Our King, Our Deliverer, Our All

I was reading in Luke 2 a couple weeks ago, and one word has been on my mind ever since. It was in verse 6: "And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered."

I love that the translators found such a perfect English word: delivered. The time had come for Mary to bring forth her firstborn son—to literally deliver her baby. But it was also time for her to be delivered from death, sin, and the pains of mortality. Mary, a mortal woman, was born into a fallen world. The time was accomplished for the words of the prophets to be fulfilled—for her and every other soul to be, quite literally, delivered.

"The days were accomplished." While Mary and Joseph were traveling to Bethlehem, the premortal Lord was speaking to the prophet Nephi in the Americas, saying: "Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world" (3 Nephi 1:13). His coming was prophesied by all the prophets before His birth, and the day came as Joseph and Mary rode a donkey into the crowded city outside Jerusalem.

And when He came, His blessed mission was set into motion. The babe born in Bethlehem that night "grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom" (Luke 2:40). He fulfilled the Father's plan through perfect obedience and became the deliverer of all mankind.

As I read Luke 2 again this year, I saw myself in the story. Like the mortal Mary, the days had been accomplished that I should be delivered. Every soul who had or ever would live was saved through His atonement. He delivers me, and He delivers you. As David said, "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer."

Just as the perfect time for the Savior's birth was then, it is time today for us to choose to follow the Savior and be delivered ourselves. That, I think, is why we're celebrating today.

Merry Christmas.