Intro: We are fast approaching to the much awaited celebration of the SEASON OF LIGHT. We only know he was spurred on by the example of “many” others (Luke 1:1) who were doing the same thing around that time. God, whom she calls “the Mighty One” (dynatos, or lit. It was told that Moses, who was married, remained continent the rest of his life after the command to abstain from sexual intercourse (Ex 19:15) given in preparation the seventy elders abstained thereafter from their wives after their call, and so did Eldad and Medad when the spirit of prophecy came upon them; indeed it was said that the prophets became celibate after the Word of the Lord communicated with them (Midrash Exodus Rabbah 19; 46.3; Sifre to Numbers 99 sect. And what Mary says and knows! Worship service for December 20, 2020- Fourth Sunday of Advent. Consider this, too: the child leaps in Elizabeth’s womb in recognition once, but Luke writes of it twice, first as narration and second in Elizabeth’s voice when she interprets this movement as prophetic of Mary’s status (verses 41, 44). Consider the story’s historical setting, as the framing is insistent that the reader must. Did Mary have reason to believe that her Son would usher in the kingdom of God? So when Mary speaks of “the lowliness of [God’s] servant” (verse 48), she is not only referring to her own life, but to herself as an exemplar of the lowly status of her people Israel in the past and her present (cf. She embraces God’s unexpected plan for her life. Do you like the Christmas music? Mary is not reflecting philosophically on a divine essence, but speaking of God’s actions as knowledge of who God is. “Blessed is she,” Elizabeth adds, a uniquely occurring phrase. I think they start sometime around mid-August, but that’s beside the point. The theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez writes of this as a new “spirituality of liberation,” a new way in which to live: inspired by the Holy Spirit and in solidarity today with all people before the Lord. "Gee Mark & Luke," She said stooping over, "You do know I was a virgin when Jesus was born.". Unfortunately we do not know. It's impossible to be pregnant if there is no sperm to fertilize the egg. The virgin Mary did not have an “immaculate conception.” The Bible doesn’t suggest Mary’s birth was anything but a normal human birth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. It has something to do by the way they're raised. How do you think about the answers? 1. Why is it that men have such a hard time accepting the virgin birth? Did Luke interview Mary herself, if she still lived? If you look it up, you will clearly see that the story of christ is plagiarism. This meeting and mutual support of two women, sharing each other’s joy and upending social conventions like the relative statuses of married/unmarried and older/younger, is a key piece of the new order in Luke’s relating the “orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us” (1:1). Rather, she was vowed to a life of perpetual virginity. The gravity of his responsibility as the guardian of a virgin was indicated by the fact that, when she was discovered to be with child, he had to answer to the Temple authorities, who thought him guilty of defiling a virgin of the Lord. Of course there is that possibility but only Mary could have known so much about Jesus since she reflected on these events in her heart (Lk 1.19). >The question, however, is really not what Mary did or didn’t know, but how do we respond to Jesus now that we DO know all these things. But for people who were used to Greek ideas of how gods and heroes are conceived, it made a certain sense as 'proof' of someone's special status and eventually became enshrined as official doctrine. Mary was also accused of having forsaken the Lord by breaking her vow. Birth of Jesus She speaks as if the rich have been brought low and the poor uplifted, together as a historical description, a present reality, and an eschatological hope. It should still mean the same. The theologian and poet Dorothee Sölle wrote: It is written that Mary saidhe hath filled the hungry with good thingsand the rich he hath sent empty away.He hath holpen his servant Israelin remembrance of his mercy. I have actually heard Rabbis chatting about the fact that is may have been a mistranslation. I don't know what's wrong with christians, but I don't understand how they believe that crap that's in the Bible. b. So Mary did know He was going to be great, had great power and such, but she may have not known the magnitudes and exactly all the miracles that were to happen. What a blessing! What do hypocrite 'Christians' who voted for BIDEN have to say about Exodus 18:21? 50 His mercy is for those who fear him   from generation to generation. But we can be sure he received much from Paul himself, at least concerning the events of … We pulled out old boxes and clear plastic bins containing the remnants of Christmas pageants past. Today we express that differently.Women will go to the moon and sit in parliamentstheir desire for self-determination will be fulfilledthe craving for power will go unheededtheir fears will be unnecessaryand exploitation will come to an end. There's no evidence that during his life there was any such claim made or put forth. You can sign in to vote the answer. 39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. Could Luke have gotten these details from another source? We can say with confidence that Mary was the only person consistently present at all of these events if we did a Venn diagram. All these other answers are wrong. I have had the Holy Spirit enter through my head. Yet, when the shepherds told her what the angels said (Luke 2:8-20), she pondered this announcement as if not completely understanding. Yes, it’s true! Zechariah and Elizabeth in 1:5-7; Joseph in 1:27). How about you? We know that the disciple John knew Mary as it was John who was given responsibility of looking after Mary after Jesus' death (as written in John's gospel John 19:26-27). Still have questions? The narrative slowing is a way to ease into the events of the story pausing altogether when Mary speaks directly for a full ten verses; it is worth noticing that there is very little narrative at all in this passage compared to Elizabeth’s blessing of her and her own prophetic poetry. Through Luke’s account, we are allowed to treasure the very same things that Mary did. Do you not think someone who created the universe could impregnate one of His creations? Mary would have known the stories of, and perhaps seen with her own eyes, the towns that were burned and sacked, her people that were killed and enslaved,the hundreds and thousands that the Roman soldiers crucified along roads and against cities’ walls. 1:11). Lots of Christians claim the same. Military occupation can also mean rape on a massive scale. Co-director of the Center for Theology, Women, and Gender at PTS and an ordained elder in the PC(USA). Fourth Sunday in Advent December 21, 2014 “Mary, What DID You Know?” (Luke 1:26-38) Every year several of the radio stations in St. Louis start playing nothing but Christmas music. Elizabeth blesses and recognizes her in the manner of Jael (Judges 5:24) and Judith (Judith 13:18), but Mary is not a weapon-wielding hero like them. Mary had a lot of “inside” knowledge about Jesus’ early years. This is because proponents of the Two-Source Hypothesis argue that Matthew and Luke did not know one another. The proud in the Temple, as women had for centuries ( 1 Sam Father 's house ''... A spirit that rejoices in God my Savior for me— holy is his name is the big about. Was probably a very young teenager when God spoke to her home Matthew and Luke often change Mark Q. Was chosen to be pregnant if there is no sperm to fertilize the egg his hand hunger, powerlessness,! Be … Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight a! 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