Birth and Youth of the Messiah, "Son of the Eternal Father"

Mary

A woman of faith and virtue.

 

As such, she was prepared for the time when she was needed. 

An angelic messenger. A calling issued for which she was ordained before she was born.
 But still, she could choose. Always there is agency.

 

Practical

"How can this be seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34)

The angel Gabriel explains. The "holy child that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."(Luke 1:35)

Conceived through the power of the Holy Ghost.
 

                                              Obedient                                              

"And Mary said; behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." (Luke 1:38)

Humble

Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:19)

Joyful

"My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden; for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name."(Luke 1:46-49)

 

A formula



Preparation, proper use of agency, trust in the Lord, obedience, humility

 then

great blessings

and

 

JOY

 

Who is this child that was to be born of Mary?

 

Son of the Eternal Father, descended from the Heavenly King. Descended also from King David. Two genealogies are given. Matthew's account lists legal successors to David's throne; not necessarily a father-to-son listing, but based on who in the family was the eldest surviving heir. Luke's record gives an actual father-to-son listing linking Joseph to King David. As Joseph and Mary were cousins, their genealogy was the same. Through Mary the blood of David was inherited and therefore, the right to David's throne. Elder James E. Talmage explains, "Had Judah been a free and independent nation, ruled by her rightful sovereign, Joseph the carpenter would have been her crowned king; and his lawful successor to the throne would have been Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." 

The rightful king, the "Creator of all things from the beginning," and the greatest spirit in the premortal world was willing to come and submit himself to the greatest trial of mortality. "And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people." (Mosiah 3:7) President Joseph Fielding Smith explains, "Without a doubt, Jesus came into the world subject to the same condition as was required of each of us-he forgot everything, and he had to grow from grace to grace. His forgetting, or having his former knowledge taken away, would be requisite just as it is in the case of each of us, to complete the present temporal existence." 

Born on earth in the humblest of circumstances, he started in the same way we all do, as a child required to learn and grow and walk in obedience and faith.

Christ was a little boy once

"And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. (Luke 2:40)

I love little boys.

I love how everything in the world is absolutely fascinating through their eyes. Have you ever tried to go for a walk with a 3-year old? It is not an excursion you would want to take when you actually need to arrive anywhere at a particular time because along the way you must examine in detail every stick, blade of grass, rock, bug, puddle, leaf......
We forget the miracle that every small thing that makes up our world is until we see it again through the eyes of a child. The intricate veins in each leaf. The masterpiece that is a spider's web. The brilliant green of the moss so soft beneath my fingers. The rock pushed deep into a pocket by chubby little fingers, special because the eyes of the little explorer saw not just a rock, but a heart. This one is for mom.

I have a shelf full of those rocks. Each presented with excited eyes, happy smiles, and dirty fingers.

Those are my treasures. From my little boys.
Even when they grow so tall that the top of my head becomes a convenient chin rest for them. So big yet, to me, still my little boys.

 Do you think Christ was like that?

I like to think that he was.
 Exploring the world with fascination and exuberance, delighted with the discovery of each new miracle created by the hands of a master. His hands.

Do we remember his greatest miracle? The masterpiece of all creation?

Jesus was perfectly obedient, and because he was, "he received all power, both in heaven and on earth." (D&C 93:17) But Jesus did not receive this great power and glory all at once. He received it piecemeal, step by step, degree by degree, "line upon line, precept upon precept" (D&C 128:21) until he received a fulness of the glory of the Father. (D&C 93:11-17)

Joseph Smith taught it this way:

 “When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil [died] before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 268).

We don't have to know it all while we are here!!
We just need to follow the footsteps of our Savior, the pattern that he set.

 

Perfection in this life is not reaching any certain endpoint, it is that we continue to climb the ladder and help each other along the way.
 

 

Posted by Sister Montgomery

 

Family Home Evening Ideas:

You MUST watch the video, "O Come Emmanuel" from the mormon channel! You will find the link on the sidebar on the homepage with the schedule under January 21st. I could watch it over and over - it is wonderful! Talk about the birth and mission of the Savior and then watch the video again!

Teach about the Godhead using the new Youth curriculum, "Come Follow Me"

 https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/yw/godhead/know?lang=eng

 Distinguish WHO is a member of the GODHEAD,  talk about EACH of the 3 member's ROLES as a member of the GODHEAD and then discuss how the GODHEAD is completely unified with ONE PURPOSE {Moses 1:39}.

Here is an analogy that can be found on Sugardoodle.

It involves holding up a candle and showing that just as the GODHEAD has THREE DISTINCT ROLES....so does the candle.

The actual CANDLE represents our Heavenly Father.

{Light the candle with a match}.

The FLAME represents our Savior, Jesus Christ - the Light of the World.

The OXYGEN needed for the flame to burn represents the Holy Ghost, whom we cannot see.

OXYGEN is necessary for the flame to burn. Otherwise, the candle would not work properly.

So it is with the Holy Ghost...we cannot see him, we only see the effect he has in our lives and in the lives of others.

Just as each one of these elements is necessary for the candle..the same is said with the GODHEAD.

Each member has a DISTINCT role.

 

From Marcicoombs.blogspot.com