STUDY THEME: ONE SOLITARY LIFE: THE LIFE OF JESUS. 12-3-00
UNIT 2: "BORN TO SAVE-The Unfolding Plan."
Luke 1:26-33, 34-38, Matthew 1:18-25.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO LUKE 1.
Dr. Lebanon Matthew's, pastor of Eastern Heights Baptist Church in
Columbus, Ga. Said, "One morning a prominent man sat across the desk from
me. By most standards his life was a success. He had a wonderful family,
a prosperous business, and the respect of the community. However, these
failed to satisfy his basic need. He looked directly at me and spoke, "I
am a good man, But..." He paused for a moment and then continued, "But
that isn't what it is about, is it?" His rhetorical question admitted
that human decency had failed to make him right with God. He recognized
that only Jesus could remove the guilt of his sins.
Today's lesson asks: What should Jesus' being the Savior mean to me?
Today we will investigate the Biblical Truths: Jesus is God's Son, The
Messiah, who alone can redeem us from our sins. The Life Impact is to
help us live in gratitude for the grace and forgiveness that are
available in Jesus Christ, the Savior.
1. PLEASE READ LUKE 1:26-33.
I am not by nature an early riser. I sincerely wish I could start the day
some way without waking up. One early rising I remember with great
delight, however, was the occasion to watch Neil Armstrong walk on the
moon. I set the alarm for 4:00 A.M., and the whole family gathered around
the television to watch this incredible event. Who knows the far-reaching
significance of Man's venture into space.
Luke recorded for us some remarkable events that were initiated from
outer space that have had great significance on this planet. He told of
four miraculous events surrounding the coming of Jesus. Two concerned the
appearances of the angel Gabriel to Zechariah and to Mary. The other two
were the miraculous births of John and Jesus. These miraculous events
were signs pointing to the identity of Jesus with emphasis on his deity.
The purpose of today's lesson is not an attempt to prove these events but
to discover their meaning and significance. Regardless of your skepticism
or acceptance of these happenings, enter now on a probe beneath their
surface. Our "Bible walk" may not be as exciting as a walk on the moon,
but it could be more life changing.
Six months after Elizabeth became pregnant, Gabriel was sent to Mary, a
young woman of Nazareth who was betrothed to Joseph, a descendant of
David. The Mishnah, a commentary on Jewish law, required young women to
be eligible for marriage at the age of 12, and young men at the age of
l6, with 18 the preferred age. Mary was likely no more than 14 years old
when betrothed. The betrothal itself was a legally binding ceremony that
could only be ended with a bill of divorce. After a one-year period the
betrothal was consummated when the couple married and
the bride left her father's house to live with her husband.
If the husband found his new wife not to be a virgin, the law, in Deut.
22:22-24, required the wife to be stoned in the doorway of her father's
house. If she was not put to death, the Mishnah clearly forbade marriage
for the shamed woman to her husband or to the offending male. Mary's
choice of obedience placed her in a tenuous position. Joseph, however,
chose the compassionate route of a quiet divorce before he received an
angelic announcement indicating he should marry her. Matt. 1: 18-25.
Gabriel made birth announcements to both Zechariah and to Mary. There are
several similarities and several differences between the accounts.
Gabriel spoke to both Zechariah and to Mary, but he spoke to the priest
Zechariah in the temple, and to Mary in Nazareth.
Nazareth was a town of about 15,000 at the time. It was one of the most
corrupt towns to be found in all that region. When Nathaniel said "Can
anything good thing come out of Nazareth", he spoke as one familiar with
the place.
Both were troubled by this experience, but Zechariah was troubled by the
angel's appearance and Mary by the angel's message. Neither had any
children, but with Zechariah and Elizabeth the cause was barrenness, and
with Mary and Joseph, it was her virginity.
Both were told of the birth of sons, given their names, and told their
births would be miraculous. However, John was to be the child of a couple
too old to have children and he was to be the forerunner of the Messiah
while Jesus was to be conceived in a virgin by the Holy Spirit and would
be the Son of God as well as the long-awaited Messiah. Both asked how
these miracles would be possible, but Zechariah had doubts and Mary did
not. Mary's question was borne out of wonder. Not doubt, nor disbelief.
The importance of the virgin birth cannot be overstated. A right view of
the incarnation hinges on the truth that Jesus was virgin born. Yet this
is one of the most controversial doctrines of the Christian faith. The
Holy Spirit wrought the
conception through supernatural means The nature of Jesus conception
testifies of both His deity and His sinlessness.
If Mary, a Galilean peasant girl, had known twentieth-century
terminology, she may have felt that she had been visited by a creature
from a UFO. Luke identified the messenger as the angel Gabriel. His
announcement to Mary was even more incredible than what he had told
Zechariah. Although a virgin, Mary was to become the mother of the
long-awaited Messiah. The significance of this mysterious episode is that
God was asking Mary to join Him in an important task. This is the meaning
of the phrase "favor with God."
Mary was a recipient of divine favor. Some have mistakenly thought that
this phrase "highly favored" meant that Mary was a source of grace or
that she was better than anyone else in Palestine. This has been used to
support non-biblical ideas about Mary. It was taken to imply that Mary
was so full of grace that she could disperse it to others. Dr. Hobbs put
it, "Mary is not the dispenser of divine grace. She herself had received
grace in that she had been chosen to be the mother of Him through whom
God's grace is extended to lost men." Mary may rightly be regarded as the
most blessed among women, but only a woman still. Mariology is a form of
idolatry
Others have equated this phrase "highly favored" with images of ease and
comfort..
When we follow the experience of Mary, the fact becomes obvious that the
favor of God does not exempt one from hardship or suffering. In fact, it
brought chaos instead of order to Mary's life. There she was, a simple
peasant girl engaged to a solid, dependable man: and suddenly, God
entered her life, and everything that she held dear was threatened-her
honor, her reputation, and her hopes for the future.
Many problems developed over the way Jesus was born. Mary 's acceptance
of God's plan created a predicament involving the potential humiliation
of her family and her own reduced position in society, as well as the
peril of death for Mary. The old-timers around Nazareth probably always
regarded her son as an illegitimate child. Because Mary was in Bethlehem
when her time came, she was cut off from her family and those older women
who normally would have assisted her in her hour of need. We do not often
think about Mary's facing risk, but she faced the same fears, needs, and
emotions we face. As a model of faith, her significance for us increases
when we remember that she shared in our humanity.
Later on she watched Jesus grow up and never could understand fully why
he left the carpenter shop for a career that made little sense to a
Galilean peasant. Then the rumors arose of growing hostility toward Him;
and finally, that awful week in Jerusalem occurred when Mary witnessed
with her own eyes the accusation, torture, and crucifixion of her
firstborn. The favor of God is not ease and comfort but an invitation to
share in his rescue operation. In this sense, every Christian has found
favor with God.
A further significance is seen in the angel's statement as to the child's
name. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua. There were probably
scores of boys in those parts who bore the name: it was one of the
commonest names of the time. Where did it come from? The man who first
bore that name was the successor of Moses. Where did he get his name?
That is not what his father called him. That is not the name his mother
gave him. He was born in Egypt, in slavery; and when the baby came and
was preserved, they gave him a name, Hoshea, Salvation! It was a sob and
a sigh of people in slavery; yet it was a song of hope, and so in it
there emerged minor and major notes. He grew up; he became Moses'
right-hand man; and when the hour came that Moses knew he was to take up
his work and carry it on, Moses changed his name,. He took part of the
Divine title, Jehovah, and parts of the boy's name, parts of Jehovah and
Hoshea, and put them together, and he made a new name for him. Joshua,
Jehovah-salvation. When this same angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, he
said the same thing, but he gave the reason for the name. "Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for it is He that shall save His people from their
sins."
No messenger from outer space probably has appeared to you, but God has
made his manifestation to you. Through Jesus, he has said the he loved
you and wants to save you from your sins. He further has asked you to
join him in an important mission of redemption and ministry. Yes, the
good news is that God manifests himself to each of us.
In Vs. 32-33 Mary's future son was described by Gabriel so as
to let her know that she was to give birth to the Messiah of Israel. Son
of the Most High is a messianic title that sets Jesus off from all other
men. It declares that he has a relationship to God that can be claimed by
no other human being. Calling a person some one's son was a way of
signifying equality. Here the angel was telling Mary that her Son would
be equal to the Most High God.
2. PLEASE READ LUKE 1: 34-38.
After hearing the angel's announcement that she would be the mother of
the Messiah, Mary wanted to know how this was to take place. Her
question, How shall this be, since I have no husband? Clearly indicates
that she understood she was to have a son before she was married. The
angel explained that the birth of her son would be the creative act of
the Holy Spirit. The word overshadow in Vs. 35 means the Holy Spirit
would bring about a new creation. What took place here was a creation
rather than conception as generally understood.
To further encourage Mary's faith, the angel gave her a sign that her
kinswoman Elizabeth would have a son in her old age. This was to help her
see that the power of God is not frustrated by natural factors that limit
man. The same God who already had worked a miracle in the life of
Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant, certainly could accomplish what
had been spoken to Mary.
The virgin birth is as controversial as UFO's. Some think the term
"supernatural conception" is to be preferred to "virgin birth" because it
places the emphasis where Matthew and Luke placed it-on God's act rather
than on Mary's state. The deity and sinlessness of Jesus do not depend on
the virtue or virginity of Mary. He is the Son of God, not because of
Mary but because of the Holy Spirit.
God's purpose in the unusual birth of his Son was to show that salvation
is of God and not man. Mary was promised a son whom she normally could
not bear because she was a virgin. But God could give her one. Man cannot
produce his own salvation, but God can give him salvation. This salvation
is available to everyone who will believe and trust God's word as
Zechariah and Mary did.
The virgin birth is not a doctrine for the unbeliever. It can be
understood only after one has had an encounter with the living God. In
Jesus, God has assumed human form to make contact with my life. Although
still shrouded in mystery, for the one who was to mediate God to men to
have God for his Father and Mary for his mother makes a certain kind of
sense. That is exactly what Jesus is-the God man. Out of my own
encounter, all I can say is what Thomas said in John 20:28, "My Lord and
my God!"
Mary is certainly not the fourth member of the Trinity but a common
Palestinian peasant girl. This is precisely why she is significant for
us. She gives us a good example of how we were meant to relate to God-in
obedience.
By calling herself the handmaid of the Lord, Mary expressed her total
obedience to God. What God asked her to do threatened everything she held
dear-her honor, her reputation, her hopes, and her dreams. Yet, she laid
everything she had in God's hands, and this is the secret of her
greatness. Her spontaneous response flowed from a quiet and humble faith
in God. Mary had learned to forget the world's commonest prayer, "Thy
will be changed-and to pray the world's greatest prayer-Thy will be
done."
God did not ask Mary to do this thing on her own. He never asks us to do
miraculous things for Him, but rather that we allow Him to do miraculous
things to and through us. He just asks us to be willing. Mary's response
of obedience and trust was magnificent. Let it be to me according to your
word is one of the greatest statements a Christian can make. Mary is
certainly not to be worshipped, but her example of obedience should be
imitated by all of us. When God asks you to do something, will you
respond in obedience?
God is not limited by the ordinary; He can do, and does do, extraordinary
things; God is not imprisoned within that which men call the natural; but
for His own purposes. He can act in a way men can only describe as
supernatural. For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Let us never forget that Mary, beautiful and lovely as she must have
been, was nevertheless born of a sinful race and needed a Savior. She
acknowledged this in the Magnificat, which she uttered later on, when she
said, "My soul doth rejoice in God my Savior." She had found grace with
God. In other words, she was saved by His grace, sustained y His grace,
and preserved by that grace to be the suitable mother for the Son of God
in His humanity.
PLEASE TURN TO MATTHEW 1.
In the Gospel according to Luke we had the promise of the birth of the
Messiah. Now as we turn to Matthew 1 we find Joseph perplexed, with a
problem.
1. PLEASE READ MATTHEW 1: 18-25.
To our western ways of thinking the relationships in this passage are
very bewildering. First, Joseph is said to be betrothed to Mary; then he
is said to be planning quietly to divorce her; and then she is called his
wife. But the relationships represent normal Jewish marriage procedure,
in which there were three steps. (1.) There was the engagement. The
engagement was often made when the couple were only children. It was
usually made through the parents, or through a professional match-maker.
And it was often made without the couple involved ever having seen each
other. Marriage was held to be far too serious a step to be left to the
dictates of the human heart.
(2.) There was the betrothal. At this point the engagement, entered into
by the parents or the match-maker, could be broken if the girl was
unwilling to go on with it. But once the betrothal was entered into, it
was absolutely binding. It lasted for one year. During that year the
couple were known as man and wife, although they had not the rights of
man and wife. It could not be terminated in any other way than by
divorce. It was at this stage that Joseph and Mary were. They were
betrothed, and if Joseph wished to end the betrothal, he could do so in
no other way than by divorce: and in that year of betrothal Mary was
legally known as his wife.
(3.) The third stage was the marriage proper, which took place at the end
of the year of betrothal. So at this stage it was told to Joseph that
Mary was to bear a child, that the child had been begotten by the Holy
Spirit, and that he must call the child by the name Jesus. Jesus is the
Greek form of the Jewish name Joshua, and Joshua means Jehovah is
salvation. "Before they came together" The Scriptures are clear about the
virgin birth of Jesus.
Joseph was told that the child to be born would grow into the Savior who
would save God's people from their sins. Jesus was not so much The Man
born to be King as the Man born to be Savior. He came to this world, not
for His own sake, but for men and their salvation.
The phrase "That it might be fulfilled" in Vs. 22 is used by the inspired
writer to show that Jesus is the Messiah promised in the prophets. "They
call His name Immanuel...God with us." Isaiah made his prediction nearly
seven centuries before its fulfillment. Jesus is the only person who can
tell us what God is like, and what God means us to be. In Him alone we
see what God is and what man ought to be. Jesus could say in John 14:9,
"He who has seen me has seen the Father." Life is quite different when
Jesus teaches us how to look at things. When Jesus comes into our hearts,
He opens our eyes to see things truly.
So then, in Jesus there came to this world the power which can re-create
life. He can bring to life again the soul which is dead in sin; he can
revive again the ideals which have died; he can make strong again the
will to goodness which has perished. He can renew life, when men have
lost all that life means.
There is much more in this chapter than the fact that Jesus Christ was
born of a virgin mother. The essence of Matthew's story is that in the
birth of Jesus the Spirit of God was operative as never before in this
world. It is the Spirit who enables men to recognize that truth when they
see it; it is the Spirit who was God's agent in the creation of the
world; it is the Spirit, who alone can re-create the human soul when it
has lost the life it ought to be. Jesus is the re-creating power, which
can release the souls of men from the death of sin.
The remarkable events that attended the birth of Jesus hold great
significance for our faith. They tell us that God has taken the
initiative and manifested himself in human flesh for our salvation. These
remarkable events contain abiding mystery and glory that do not yield
themselves to argument and proof. Rather, they summon us to worship and
faith. Oh, the wonder of it all! That indeed is good news!
NEXT SUNDAY WE WILL HAVE THE CHRISTMAS STORY, "JESUS IS BORN" WE WILL
STUDY LUKE 2: 1-20. A.V. DAUGHERTY 12-10-00
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