...the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 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"  - Luke 1:30-33

We live in a culture that, on a yearly basis, tries to flatten the remembrance of Christ's birth to the horizontal world of gift giving. But St. Luke reminds us that Christmas first had a vertical dimension - God came down to us. This fact makes the horizontal world all the more meaningful. Let the heavenly idea linger for a moment, and then the means by which God came to us becomes all the more striking - he came down as a child through a mother.

All parents are familiar with hopeful aspirations for their children's futures, and Jewish mothers were no exception. We can recall St. Matthew's account of mother Zebedee asking Jesus for executive positions for her boys in the new kingdom. In that light, what must Mary have thought - Son of the Most High... the throne of David... reign forever... his kingdom will never end? It wasn't her idea, but there it was, cascading down from heaven in the words of Gabriel's announcement. But if it wasn't her idea, then whose idea was it? To answer this question we go back almost a 1,000 years before Mary to another announcement; this one made by a prophet to a king.

In 2 Samuel 7, we are told of the stunning prophecy delivered to King David. After David had consulted with the prophet Nathan about building a "house" (temple) for God, Nathan was sent back with a promise that God would build a "house" (dynasty) for David. Nathan's announcement to David rings true with Gabriel's announcement to Mary.

The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you... I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom... Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.  - 2 Samuel 7:11-12, 16

Situated somewhat in the middle of a string of Old Testament Messianic pearls, Nathan's prophecy to David is connected to previous promises about a conquering male descendant who would defeat Satan and deliver God's blessing to humanity (later promises spoke of a servant king - a suffering king). Nathan's oracle hints that a forever throne needs a forever king. This becomes clear to Mary when Gabriel describes her child as Son of the Most High.

The God-man king we call Jesus Christ is the perfect explanation to a biblical paradox: a king from David's human offspring who is also the Son of the Most High God. Yet more than a paradox, this is the king we need! The Christmas king is the Son of God king, who stands as a forever reminder that God is victoriously for us, not against us. But the Christmas king is also the Davidic offspring king who, as our brother, understands our human weakness.

Mary's child and God's Son: Here is the unique king - where the vertical and horizontal meet, and where we find ourselves in his kingdom which will never end.

Rev. Brad Soenksen is Professor of Old Testament at Lutheran Brethren Seminary in Fergus Falls, MN