Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my meditation today is The Christmas Story: The Impossible Made Possible. I read from Luke 1:26-38 (ESV). All quotations are from the English Standard Version and are used with permission.
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be borne will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
As we read today, the Christmas story continues to unfold. Following the visitation to Zacharias, God sends the angel Gabriel to visit Mary and announce His plans for her and her yet to be born Son, Jesus. He tells her that her Son will be a King as His Father has given to Him the throne of His father David. Gabriel goes on to reveal that His kingdom will be unique in human history; His reign and kingdom will last forever. I believe we can all sense Gabriel's excitement at the news; nevertheless, as all these great revelations are being made, Mary, a woman and future mother, is still focused on the beginning of the announcement - "you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son." She wants to know how this can be as she is a virgin. Gabriel explains that she will be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and so conceive a Son. Sensing that she may overwhelmed by the news and perhaps doubtful as there is no prior record in history of a virgin conceiving a child, Gabriel gives her the evidence of God's power that is relevant to her frame of mind. He could have told her all the great things done by humankind when filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, but he tells her that her barren relative, Elizabeth, is now in her sixth month. He concludes by telling her, "For with God nothing will be impossible." Mary agrees to become the mother of the Son of God. Whoa! These last words of Gabriel resonated with me. I knew I had read them elsewhere. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record these same words spoken by Jesus. In Luke 18:27, we read, "But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Jesus was explaining to the apostles at that moment that it was impossible for men to save themselves. If men were to be saved, God would have to do it! And God did it by sending His Son to die on the cross for our sins. We find ourselves in a like situation with Mary. After hearing the evidence, are we willing to trust God to do the impossible - to save a wretch like me and you? Let us pray.
Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. As we celebrate the birth of Your Son, Jesus, we are overwhelmed by the might of Your power. To You, the impossible is possible. Help us, Abba, Father, to dwell on what that means for each of us. How often we are tempted to give up when You and Your Power are just a prayer away. We are thankful we have a weekly reminder of Your great power! You saved us, dear Lord, by asking Your Son to die for the sins of humankind, and just now we remember Your Son by partaking of the bread and drinking from the cup. What was impossible for us was made possible by Your Son, Jesus. In His Name I pray. Amen.
Today, Jesus invites you to partake of the Lord's supper together. I read from Matthew 26: 26-28.
"26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Let us partake of the bread.
27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Let us partake of the cup.
And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"
Until next time, from Numbers 6: 24-26, "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace."
Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories. The benefit of downloading and creating an account in one of the directory apps, like Apple Podcasts, Spotify or iHeart, is that you can add this podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. I do not receive compensation of any kind when you download and listen to my podcast. Please note there is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper.