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Mary, a joyful bondservant
Luke 1:26–38 forms part of the lectionary readings for the fourth Sunday of Advent, which is December 20th. As with last week’s passage, the present focus is on Mary, the mother of Jesus. As previously noted, for around four centuries, God’s voice through the prophets had been silent in Palestine. The Roman army had nearly crushed the Jews’ hopes that the promised Messiah would come to deliver them from their overlords. Many undoubtedly wondered whether God had forgotten His people. In the first century AD, the Jews enjoyed limited political and religious freedom. Roman administrators had appointed the civil and religious leaders of Judea. When small groups of zealots tried…