Yes, after Mary learned she was to give birth to Jesus, miraculously via the Holy Spirit, she made a trip to see her relative Elisabeth. “And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.” Luke 1:39-40, Elisabeth, soon to be John the Baptist’s Mother.

There these two ladies fellowshipped around the things of God, obviously celebrating the Lord’s “mighty works!” Then after a few weeks, Mary returned to Nazareth. Here’s how Luke describes their parting: “And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to HER OWN HOUSE.” Luke 1:56

Get those last three words, “HER OWN HOUSE!”

Of course she would not have gone to Joseph’s house, too early for that! They were not yet “officially” married.

But one would have expected the Verse to say Mary returned to her “Parents’ house!” Or to her “Mother’s house!” Certainly not, in those patriarchal days, “her own house!”

Now here’s just a thought, at least a possibility, to explain this anomaly. No doubt TRUE, but quite atypical, “her own house.”

Maybe when Mary told her relatives about her “pregnancy” no one understood! Not her Dad. Not her Mom. None of her siblings, if she had any. (Most families at that time had numerous children, as did Mary and Joseph after the Virgin Birth of Jesus!) Maybe Mary faced ostracism from those she knew, rejection. Remember, the angel even had to go to Joseph to keep him “calm!”

“Her own house” … by herself?

“Her own house” … though belonging to her Parents … yet with her living secluded, isolated in a separate room?

“Her own house” … having had to rent some place of her own in her greatest hour of need! (This one might be really “stretching” things!)

But the Holy Spirit never wastes words!

Again our text: “And Mary abode with her (Elisabeth) about three months, and returned to HER OWN HOUSE.”

Maybe the “sword” Simeon predicted had already begun to cut! “And Simeon (in the Temple) blessed them (Joseph here included), and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this Child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against. YEA, A SWORD SHALL PIERCE THROUGH THY OWN SOUL ALSO.” Luke 2:34-35

We may never know the “price” Mary paid in Jesus’ Birth.

We do know she lived a while (six months or so) in “her own house!”

Wow!

The Catholics think too highly of Mary, I know.

But some of us probably do not honor her enough, the Mother of our Lord Jesus.

Merry Christmas everybody.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

In Mary’s great Hymn of Praise, Luke 1:46-56, this young Jewish virgin actually called God her “Saviour!” Here are the words as recorded in the King James Version of the Bible: “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God MY SAVIOUR.” Luke 1:46-47

Some today say Mary was sinless. But that is not what the Bible says. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

Some say that Mary is a co-saviour with Jesus, having persuasive powers with Him! I mean even now, in Heaven! But Mary nowhere in the Word of God claims such a thing. She does however unashamedly claim her need for a “Saviour!”

Later in her Psalm, often called the “Magnificat,” Mary says God has done to her “great things!” She’s speaking of Jesus, within her womb! Luke 1:49

Yes, Mary knew!

The angel had already told her that the Child’s Name was to be “Jesus.” Which means “deliverer,” or “one who saves.”

If Jesus was Mary’s Saviour, surely He should be ours as well.

If fact, a group of new Believers once called (rightly so) our Lord, “the Saviour of the world.” John 4:42

Mary would agree!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Jesus Himself speaks of such Salvation in this way: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24

Yesterday in our Lesson Mary was “pondering” (Greek “sumballo”) the vital Events surrounding the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Today Matthew 1:20 is our focus, where Joseph is deep in thought as well.

And rightly so! His Wife-to-be says she is going to have a baby! And he has never “touched” her, not in any intimate way. Whose Child is this?

Should Joseph quietly divorce Mary?

Public charges against her could lead to great harm, maybe even death threats. Yes, he would go the “quiet” route! “Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.” Matthew 1:19

Then, suddenly, as he “thought” …

“But while he THOUGHT on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” Matthew 1:21

My interest today is that verb “thought.”

Unlike Mary’s introspective “pondering” verb (from Luke 2:19), Joseph (in Greek “enthumeomai”) THOUGHT DEEPLY about what was happening, the word implying an “emotional” context to his deliberations. The “thumos” root embedded in “enthumeomai” means “passion, heat,” even “anger!”

Joseph was about to be upset!

Somebody (Mary) had some explaining to do!

Action had to be taken!

For holiness’ sake!

The man was about to “doubt” his Wife, her “story!”

A virgin having a baby?

Who ever heard of such?

Yes, Joseph “thought” a lot about this situation.

But … before the good man could do anything rash, before any harm could come to Mary (whether through embarrassment or through physical endangerment) … God intervened!

What a Lesson in personality!

Mary pondered quietly.

Joseph fervently (heatedly) debated what to do!

Is that a man/woman kind of thing?

For some reason the Holy Spirit has used 2 different verbs here … as far apart as night and day.

I suspect there’s a lot in the Christian life that has “upset” folks. A lot of “enthumeomai” has occurred in the history of the Faith.

And much of it, like Joseph’s, was unnecessary!

Because … while Joseph “boiled” … God had an angel on the way!

With an explanation, a miraculous one!

This coming Baby … is of the Holy Spirit!

God is centrally involved, and is pleased!

So Matthew 1:24 concludes: “Then Joseph … DID AS THE ANGEL OF THE LORD HAD BIDDEN HIM, and took unto him his wife: and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus.”

Amen!

The Story ends well.

Joseph’s mental “fire” has been calmed!

Jesus was born!

And accomplished his Goal, Death on the cross with subsequent Resurrection!

Has returned (ascended) to Heaven, and is now at the Father’s Right Hand, praying for us!

Soon to return to earth!

Hallelujah!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Joseph calmed down, trusting the Lord!

All of a sudden, an Angel appeared!

To Mary, a young Jewish girl engaged to be married. And the news? She will have a Baby, God’s Son! Such a happening could lead to Mary’s death, by stoning in fact! A Baby … prior to the actual wedding!

Being “overshadowed” by the Holy Spirit of God, and that “visitation” making a girl pregnant!

On top of all that, rearing God the Son in one’s own home!

No wonder Luke 2:19 tells us: “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”

The verb “kept” is “suntereo” in Greek, meaning “to guard” or “carefully watch” something!

And the parallel verb “pondered,” the subject of today’s Lesson, is spelled “sumballo” as Luke would have written it. It literally means “to throw together!” As in: “batting something back and forth mentally!” Rolling it over and over in one’s mind! Reflecting on it and analyzing it … unable to thing of anything else!

Mary the “ponderer!”

Oh, how I wish we could do that with the words of Scripture. Yes, what Gabriel told Mary is now Scripture. If we could take a Psalm or a Proverb or a Paragraph of some Prophet … and “sumballo” it all day long!

Ponder it.

Meditate on it.

“Chew” on it.

Eat it (as did both Ezekiel and John on Patmos).

Find it necessary (as did Job).

In Acts 17:18 “sumballo” is translated “encountered” in our King James Bibles.

Yes, Mary “encountered” all that had been told her!

And she submitted to God’s Plan!

Listen to her. “Be it unto me according to thy word.”

In Matthew 1:23 an angel of the Lord reminded Joseph, quoting an Old Testament Text: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

And sure enough, that “virgin” was Joseph’s soon-to-be wife named Mary!

So today let’s look at the Name assigned Jesus here. “They shall call His Name EMMANUEL!” Which, as explained in the Verse, means “God with us!”

The suffix, “El,” is a valid Name for God (usually “Elohiym,” found 2,606 times in the Bible). And the prefix, “em” or “im,” is a preposition meaning “within.”

Yes, Jesus is God!

“God with us,” as in “God having come to earth!”

Now I’d like us to look at the Old Testament counterpart to “Emmanuel,” spelled slightly differently.

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name IMMANUEL.” Isaiah 7:14

Here “IMMANUEL” merely reflects a slight Hebrew to Greek to English transition, hence the “I” instead of an “E.” But the meaning remains the same, “God with us!”

God was so much with Israel that in Isaiah 8:18 that whole land was called “Immanuel!” Here it is: “And he (the King of Assyria) shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of THY LAND, O IMMANUEL.” Isaiah 8:7

Later too, in Ezekiel 48:35 this truth is expressed a little differently. “And the name of the city (Jerusalem) from that day shall be, The LORD is there.” (Or … Immanuel!)

The “Emmanuel/Immanuel” Factor is even more apparent in Christians’ lives today, we who live after the Day of Pentecost. Because God now actually (via His Holy Spirit) dwells “in” us!

Part of First Corinthians 6:19 teaches: “Your body is the temple of the HOLY GHOST WHICH IS IN YOU, which ye have of God.” Wow!

Remember, Emmanuel!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell