LUKE 1
You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:31-33)
For us 2000 years later, we see all kinds of spiritual language in this passage. Jesus is eternal and his reign is spiritual and eternal. But the 1st Century people had very little of that in their thoughts. Their world view was filled with earthly kings and kingdoms; their stories of the past were filled with earthly kings and kingdoms; so when Mary was told about her son taking the throne of David, it was the highest earthly honor anyone could receive.
We understand that Jesus is eternal, but for Mary and those who first heard this, Jesus eternal rule would be thought of as one that passed on to his descendants from generation to generation. Why? Because there was nothing in their experience, their world views, their stories of old that could lead them to fathom or understand the real work of Jesus.
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