Still sneering at Mary! by Pat Franklin

The virgin Mary, that sweet Jewish girl in that miserable dirty village, did not hesitate to accept the honour of being the mother of the Son of God.  Two thousand years later, men are still sneering at her!  The latest jibe was in the London Times, a paper I happened to pick up and read for the first time in years this week. Here is my letter to the Editor and to the writer.

To the Editor, The Times

RE: David Aaronovitch’s comment article, ‘When do public displays of piety go too far?’  The Times (of London)  Thursday, Dec 10, 2020

What an admirable man, so respectful of other people’s beliefs.  So respectful that he is very careful how he takes aim at the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

He writes:  ‘‘If my dinner host toasts the Queen, I stand and sip.’’ 

Then he goes on:  ‘’ I have not yet interrupted a school carol concert by shouting, ‘Offspring of a virgin’s womb!  What are you teaching these children?’ ‘’

And he adds:  ‘’I see what others get out of it, and I respect that.

‘’So it’s a big decision to interrupt the ritual and show your contempt for it.’’

Well, gee thanks, so grateful that he didn’t stand up at the school carol concert and make a fuss about the chief cornerstone of the Christian faith.

And he even managed not to show contempt for the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ and the total trustworthiness of the Bible.

Maybe we should all give him a doorstep clap.

But while he is patting himself on the back for being so respectful of other people’s beliefs, his very comment is a back-handed whack at Mary, our Lord Jesus, and the foundation of our faith.

This is the first article I have ever read by this man.  I wonder if he picks on any passages in the Koran and gets in a whack at Muhammed, while saying how much he respects Islam, which is also taught in schools as a valid religion.   Probably not.    

Trampling on the Bible is so safe!  Christians are not going to hurt anybody.

And for the record:  there is such a thing as truth.  The Bible claims to be the Word of God, and the prophecies it contains are definitive proof of that, since only God knows the future.

One such prophecy, made hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, was that a virgin would conceive and bear a son and His name would be called Emmanuel (God with us).  Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23  But this is impossible!  For us, maybe, certainly not for God!

God’s mill grinds so slowly.  Hundreds of years after Isaiah gave that prophecy, God sent His angel Gabriel  with an announcement to Zacharias that his elderly, barren wife, Elizabeth, would have a son (John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah).  Impossible?  Not to God.

Six months after that, Gabriel is sent to Nazareth to tell Mary she was chosen to bear the Son of God, who would rule from the throne of King David. Gospel of Luke 1:26-35

‘How can this be, seeing I know not a man (have never had sexual relations)?’  Mary asked the angel.  She was puzzled, as she was still a virgin, betrothed (engaged) to Joseph.

Gabriel told her the power of the Holy Ghost would overshadow her and the holy baby would be the Son of God – God would be His Father.  And Gabriel added:  'With God nothing will be impossible.'  Luke 1:37

Later on the Bible tells us that Joseph did not have relations with Mary until after the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:25).  She really was a virgin.  Jesus really was the Son of God. 

He was fully human and fully divine.  Joseph was his legal, not biological, father.

The wondrous story!  Please read it in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. 

I think of King David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, a man after God’s own heart, Israel's greatest king, the finest poet in history, so relieved and grateful  to be forgiven of his horrible sins, and so thrilled to hear that the Messiah (the anointed One) would be in his line, from his seed, and that his throne would last forever. 

That was 1,000 years before the birth of the Son of God, David’s Lord (and mine!).

To think that Mr Aaronovitch has the honor of bearing King David’s name and yet is willing to cast aspersions on the mother of King David’s greater son.   I wonder what King David will say one day.*  There will be no sneering at Mary or Jesus at the judgment throne.

The Bible is true, every word, Mr. Aaronovitch.   Maybe you never had it explained to you that Jesus fulfills many Old Testament prophecies, including those in Isaiah 53, that the Messiah would bear our sins, be scourged and pierced for our transgressions.

It is time for everyone now to repent and beg forgiveness from the Son of God, who shed His holy blood as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for the sins of all those who will put their trust in Him.

I hope you will do that.   I hope you will not sneer.   I hope you have not crossed that line, that point of no return, like Pharaoh, who hardened his heart so many times that God confirmed it.  His heart was seared, unable to respond to God.

I was one who sneered, but God came into my life, changed my heart, forgave my sins and made me a new creation, changed from the inside out, as the Bible describes in 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Please think.  Please read the Old and the New Testaments.   It is decision time and there may not be much time left.  Jesus said He would never turn anyone away who came to Him in repentance.

Eternal salvation is the offer on the table.  Here are the A,B,C's of salvation:

A Admit you are a sinner

B Believe the gospel:  that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary for your sins, was buried, and rose to life on the third day.

C Confess with your mouth that Jesus is indeed Lord of heaven and earth.  'Whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'  Romans 10:13

So simple, so profound.  God has laid it all out for us in the BIble.  The offer is on the table.  All we have to do is take Him up on it.

*King David, of course, is alive, as is Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - and Mary.  God is the God of the living, not the dead - Jesus told us that !   They are in Heaven right now, worshipping the Lord Jesus, waiting for the resurrection of their bodies and, no doubt at all, looking forward to the time when all believers in Jesus, Jewish and gentile alike, will be united in wondrous awe in His presence, our beloved Saviour, offspring of the virgin's womb.


14/12/2020

 
 
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Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1

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