Luke Chapter 1:

Luke Chapter 1:

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

I've read this passage a thousand times, and a thousand times I have been richly blessed. But I read this passage the other night and was just totally blown away by it. I mean this is some really potent and powerful world history stuff here. This really happened. Jesus said that John the Baptist was the greatest prophet born of a woman, and in another place it says that he said he was the greatest man born of a woman. The reason for that was John's proximity to Jesus, and the fact that he introduced Jesus to Israel and effectively to the world. So how great does that make Mary among women and men? Her proximity to Jesus was the closest of anyone, as he was inside of her for nine months, and she raised him from a baby, along with her husband. So there's no question that Mary is the greatest and most significant woman in the history of the world. The only question that remains is she the greatest human being in the history of the world apart from Jesus, whom we really don't want to include in that number because he was also God. No I'm not Catholic, I don't preach Catholic doctrine or tradition; neither do II idolize or worship any human beings other than the man Christ Jesus.

I'm talking biblical and scriptural significance and facts here. To think that God looked upon every female of age in Israel, and picked this woman for his only begotten Son to leave heaven and to go and become an embryo in her womb, is a pretty daunting thought to consider. What it tells me is that Mary had the best heart of any woman in Israel that was of childbearing age, and God measures everything and everybody by the heart. So while I not in unison with any ridiculous doctrines and traditions of praying to Mary, or Mary being anything above human or anything like that, I do and always have had a an immense admiration and godly regard for her. This virgin birth was incredible, and for a young woman like that to be visited just randomly on the spot by an angel and told these things, and then to turn around and say at the end of it, L'et It Be according to thy word,' is pretty awe-inspiring. In any event I'm thankful that all of this took place, because I've been a tremendous benefactor of God's grace that he has shown to this world through his Son Jesus Christ. So maybe you can look at it again, read it a little slower, and really think about what was going on there. It's quite incredible to say the least.