SON OF GOD
"And 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 bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.'"
~ Luke 1.30-33
Jesus is referred to as the “Son of God” over 40 times in the New Testament. But Adam is also referred to as the “son of God” (Luke 3.38). The nation of Israel is also referred to as the “son of God” (Exodus 4.22, et al). So, how is Jesus as the “Son of God” different than Adam and Israel as “son of God?”
Adam was God’s special creation on day six of the Creation narrative (Genesis 1.26-31). He was a “son of God” in the sense that he had been created by God, but Jesus was “begotten” of God (John 3.16). While Adam wasn’t the son of God ontologically, Jesus is.
Israel was considered the “son of God” by virtue of being chosen by God among all the nations to be His special people to bring redemption to ALL mankind.
“The Bible can be read as a story of 3 sons. Adam, the first son, was tested to see if he would obey God. He didn’t obey, so he didn’t receive life as wages. Israel, as the son of God, was disobedient under testing also, which demonstrates the sinfulness of mankind since Adam’s fall.”
“But Jesus, as the last son (perhaps you could even say first and last son because he preceded Adam in eternity as well as being after him temporally) fully obeyed God in the face of temptation, thus earning righteousness and meriting eternal life.”
“He was the obedient son whom the preceding sons prefigured in their lives and temptations, but whom the preceding sons were not like in their disobedience.” (t.ly/YlQKs)
Jesus is truly the “Son of God!”
Prayer
Jesus, thank You for being the Son of God and coming that we might become children of God. Thank You for being the obedient Son who faithfully honored His Father. Thank You for making it possible that I can be an adopted son of God. Amen.
The Annunciation (1898) by Henry Ossawa Tanner
(oil on canvas; Philadelphia Museum of Art)
Henry Ossawa Tanner’s depiction of Gabriel’s annunciation that Mary’s Child would be the Son of God is depicted unlike most other renderings of this scene. There is no halo or other discernible holy symbols.
Mary sits on an unkempt bed wearing peasant clothing. She sits compliantly on her bed, her fingers interlaced, her head slightly bowed. She looks apprehensive. The bed clothes have spilled onto the floor. The angel Gabriel is represented by a column of light emanating from the other side of the room.
But the detail that jumps out to me is the wrinkling of the carpet.
What caused it to bunch up in the middle like that? Did it happen when Mary recoiled in fear at the apparition? Did she spin on her bare feet and throw herself on her bed? Matthew tells us Mary was “greatly troubled at his words,” as you can well imagine. And so the angel Gabriel must console her before commissioning her for an extraordinary task.
But there’s no indication of Mary’s terror in this painting, only the physical effect of it left in the disturbed rug. She appears to have composed herself. Tanner has captured Mary’s quizzical expression at the very moment she asks Gabriel, “How will this be?”
She looks sceptical, uncertain, confused.
She looks so… young.
This past Sunday in Advent was a time to declare hope. But this is fragile hope. A young woman – barely a woman – sits acquiescently on her messy bed, listening to an angel’s crazy message. An insane message. An impossible message. An unbelievable message.
Indeed who would believe what Gabriel says here? That an unmarried teenager will give birth to the Son of God? That a nervous virgin will conceive a king, a ruler over all of Jacob’s descendants?
By depicting Mary at this very moment, Tanner seems to prolong the moment between the angel’s announcement and Mary’s astonishing response. He invites us into a kind of pregnant pause (pun intended), a moment in which all the angels in heaven, and all the very stuff of creation, take a deep breath and wait.
We wait too.
And then she speaks, in her faltering young voice.
“I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” (adapted from Advent blog by Mike Frost t.ly/inVTs)
The Annunciation (1898) by Henry Ossawa Tanner (oil on canvas; Philadelphia Museum of Art)
Henry Ossawa Tanner’s depiction of Gabriel’s annunciation that Mary’s Child would be the Son of God is depicted unlike most other renderings of this scene. There is no halo or other discernible holy symbols.
Mary sits on an unkempt bed wearing peasant clothing. She sits compliantly on her bed, her fingers interlaced, her head slightly bowed. She looks apprehensive. The bed clothes have spilled onto the floor. The angel Gabriel is represented by a column of light emanating from the other side of the room.
But the detail that jumps out to me is the wrinkling of the carpet.
What caused it to bunch up in the middle like that? Did it happen when Mary recoiled in fear at the apparition? Did she spin on her bare feet and throw herself on her bed? Matthew tells us Mary was “greatly troubled at his words,” as you can well imagine. And so the angel Gabriel must console her before commissioning her for an extraordinary task.
But there’s no indication of Mary’s terror in this painting, only the physical effect of it left in the disturbed rug. She appears to have composed herself. Tanner has captured Mary’s quizzical expression at the very moment she asks Gabriel, “How will this be?”
She looks sceptical, uncertain, confused.
She looks so… young.
This past Sunday in Advent was a time to declare hope. But this is fragile hope. A young woman – barely a woman – sits acquiescently on her messy bed, listening to an angel’s crazy message. An insane message. An impossible message. An unbelievable message.
Indeed who would believe what Gabriel says here? That an unmarried teenager will give birth to the Son of God? That a nervous virgin will conceive a king, a ruler over all of Jacob’s descendants?
By depicting Mary at this very moment, Tanner seems to prolong the moment between the angel’s announcement and Mary’s astonishing response. He invites us into a kind of pregnant pause (pun intended), a moment in which all the angels in heaven, and all the very stuff of creation, take a deep breath and wait.
We wait too.
And then she speaks, in her faltering young voice.
“I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” (adapted from Advent blog by Mike Frost t.ly/inVTs)
Playlist Daily Highlight
Take the time to listen . . . really listen to the words of this song. Reflect on them. Let God’s spirit speak to you in this moment.
