Episode 1 Transcript—Listen to this episode here…
Greetings, and welcome to the very first From Dust to Ashes-podcast. I’m your host Donald Carpenter.
In this Episode, called Mary (Mother of Jesus), I would like to take you back in history over some 2000 plus years ago, to a place in Galilee called Nazareth; that’s located in northern Israel. According to the Bible, It was in this place that a young Jewish girl, by the name of Mary, grew up into womanhood way before her natural course of time. You see, God had a plan for her life. A plan so grand that it is still today incomprehensible for most. You see, Mary had been chosen by God, to give birth to ‘His Only Son’, the Savior of the World! Hallelujah!
Now in the days of Mary, according to Jewish customs at the time, a young woman might become betrothed, we call it engaged these days, to a young man as early as 12 years of age. However, the consummation of this engagement wound not happen until they were legally married, sometimes many months or even years later. So we find out through the Scriptures, that Mary had been recently betrothed to a local carpenter by the name of Joseph.
Well if you ask me, 12 years old is still a child! But then those were different times back then. Children, in those days, reached puberty much earlier than they do today. That’s why many girls and boys were considered “adults” after ages 12–13. Yeah, I can still remember what it was like during my puberty stricken years, I thought I was hot stuff, you know, grown up enough to make my own decisions and do what I wanted. However Mom, had a whole different outlook on my behavior. Sound familiar? So anyways, according to tradition, Mary was 14–16 years old when Jesus was born. This meaning, that Mary could have been as young as 13 years old at conception.
Christ’s Birth Announced to Mary
Luke 1:26-38
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Now Mary new of the traditional prophesies about the coming Messiah, and I’m sure that she must have pondered upon them.
WOW! Every Christmas season when I read this Glorious story of Faith and Obedience by two people caught up in one of the Greatest Miracles in human history, I just marvel. I mean think about it for just one moment. Think about Mary. Think about the situation she is in. Do you think that people in her village would believe she was impregnated by the Holy Spirit? I think not! She is a young Jewish woman, pregnant and out of wedlock. The Jewish tradition in those days, I believe, was for her to be stoned to death. Or, how about Joseph and his situation. I’m sure everyone is gonna be pointing fingers at him! What could happen to him? Make an interesting study, wouldn’t it?
Well fortunately, none of that happened. God was in total control of the situation and had everything planned out accordingly.
I doubt Mary in her wildest dreams would have expected to hear this incredible news, that she would have a child, and her son would be the Messiah. I’m sure that trying to comprehend how she would conceive the Savior dwelt heavily on her mind , but she responded to God with humble belief and obedience.
So Mary traveled from Galilee to Judah to visit her relative Elizabeth. Her journey would have been through the rough terrain of Samaria. She would have also needed to be both physically and emotionally mature and strong enough to handle such a journey.
Luke 1:39-45
Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.
The babe that leaped in Elizabeth’s womb would become John the Baptist.
Matthew 1:18-25
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel” which is translated, “God with us.” And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
So the prophet spoken of in these scriptures was none other than Isaiah. So Isaiah, being a Hebrew prophet, was believed to have lived some 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Isaiah prophesied the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ. You can read this in the book of Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14. I mean 700 years, that’s like about 17 and a half generations!
God looks at our obedience and trust—these are not the normal qualifications that most of us consider important. God seems to often use the most unlikely ones to serve him.
Mary was young, poor, and female. Not the qualities that made her suitable in the eyes of her people, to be used mightily of God. But then God, looks at one’s heart. He knew she would willingly serve Him in one of the most important callings ever given to a human being. She gave birth to Jesus as her baby and watched him die as her Savior.
God knew that Mary was a woman of rare strength. She was the only human being to be with Jesus throughout his entire life—from Birth until Death.
I hope you enjoyed this podcast, and until next time; God Bless you and yours. Amen.
