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About Jesus - Steve Sweetman Gabriel's
Message To Mary The
name Gabriel means "the strong man of God."
He appears 4 times in the Bible.
In Daniel 8:15 to 27 and 9:20 to 27 he told Daniel about certain
end time events as they applied to "You
have found favour with God," Gabriel told Mary. As
far as we know there was nothing special about Mary other than she was
born into the lineage of King David which is important to Biblical
prophecy. She was just an
ordinary teenager who lived in the hick town of Mary
was told that she would give birth to a son.
This would have confused her since she and Joseph had not been
intimate. How in heaven's name
could she give birth to a son, but of course, it was in heaven's name that
this miraculous birth would take place. "You
are to give him the name Jesus," Gabriel added.
The name Jesus means "Yahweh saves."
Mary would have understood that this name had some kind of
Messianic designation. This
must have been totally bewildering.
"He
will be great and be called the Son of the Most High," Gabriel said
next. The term "Most
High" finds its roots in the Hebrew word "Elyon;" the
eternal I AM, who is without beginning and without end.
A woman giving human birth to divinity sounds more like
Greek mythology than Jewish prophecy, but her son would be no pagan god.
God
would give Mary's son the throne of His father David.
David was prophetically significant in the historical life of Israel. His life and rule as King of
Israel centuries earlier was prophetic of the life and rule of Gabriel
told Mary that Jesus would sit on the throne of David.
That's not the throne Jesus presently sits on in heaven.
David's throne was a literal throne in the literal city of Jerusalem. It's this literal throne in
the literal city of Jerusalem
that Jesus will sit on some day.
"He
will reign over the house of Jacob forever ... His kingdom will have no
end." If forever means
forever and no end means no end, Jesus will not only rule over Israel and
the nations for a thousand years but He will rule over Israel and the
nations who will bring their splendor to Him throughout eternity (Revelation 21:24) on the
newly created earth. Mary
would have had lots to reflect upon once Gabriel vanished back into thin
air. Maybe she reflected on
Zechariah 12:10 to 13. "I
will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of
Maybe
you have never thought about this, but if you reflect on Gabriel's message
to Mary, you will come to understand that he spoke just as much about the
return of Jesus to earth that ends this age as he spoke about His birth
into humanity that began this age. So,
when you sing "born is the King of Israel" (The First Noel) this
Christmas, understand that Jesus is
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