect union with the God of creation. The Savior of the world was ushered in on a foundation of faith and a life deeply connected to the Father.

What a firm foundation!

This theme of faith is found throughout the Bible. Do you remember Sarah? After 25 years of waiting for a promised son, she was told that one year later she would finally have a son (Genesis 18:14).

Then in Jeremiah 32:17, we are told that nothing is beyond the power of our God who created the heavens and the earth.

Consider Jesus's own words in Matthew 19:26: "But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."'

Meditate on Ephesians 3:20-21: "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

We should contemplate these truths today and forever. Whatever you are facing, consider Sarah, consider Jeremiah. Meditate on Scripture that strengthens your faith. Now consider again this beautiful story of Mary. And remember that with God, nothing is impossible.

Just as Mary did, let us all contemplate these last words for our lives today as well.

Nothing is impossible for God.