Ordinary Hobbits, Extraordinary Times

Hold your ground, hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!

Aragorn, Return of the King

Lord of the Rings is about the return to the throne of the rightful and good king Aragorn.  When the ring is destroyed, Aragorn is restored to the throne, a “king who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” 

J. R. R. Tolkien, a Christian himself, wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as metaphors, depicting spiritual truths in fantasy literature. Ordinary hobbits, extraordinary events. Humble characters are thrust into momentous circumstances, and find out what is really within.  We find the same call to noble courage, in humble biblical characters who find themselves advancing God's extraordinary plan for the restoration of all creation.  

We're going to look at Luke 1:26-38 today.  

Mary is upset as she hears what the angel has to say.  She’s fearful.  The angel reassures her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.” Then the angel tells her that she will become pregnant, have a boy, and he also tells her what to name him.

So we have a teenage, not-quite-married pregnancy, by… well, not Joseph, we know that much anyway.  This is a lot for a young teen to consider, in any era, not to mention Joseph.  A quiet breakup is completely understandable.  But wait, there's more!  :-)  Read the following, but not as if you have heard it a million times. Imagine you are hearing it for the first time. 

“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.”

It has to be just a little overwhelming for Mary to hear that from her own womb will come “the long-awaited king, wise, just, and from the line of David who will reign forever,” in other words, the fulfillment of The Promise.  

Just as Aragorn was enthroned as the long awaited king of Middle Earth, so is Jesus the promised king, rightful and good, “who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.”

Seven hundred years before Jesus is born, Isaiah makes this prophecy, speaking to the coming one’s authority and position:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,

   and the government will be on his shoulders.

   And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,

   Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace

   there will be no end.  He will reign on David's throne

   and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it

   with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

   The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.  (Isaiah 9:6-7)

There it is: promise and fulfillment. In Luke's account, he introduces us to Jesus’ 1) divinity, 2) his position, and 3) his authority, always coming back to that theme of promise and fulfillment.  Here’s how: 

His divinity: he is the Son of God, the eternal king, born by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1: 31, 33, 35). 

His position: he is the promised king from the line of David, the Son of the Most High God (32).  

His authority: his reign will be an eternal reign: “he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end” (verse 33).  

Promise and fulfillment.  Jesus is the long-awaited king, from the line of David and born to Mary.  Ordinary people, extraordinary purpose.  After all, there is a place for you and me in this grand plan. As Gandolf has said, 

We come to it, at last. The great battle of our time.

Mary just has a question…