Advent Passage: Luke 1:46-55

Today begins our last week of Advent. Thank you for your time as we consider Jesus’ birth through the perspective of Mary’s Song.

In the final verse of her song, Mary points back to Abraham. God made a covenant with Abraham to bless his descendants and all nations through them. When Mary sings, she anticipates God’s continued mercy to the Israelites through the birth of Jesus.

God’s mercy is the expression of His love for humanity in compassion, kindness, and grace. It extends beyond a feeling to the actions God takes on behalf of His people.

God promised to be merciful to the Israelites. Therefore, Mary recognized Jesus’ birth as God’s faithfulness to them. The part Mary does not yet know is the breadth of Jesus’ mercy as the One to bless all nations.

Jesus was indeed merciful to the Israelites; however, He also extended that salvation to all who accept and believe in Him. Through Jesus’ birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, God extended His great mercy to encompass all nations. John 1:2, reminds us of this: “Yet to all who receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

All who believe in Jesus’ name are grafted into the family tree of Abraham’s descendants. By extension, we are also the recipients of God’s mercy forever. This is why we celebrate Jesus’ birth at Christmas.

This week, we will revisit a roll call of Abraham and his descendants before making the journey to Bethlehem with Mary and Joseph to behold the birth of Jesus. I pray that you will be encouraged by the breadth of God’s merciful love for you in these days of preparation before celebration. I am so glad you’re here.

© 2025 Lori Myers Berry

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