Luke 1:45 … Blessed the Believers (04/17/17)
“Blessed is she who Believed, for there will be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” ~ Jesus (Luke 1:45)
This verse becomes Truth only in those moments when Belief becomes a verb – only when we set aside merely thinking faithfully about God’s love for us and start acting Faith-fully by extending that real & selfless Love to others (see Matthew 7:21, Matthew 24:12-14, Matthew 25:35-40, John 13:15-17, John 14:12 et al) …
This means that the blessing of Mary — the woman referenced here — was not guaranteed via her mental faith or her verbal allegiance, nor was it assured merely because of the child she carried or the song of praise she sang thereafter. No, the blessing so promised accrued because Mary chose to actively heed the Call given to her – she chose to hear a Divine Summons and then act accordingly — by raising Jesus with the requisite knowledge to enable him to Do what was needed to fulfill his subsequent ministry.
Indeed, by all indications Mary fulfilled her requirement quite courageously, if for no other reason than we later see Jesus become a “laborer’s” son (the Greek word commonly translated as “carpenter” in Matthew 13:55 was not specifically tied to wood-workers – see the Greek tektonos, Strong’s #5045) who was extremely well-versed in Hebrew Scriptures (see Luke 2:43-47, and also Matthew 4:4-10, Luke 4:17-19, Matthew 5:21-38, Matthew 10:35-36, Matthew 11:10, Matthew 13:14-15, Matthew 15:3-9, Matthew 19:4-6, Matthew 19:17-20, Matthew 21:13-16, Matthew 21:42, Matthew 22:31-32, Matthew 22:37-40, Matthew 22:43-44, Matthew 23: 38-39, Matthew 24:15-16, Matthew 26:31, Matthew 27:46, John 10:34, John 13:18, John 15:25 et al) – a highly unusual occurrence for any child from a working class family in Jesus’ day.
It is also worth noting that Jesus did not fulfill the prophecy desired by the angel who spoke to Mary in this chapter of Luke. For the “angel Gabriel” told Mary that “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 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 ancestor David.” (Luke 1:31-32). Yes, true to form Mary did name her son Jesus, and true to form, he was a Great Man who many errantly worshipped as “the Son of the Most High.” And yet one thing he never was – one thing he openly & wholeheartedly & repeatedly rejected was “the throne of his ancestor David.” Indeed, Jesus wanted no part whatsoever of being revered as a Savior of the people (see Matthew 16:20, Matthew 22:41-45, Matthew 24:1-2, Matthew 24:23-27, Matthew 26:63-64 + Matthew 16:28, Mark 1:24-25, Mark 3:12, Mark 8:27-30, Mark 10:17-18, Mark 12:14-17, Mark 12:35-37, Luke 4:5-8, Luke 4:41, Luke 9:18-21, Luke 18:18-19, Luke 22:70, John 5:41, John 6:15, John 7:16-18 + John 14:20, John 8:50-54, John 12:44-45, John 12:49 & John 13:13) – instead coming to offer them a Way they could attain salvation for themselves by serving others (see Luke 17:20-21, Matthew 10:7, Matthew 16:28, Matthew 24:12-14, John 13:15-17 et al) …
And this Way remains a Truth for us all to this very day. For we are all Blessed when we see to it that others have the tools & the knowledge required to blossom into a Life that serves others in harmony with their own unique gifts & talents – a Life that “fulfills what is spoken [within them] by the Lord.”
Amen … Let it be so.
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