Luke 1: 26-38
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed[a] to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born[d] will be called holy—the Son of God.
36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
“Joy to The World” was written by a poet and clergyman named Isaac Watts in the 1800s. A hymn-writer and theologian, Watt's desire was to create a song that would encapsulate the declarations of joyful praise found in Psalm 98:4-6:
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! 5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
And this holiday seasons, it has been his lyric - “Let earth receive her King,” followed by, “Let every heart prepare Him room”- that has captured my attention. Romans 10:9 tells us that part of the salvation process is confessing Jesus as our Lord – as King, Authority, Last Word, and Final Say in our lives. I find myself asking this Christmas: What would it/does it look like to receive Him as King? What would our lives/should our lives look like if He was/is truly King? and How do we prepare Him room?
The answers to all of these questions are found in Luke 1:26-38 – in the response of Mary to God’s invitation to receive Jesus and carry Him within her. It is in this portion of scripture that we uncover what "receiving Him as King" truly looks like and what we find is...it looks a lot like surrender. Mary says, "I am the Lord's Maid Servant." The word "servant" in the original Greek means that she is the Lord's "handmaiden, bond servant, subject to and submitted under His leadership." Mary fully yielded to and accepted God's authority - embracing His will for her no matter the cost. And there was a cost.
Mary's surrender to God's Lordship had the potential of being the end of her promised marriage to Joseph, the dishonor of her family, the loss of her community, the beginning of exclusion both religiously and socially, and very possibly a death sentence. The cost was high and yet, "I am the Lord's Maid Servant," was her radical response. There is no doubt who Mary belongs to and who she has chosen to follow. This is what it looks like to Receive Him as King. It starts in the place of surrender and submission, as we yield to Him. This is where we “prepare Him room.”
When the angel speaks of Jesus, he describes him as one who will sit upon the throne and reign (Vs 32-33). To “reign” is to “govern, rule, and control. I wonder as I look at Mary's obedient surrender and listen to the lyrics of "Joy to the World" if I have let Him reign in me? Have I given Him room to tell me no? To lead me - even if where he leads goes against where I want him to take me? Have I given Him permission to have His way in my life? Or do I resist?
Continue on in Mary's story and you will find that receiving Jesus as King also looks a whole lot like faith. When the angel tells Mary that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and this miraculous birth will be the result of the “power of the Most High,” Mary responds: “Let it be to me according to Your word.” She trusts that if God said it, He will do it. In verse 45, Elizabeth says of Mary: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of that which was told her from the Lord.”
To "Believe" is to trust it is true, to put confidence in, to be fully persuaded about, and to have faith in something or someone. Mary was completely convinced that God would fulfill (accomplish and do) everything He said He would do. Receiving Him as King requires this kind of faith - the kind that chooses to believe He is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do EVEN if it doesn't make sense or is hard to see in the natural.
Mary's obedience in Luke 1 was fueled by her trust in God's character, wisdom, and ability. She expresses her faith in the song she sings in Luke 1: 46-55. The lyrics drip of praise - praise for His mercy, praise for His power, and praise for His faithfulness. There was not a doubt in her mind that if He said it, He would do it. And I wonder - is there a doubt in mine?
Have I fully surrendered to His Lordship and do I trust Him to lead me?
Does my relationship with Him resemble "follow the leader" or "tug-of -war?"
I don't want to live a life of "tug-of-war" with Jesus. This Christmas, I'm letting go of the rope and taking a knee. Because, you see, receiving Him as King also looks a whole lot like humility.
Luke 1: 46-49 - 46
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
Mary fully recognizes – it is GOD who is doing this. He alone deserves the glory. She says, “He is has looked on (regarded, saw with His own eyes) the humble estate (the littleness, the guilt, the lowliness) of His servant.” In this, she is acknowledging her desperate need for a savior, her sin, her lack of qualifying skills, and her inability to have done any of this without God.
Matthew 5:3 reminds us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” We are blessed when we acknowledge, like Mary, our spiritual bankruptcy, our helplessness, and our inability to save ourselves. We are blessed when we embrace our desperate need for God and this profound and freeing reality: THAT IS HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE. We were created to need Him. It’s okay that we need Him. We are supposed to need Him. Receiving Him as King is acknowledging that fact. It’s putting Him in His rightful place, but also putting ourselves in our rightful place.
"He is King, I am not. "
And I have to ask as I close my Bible and turn off the repeating refrains of "Joy to the World," if I have I done this?
· Have I received Him?
· Have I surrendered to Him?
· Have I put my faith in Him?
· Have I acknowledged my need for Him?
Because when I do - there will be nothing to sing but "Joy to the world!"