In this episode, Jill and Annabel start out with a little bit of Christmas trivia and then deep dive into the story of Mary learning about her virgin pregnancy! Through these verses, we learn about Jesus that he is going to be the Messiah, the heir of David’s throne, that he is both divine and human, and that he is both figuratively and literally God’s son!

Questions:

• Where in the Bible do we read about the birth of Jesus?
• What city was Jesus born in?
• Who appeared to tell Mary that she was pregnant?
• How many miles did Mary and Joseph have to travel to get to Bethlehem? 
• How many angels spoke to the shepherds?
• What sign were the shepherds supposed to look for when searching for Jesus?
• Who followed the star to find baby Jesus? 
• What is a manger?
• Who was the one trying to kill baby Jesus?
• Who is the prophet that foretold “the virgin shall give birth to a sin and call him emmanuel”?
• What are you waiting for in this advent season? That you think will satisfy you?
• What is your Christmas season about?
• What is your ultimate desire?

Noteworthy Quotes:

• Gabriel is one of the angels named in the Bible which is pretty out of character for other stories
• Gabriel is in the presence of God!
• In this time, people would get engaged, and go through a 1 year period of betrothal, and then they would be married
• At this point, Mary and Joseph were in their betrothal period and would still have had to get a divorce because Joseph had completed all of his financial commitments to Mary’s family
• They had been waiting their whole lives for a savior as we are waiting for Jesus to come back
• Jesus is from the Davidic line which was also prophesied!

The Basics of the Episode:

• He is coming!
• The fear that Mary felt in this passage what most likely related to the shock of what Mary was going to Get to do in carrying the Messiah and also disbelief in being the one chosen to carry Him
• We get grafted into the blessing and favor of God when we believe in Christ
• The focus of this text is not on Mary, but on Jesus the Messiah

Resources:

Scripture References:

• Luke 1:26-33 (Angel talking to Mary)
• Luke 1:19 (Angel=Gabriel)
• Matthew 28:20 (The Lord is with us always)
• Ephesians 1:3 (The Lord blesses us)
• Isaiah 7:14 (Prophecy of Pregnancy announcement)
• Matthew 1:21 (Jesus’ plan)

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