On the Road With Jesus to ChristmasSample

Incredible. That cannot be true, can it? 

An incredible message. There is life after death. There will be no more illness. Have you ever heard such a thing? It may seem impossible and yet a lot of people do believe. I find that difficult.

Imagine. At the beginning of our era. A young girl about 13 years old. Engaged to a man. Making plans to get married. To us it may seem young, but in those days it was quite normal. 

She stands in her house and an angel enters. She is very shocked by this which I can imagine. That does not happen every day! And then that messenger of God is going to tell her that she will have a child without the intervention of a man. That child will be a special child: the Son of God.

I would be completely shaken up, wouldn’t you? Unbelievable. How would you respond? Just imagine receiving this message yourself.

This happened in Mary’s life. She really experienced this.  She also wonders how that is possible and gets an answer which is not very common either: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you”.

This history as part of the Christmas story is so difficult for you and me to understand. It goes far beyond our imagination. 

But perhaps Mary's reaction is yet the most bizarre. She simply says: "Well, the Lord may do with me what He wants. I hope that it will go as you said." She believes what is said to her and obeys. 

In this you see a core element of faith. Believing something that does not seem possible to us. That is the case now. God has promised much that still has to happen. Diseases will disappear and the dead will rise. We cannot believe it. But the angel says: Nothing is impossible for God. What He says will be done.

That is faith. Would you dare to believe God at his Word? Follow Mary’s example and say: "Okay. I believe. I want to obey."