34 DAYS TO PENTECOST

TEXT: LUKE 3:

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

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

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

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

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

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

 ³²He 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:

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

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

 ³⁵And 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.

 ³⁶And, 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.

 ³⁷For with God nothing shall be impossible.

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

KEY TEXT: Luke 3:35  “…The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:…”

REFLECTION:  The creative power of the Holy Spirit is first witnessed brooding over the face of the deep bringing order and readying the planet for life. In today’s Scripture we see the Spirit’s energy overshadowing the blessed Virgin to create in a single moment the greatest Life—the life Jesus Christ. 

The Scriptures affirm that that the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God was, is, and will be forever. The Apostle John opens His Gospel with these immortal, inspired words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” The ancient Councils of the Church affirmed the truth that Christ is co-existent and co-eternal with the Father.  But it was the work of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit that fused the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ within the womb of Mary.

We read it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  (Colossians 1:27). The Apostle Paul longed to see “Christ formed” in believers. (Galatians 4:19).  And who is it that forms Christ within us?  The Apostle answers: The “Spirit of the Son” (Galatians 4:6). 

Not only did the Spirit brood over the earth to create life, not only did the Spirit overshadow the blessed virgin to conceive Life, but that same Spirit now waits to form the Christ-life in us!  Just as Jesus was conceived in a moment, so Christ in us occurs in a moment--the moment we concur, “Even so come Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20).

Without Him we are lost. “If any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”  (Romans 8:9).

With Him we are “alive unto God,” (Romans 6:11) for “if Christ be in you… the Spirit is life.” (Romans 8:10).

PRAYER: Our Heavenly Father, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.  We pray that the same Spirit that overshadowed the blessed virgin, the same Spirit that blessed our Lord, the same Spirit that raised Him up from the dead, would dwell within our hearts.  We pray that Christ would be formed in us by the power of His Spirit, purging us of our sins, cleansing us of our sin, and bringing us into conformity with His will.  All this we pray in the name of Jesus, Amen. “Our Father, &c.”