Mary has to stop and Ponder what the Shepherds meant when they told her that Jesus was her Lord.  Could she come to grips with the idea that her son, Jesus, would be the warden of sinners and the master of slaves? In today’s culture we wince at the thought of slavery, almost to the point that we have ridden our society of all vestiges of what it did to our country. We don’t talk about it. Why? Because we know that it is wrong for any person to own another person like a piece of property. I’m sure in Mary’s day they struggled with this notion to pretty much the same extent. So when the shepherds mentioned to her that Jesus would be her Lord, It meant that in a sense, she would be enslaved to him. That he would be so great, so awesome, so holy, that she could not help but find herself under his control. After all of the Lord’s the people had seen for the last thousand years. The evil kings of Israel and Judah, the pagan kings of Babylon, Persia, and now Rome. The fake pretenders like Herod and the Pharisees. What would a good and Godly Lord even look like?

We too must ponder this. What does it mean to subject ourselves to Jesus as our Lord? It means we are servants and slaves under his control. It means we do what he says, we go where he sends, we work his fields, we feed his sheep, we follow in his steps, we suffer for his cause, we carry his banner, we fight in his army, we reap his harvest, and if need be, we carry his cross. When we subject ourselves to Jesus as Lord, we become faithful and willing slaves committed to His cause and for His glory! Can you do this? Can you submit to Jesus as your Lord? Romans 10:9-10 tells us that we must confess that Jesus is Lord and believe it in our hearts and then we will be saved. This is how we must come to Jesus. This is how we truly experience Christmas. Jesus truly is Who Christmas is all about!