The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Any reading of the Gospel of Luke should, it seems to me, be prefaced with these words of Sir William Ramsay: “I take the view that Luke’s history is unsurpassed in regard to its trustworthiness…. You may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian’s and they stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment.”

Luke 1:26-35, Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming in, he said to her, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

29 But she was greatly troubled at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.

32 “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.

Most of us have had surprises in our lifetimes; but I dare say that none of us have ever been as

terrified as Mary was by this appearance of the angel Gabriel. Nor did his pronouncement of her

as “favored one; the LORD is with you” lessen her fright. Gabriel’s announcement, however, was

that Mary was to have a child, a male child, who would reign over Israel forever. Mary understood

how childbirth came about, but she was simply engaged to be married; she had not had sexual

intercourse with any man. The response of the angel was that the Holy Spirit would impregnate

her miraculously and that while Joseph would serve as the Child’s foster father, the LORD Himself

would be the Father of the Child. Thus, the Child would be known as “the Son of God.” What we

call “the virgin birth” is more accurately “the miraculous conception.” Mary was the means by

which Jesus was to be born.

I have a friend, who is head of security in a Washington, DC church. He told me that many Muslims

were coming to the church saying that they had had a dream that they should learn about Jesus. These people were so numerous that the rows in which they sit are called “Muslim rows.” I’ve wondered just how frightened they must have been to awaken from dreams like that. I’ve experienced a few things like that –things that were so real, yet were only dreams. The word “dream” is uses 111 times in the Bible, so it’s not as unusual as we might think.

The key to all of this is that Mary was a pure, young girl. Purity is essential. Do we not want purity in our doctors and nurses? Do we not even want the evidence of purity in the people with whom we associate? The LORD would not have chosen anyone with less purity and innocence than Mary. If we desire to be used of Him, we, too, must be pure in thought and in character. We may not understand the ways in which He will use us, but we must be pure and ready and listening for His call.

God bless you! We love each and everyone of you and pray for you every day!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”