Luke 1:31-33 “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.”

Mary’s son, God’s Son, was going to be “great.” I think that my sons are great. They have been successful students. They are nice guys. They are good citizens. But God doesn’t generally send angels to parents to tell them that about their children. By “great” the angel meant something more.

Over the whole course of recorded history, “The great” is a title that has been given to only 130 people or so. Usually it is reserved for conquerors and emperors of unusual power and influence. Greece gave us Alexander the Great. A few popes have been members of the club, beginning with Leo the Great. The great French king Charlemagne literally translates to “Charles the Great.” Russia has had three such rulers: Ivan, Peter, and Katherine the Great.

None of them has influenced our world like Jesus has. Today 2.2 billion people, almost one third of the world’s population, claim to follow him. Yet he never wore a gold crown. He never raised an army or led a military campaign. He lived his entire life on a postage-stamp sized piece of land no more than 150 miles long and 70 miles wide–about the size of Vermont.

Still, he was destined to rule. He still does. The throne of David and the house of Jacob are not limited to a single piece of geography or a particular nationality or race of people. It started with the Jews, it is true. Abraham was the father of this people. But in his letter to the Romans, chapter 4, Paul explains that those who share Abraham’s faith in Jesus are also his descendants and share in the promises given to him. And those who do not share the faith of Abraham are not really his descendants, no matter what their nationality or race. The promises of salvation God gave to Abraham’s family, and that passed down through his grandson Jacob and later King David, now also belong to you and me.

So we are living under Jesus’ rule and belong to his kingdom that will never end. This all fits with the way Jesus later explained his kingdom to Governor Pilate at his trial: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” Jesus’ kingdom operates on love, not force. It conquers hearts and souls, not mere body counts or real estate. Its people are citizens by faith, not by their address or family heritage. In this way Jesus’ kingdom transcends all boundaries of space and time. It will never end. And the Lord has graciously made us a part of that kingdom today.