Today’s lesson is a love story. How many know John 3:16? Let’s say it together. (John 3:16) John said this in different words in 1 John 4:9 "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him ." But we are getting a bit ahead of our story. Jesus was born between 6 BC and 4 BC when Herod died after the birth of Jesus. Let’s go all the way back into eternity where John wrote in John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. Again Paul, in Col. 1: 16 wrote, "For by Him were all things created, that are in Heaven, and that are in earth, ---all things were crated by Him and for Him." Gen. 1:2 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." So today we are looking at the promise of the coming of the Son of God, the eternal Creator into the world in the flesh.

The first prophecy concerning the coming Redeemer is found in Gen. 3:15. Following God’s curse upon the serpent, God said, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel." A clearer promise is give in Isaiah 7: 14 where God said, "Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name "Immanuel." The Jews lived in anticipation of this event.

Where in all literature would you find anything more beautiful than this story?---a story which is all the more delightful because it is true. The world has been waiting for a number of millenniums for the fulfillment of the primeval prophecy that "The Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head." The expression there used is itself remarkable. Every other child born into the world, save our Lord Jesus Christ, has been distinctly the seed of the man. He alone was the Seed of the woman. Although truly the Seed of Abraham, through whom all nations of the world were to be blessed, and the Son of David, destined to rule in Zion and bring blessing to Israel and the nations, Isaiah predicted that He would be born of the virgin mother. Thus He was the Seed of the woman in an absolutely exclusive humans sense. He had no human father.

God gave further information concerning this Miracle Child in Isaiah 9: 6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." In Phil. 2:9 Paul added, "Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name." So you see this is no ordinary child of which we are reading today. The prediction to Mary of the birth of Jesus, is recorded by Luke with marked dignity, delicacy, and reserve. It is an important record.

1. PLEASE READ LUKE 1: 26-29.

The words in the sixth month refer to the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. The place was a city of Galilee, named Nazareth; Galilee, not Judea; Nazareth, not Jerusalem; the home where Mary dwelt; not the Temple. When Nathaniel said, "can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" he spoke as one familiar with the place. He said in effect, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth, corrupt as Nazareth is?"

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to deliver a crucial message to Mary. Angels are messengers, and no more important message was delivered by any angel. Notice it was God’s message. The appearance of Gabriel to Mary is one of several parallels between the announcement to Mary and Gabriel’s appearance to Zechariah.

Something was about to happen on earth which all heaven was watching,---Which things angels desire to look into" ---and surely they were watching the hero of God, Gabriel, the messenger going down to earth with a message. They saw him pass the city and the Temple and go into a home. God, in his actions in human history, is independent of His own institutions, when men degrade them.

From our first meeting with Mary, we are told that she was a virgin. Mary was a young woman, probably in her teens. Dr. John, in his sermon last Sunday suggested that she was probably 14 or 15 years of age. She was espoused, pledged to be married, or engaged. Engagements of that day were more binding than ours, and stricter rules were adhered to than in our modern sex-oriented culture. An engagement was entered into by a formal process; that could not be broken, except by a divorce. An engaged couple did not live together as husband and wife. They did not have sexual relations until after they were married. Thus Mary was still a virgin, of the house of David. The one born of her would be in very truth great David’s greater Son. Mary was chosen, not simply because she was a virgin, but because of her deep spirituality and her subjection to the will of God.

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 by His grace, and preserved by that grace to be the suitable mother for the Son of God in His humanity.

Joseph, our subject for next Sunday’s lesson, is introduced as the one to whom Mary was engaged. He was a descendant of David, which was important in establishing Jesus as a descendant of David. This was a clear fulfillment of the promise God made to David in 2 Samuel 7:16 almost 1,000 years earlier. Joseph’s story is told in Matt. 1: 18-25, where he too had a visit from an angel telling him of Mary’s miraculous conception. He was a righteous man and a carpenter and evidently much older than Mary.

Gabriel greeted Mary: Hail, thou art highly favored, the Lord is with thee. This description of Mary does not mean that she was a source of or channel for grace. Instead, she was a recipient, or object of divine grace and favor, not the source. Nothing is implied about Mary being worthy of this honor. God selected Mary because of His purpose to provide a Savior for all people, not because she deserved His favor. A person could receive no higher honor from God than to be told the Lord- is with you. His presence was all Mary needed for whatever God planned to accomplish through her.

Like Zechariah, Mary was troubled. We easily can imagine how surprised she must have been. However, she was troubled more at the message of the angel than at his appearance. "She was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be "What did Gabriel mean by his message?"

Among other things, these verses show a young woman who was open to hear what God wanted to say to her. She was an ordinary person in contrast to the high and mighty of the day. She was not sinless but like Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary was a person of true faith and righteousness. When we consider the three of them, we see that the Lord calls old and young people and favors ordinary people of humble faith. Paul pointed out in 1 Cor. 4: 7, that God uses ordinary people, "Because we have this treasure of Salvation in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us."

God speaks to us in a variety of ways. He speaks as we read His Word. He speaks as we hear it taught or preached. He often speaks to us through others. Some times He speaks in a still small voice within. Sometimes He speaks to us through circumstances. Openness to hear God is a mark of someone whom God can use. Paul in 1 Timothy 2:5 wrote, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

2. PLEASE READ LUKE 1: 30-33.

Gabriel sought to reassure Mary by saying, Do not be afraid. These same words were spoken to Zechariah, and to the shepherds. God’s messengers came to encourage, not cause fear. When Gabriel addressed her as Mary, she must have been impressed that this awesome being knew her by name. The fact of her being chosen by God is repeated as the angel declared, You have found favor with God. The word favor can be translated grace. God’s decision that Mary would be the mother of Jesus came as a gift from Him. She had done nothing to merit this unique blessing.

You can imagine how Mary felt as she listened to the angel’s words. You will be with child and give birth to a son. What an incredible announcement! Many Jewish maidens must have dreamed of becoming the mother of the Messiah. Mary must have wondered if this was the meaning of the words she was hearing. Even the name of this child had been determined. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means "the Lord is salvation. The same instructions were given to Joseph during his encounter with an angel in Matt. 1: 21.

Who was this special child whom God was giving to Mary? Surely she wondered about his identity. Could He be the Messiah? The answer came as Gabriel described Him by a fivefold description. First, He will be great. In fact, Jesus is the greatest of all persons ever born. This is true because only He is called the Son of the Most High---a messianic title. What a miracle is introduced by the statement that Mary’s son also would be God’s Son, for the first and only time in history, one person becomes the perfect union of both human and divine natures. John 1:14 says, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

Galatians 4: 4 says, "But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law."

What was the mission of this unique Son of God---son of Mary? He came not only to be Savior, as His name indicates, but also to be the King. As Gabriel said, The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. Prophecies such as Isaiah 9:6-7 are fulfilled by the birth and reign of this child. The phrase house of Jacob refers to Israel, the nation that descended from Jacob. The eternal duration of this reign is affirmed by the statement, His kingdom will never end. Thus Mary was given insight into the nature of God’s plan to redeem fallen humanity. God had chosen her to be the human instrument through whom He would bring His Son to reconcile and rule over His people forever. Gabriel had delivered a full Messianic declaration in keeping with the many wonderful prophecies that had been uttered concerning the coming Redeemer centuries before. Micah 5:2 foretells that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem.

 

3. PLEASE READ LUKE 1:34-35, 38.

Mary’s first words in response to Gabriel expressed wonder at his message. How will this be since I am a virgin? She was not expressing doubt, as Zechariah had done, but was asking for an explanation of how a virgin could conceive a child. The angel informed her that her conception would be the work of God. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of God is often associated with the Holy Spirit, as is true in this instance: the power of the Most High will overshadow you. The word overshadow implies that the power of God would come upon May in order to produce the miraculous conception.

The creative power of God was to rest upon Mary as the cloud of Glory had rested upon the Tabernacle of Israel. Mary was to become the mother of the Messiah, of the Son of man, of the Savior of the world.

The importance of the virgin birth cannot be overstated. A right view of the incarnation hinges on the truth that Jesus was virgin born. Both Luke and Matthew expressly state that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived. The Holy Spirit wrought the conception through supernatural means. The notice of Jesus conception testifies of both His deity and His sinlessness. Paul writing of this to Timothy said, "Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness."

As a result of this divine action, Mary would give birth to the holy one who would be called the Son of God. Here, in the most simple language, is the account of the most sublime of all miracles. One person who, from His conception in Mary’s womb, would be fully human—the son of Mary---and fully divine—the Son of God. The second Person of the Trinity—God the Son, born of a woman, combined in Himself the nature of humanity. Why did God go to such an extreme measure? The Apostle Paul in Gal. 4:4-5 gave the answer. "God sent his Son, born of a woman…to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons."

Mary’s response of humble surrender is an example for us as we come to understand God’s purposes of our lives. No further explanation was needed. When Gabriel reminded Mary in Luke 1:37 "Nothing is impossible with God", her willingness to conform to God’s purpose was affirmed. She declared, I am the Lord’s servant. The word translated servant originally meant a bond slave, and then came to mean "one who gives himself up to the will of another." Included in Mary’s commitment, may it be to me as you have said, was her awareness of the shame, condemnation, and possible stoning that accompanied a premarital pregnancy. She was willing to pay the price of obeying the Lord, even if that meant death. Mary and Joseph were ordinary people who brought nothing of personal merit to God. The most commendable thing about them was their willingness to serve their Lord—they were available for His use. As one Christian leader said, ""God is not looking for qualified people, but available people."

It is not enough to be open to hear God’s will. We must learn God’s plan and our role in it. This is the second quality needed, in order to be used by God in His saving work. After Saul of Tarsus encountered a bright light on the Damascus road, he asked, "Who are you Lord." The voice replied, "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting." Saul asked what amounted to a prayer: "What shall I do, Lord?" God then proceeded to tell him His plan and Saul’s part in it. We need to be sensitive to God’s plan for this world, and we need to discover His will for our part in His plan. Paul in 1 Titus 3:16 said, "God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believe on in the world, and received up into Glory."

4. PLEASE READ LUKE 1: 46-49.

Elizabeth was the first person to acknowledge the fact that Mary was chosen to bear the Messiah. As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, John "leaped in her womb," signifying his joy at the presence of Jesus. "Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit," and declared that Mary was chosen by God, to be the mother of the Lord. Then she pronounced a blessing on Mary for believing the Lord’s promise to her. Just imagine how cheered Mary must have been by such a greeting.

True worship is an expression of gratitude. When Mary spoke of the Lord being mindful of the humble state of his servant, she was referring to how thankful she was that the Lord chose her from among the lower social classes to be highly honored. As for the future, she said, All generations will call me blessed. No other woman has been so uniquely favored as was Mary. Indeed, we remember her as one who experienced the blessing of God in a special way. We must not pray to Mary or think of her as influencing Jesus now in some special way. Rather, we are to honor Mary as the woman whom God blessed in a unique way. Only God could accomplish something so amazing as bringing His Son into the world through a virgin birth. This miracle was one of the great things He did for this humble woman. Therefore, she expressed true reverence for God by declaring, holy is His name.