These daily Advent studies are provided for your personal devotionals or for your daily family Advent devotionals during the evening meal. They are an excellent way to introduce daily Bible readings and discussions at the evening meal. Once begun during the Advent season the tradition can become a lifelong practice of your family. They seek to challenge both you and your children beyond the simplicity and often erroneous information provided in so called Advent calendars and children’s Christmas books. May you find it a blessing and may they be a starting point for your family in daily readings, discussions and meditations on the holy, eternal, inerrant written Word of God. (T = True; F = False) According to the Bible...
22_____ Mary was selected by God because of her righteousness and piety to Him. She was above all a woman worthy of this honor and was chosen because of her deep faith and devotion to God
23_____ In contrast nothing is said about Joseph’s righteousness before the birth of Christ.
24_____ Mary believed the Angel of the Lord when he revealed to her that she would bear the Messiah.
Answer Key
1. F - In Luke 1:26 – 28 & 38 (Mary was selected by God because of her righteousness and piety to Him. She was above all a woman worthy of this honor and was chosen because of her deep faith and devotion to God.) Mary is referred to as a “virgin” and as the “favored one”. It is proclaimed to her that “the Lord is with you”, and she submits with “behold the bond slave of the Lord”. Her life has many high points in the Holy Scriptures and there is nothing to indicate that her life before the birth of Christ was anything but as should befit a good Jewish girl. There are high points in Mary’s faith such as her submission to God at the announcement of her immaculate conception (Luke 1:38 “Behold the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”) and her prayer of praise upon her meeting with Elizabeth (Luke 1:46-56). Mary’s humble submission and faith is in stark contrast to Zacharias’ lack of faith in Luke 1:18 – 22.
Equally true, though, is that there is no indication from scripture that she was anything other than a Jewish girl who responded in faith and obedience to God. There is nothing in the Word of God to indicate any special virtue or piety on her part that determined God’s selection of Mary to bear the Messiah. She was not mentioned in any special way as were... Zacharias and Elizabeth, “righteous and blameless in all their ways” (Luke 1:5 & 6) Joseph “being a righteous man” (Matthew 1:19; Simeon “this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.” (Luke 2:25), The Prophetess Anna who gave herself to worship, fasting and prayers, both recognizing Jesus and proclaiming His deity. (Luke 2:36 - 38)
The veneration of Mary, particularly her sinless nature as taught in the doctrines of her own immaculate conception and immaculate ascension into heaven has no Biblical base and is not recorded in Holy Scripture. Pope Pius the Second, announced these doctrines in 1854. Before this time none of these special aspects of Mary were held by the Church. The mythological and apocryphal teachings concerning her sinlessness, her own immaculate conception, her miracles, her ascension, her ability to receive prayers and mediate between man and God and her role as co-redemptress with Christ are alien to the Holy Scripture and have no basis in the divine revelation of the Word of God.
2. F – Matthew 1:18 & 19 (In contrast nothing is said about Joseph’s righteousness before the birth of Christ.) Much to the amazement of many, just the opposite is true. Joseph is presented in Matthew 1:18 & 19 as “being a righteous man”. This is in contrast to many church speculations, traditions and embellishments which have no basis in Scripture. Mary is often portrayed as being selected by God, because of her piety, while Joseph is portrayed as at best incidental in his lifestyle. Some even go so far as to assume Joseph abandoned Mary, since he disappears from the narrative later in Scripture. In contrast to these myths, the Bible speaks out boldly of Joseph’s righteous character which precedes this event and shapes his reactions to the appearance of the angel and the pregnancy of Mary.
If we are going to speculate about Joseph’s behavior, why harp on the negatives. The Bible clearly says that he was a righteous man, why not give a righteous explanation to his absence from the Biblical narratives? It is true that after the incident at the Temple Joseph ceases to be mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. This does not however necessitate our creating myths concerning Joseph’s abandonment of Mary or his rejection of Christ. It would be just as easy to say that Joseph was embarrassed by Mary’s harping on Jesus. Examples Mary’s behavior being... On there visit to Jerusalem “Son, why have You treated us this way? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.”(Luke 2:48); At the wedding feast in Cana “They have no wine.”(John 2:4); At the outset of His ministry “He has lost His mind” (Mark 3:21) Again at the outset of His ministry, “Come home” (Mark 3:32)
It would be just as easy to speculate in a positive manner about Joseph. One could just as easily speculate that Joseph, being a righteous man and desiring as a good father to not crowd Jesus, to instead stay in the back ground so as not to not give other’s an opportunity to confuse his earthly role as father with the role of God the Father. I can easily see Joseph receding into the shadows, giving Jesus plenty of space, plenty of room to shine on His own. Joseph’s absence during Mary’s embarrassing statements and actions can indeed reflect on Joseph’s character in a positive light. Why not give Joseph the benefit of the doubt. Better yet, why not just say, “the Bible is silent and so am I”.
3. T – Luke 1:45 (Mary believed the Angel of the Lord when he revealed to her that she would bear the Messiah.) Luke 1:45 states, “blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”
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