Mary - Profiles in Christmas - Luke 1:26-56
December 3, 2023 • Andrey Bulanov • Luke 1:26–56
Outline:
1. The Good News to Mary
2. Mary's response to the good news
3. Mary's exaltation and joy
Scripture References:
• Luke 1:26-56
• John 1:1-3,14
• 2 Cor. 4:16-18
Application:
• Have you truly ever received the message of Jesus in its fullness?
• Is your daily discipleship to Jesus a process of actively submitting yourself to his will in your life? What are the areas that he is calling you to submit today?
• What are you greatest moments of joy? Are they the result of following through and seeking God's ways in your life, and seeing his mighty hand at work? What prevents more of this kind of joy in your life?
Discussion questions:
• What is the central message of Christmas? How and why do we get it wrong?
• In what ways is Mary's position and calling unique and different from us?
• In what ways is it similar to ours?
• Why does obedience to God and truly living for the gospel take courage?
• How do we cultivate a proper basis for that courage?
• We must learn to look to what God has already told us and shown us about himself!
• What does practical submission to God and active obedience look like in our lives?
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Luke 1:26-56
As with every year during the Christmas season, we take time to focus on the glorious news of the birth of Jesus.
this year we will do a small series that examines some of key characters in the Christmas story and how they all come together in Scripture.
The Christmas story is often oversimplified and turned into a simplified message of good will and happiness and kindness.
Although all that is present in the story, when we take time to examine the key figures of Christmas, we see that this is one of the most dramatic, most complex and most beautiful moments in the whole story of Scripture.
Today we look at the story of Mary and her central role in the Christmas narrative. As we look, we will see that she was not a sinless and perfect saint that we need to pray to. But neither is she insignificant.
We see that Mary's place in the Christmas story serves as a powerful model of genuine and courageous gospel faith and trust in God's promises.
1. The Good News to Mary
26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. 30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”
The story starts in a small village with a young girl who is quite obviously of very little status, or wealth or reputation.
"greetings favored one"
"Hail Mary full of grace" - the catholic church has turned this into a prayer, as if the angel is exalting Mary and praying to her.
Not a sign of the fact that she is better than everyone else - but rather that God's grace and goodness has come to her.
She is an ordinary jewish village girl - the the Lord has come to her with his sovereign grace and because of his goodness.
The greeting shocks her and she is thinking "what is going on??"
"she wondered what kind of greeting this is..."
the angel gets right to the point, and his message here encapsulates the whole message of Christmas to us in three verses jam packed with meaning and promise.
31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”
As much as we might love Charles Dickens the Christmas Carol or be moved to tears by the song about the Christmas Shoes (let the reader understand) - Christmas is a lot more than just kindness and love and helping others.
Christmas is the celebration of the most radical news ever delivered since the dawn of creation.
Christmas is about the incarnation of the son of God, the second person of the trinity, who though he was perfect and without need in the fullness of his deity - he humbled himself humbled himself and took on to himself a human nature - while at the same time fully retaining his divine nature - and was born into the world as a baby - full God and fully man - the most high Lord coming as the lowest human being.
the message of Christmas in Luke is not that different from the message of Christmas in John -
John 1:1-3,14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created...14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
For those who have taken theology 2, you may remember how we talked about the Chalcedonian creed that was written as the result of the church carefully and painstakingly thinking through and defending the biblical answer to the simple question: who is Jesus?
you will conceive and you will have a baby and you will name him Jesus. But this baby will not just be another baby - he will be called the Son of the Most High.
Later the angel says - he will be the Holy One of God.
Who is Jesus?
He is fully human, a baby born to Mary.
But he is also fully God - the Son of the Most High, the Holy one of God.
Not a super human. Not just a good person. Not a version of God that APPEARS to be human like but not actually being human.
Fully God. Fully man. One person.
One of the biggest battles in all of history is to give a redefinition of who is Jesus.
Why? Because Satan knows that if you get Jesus wrong - you get EVERYTHING wrong.
He is God, come in the flesh - FOR A PURPOSE, and if you don't understand who he is, you can't understand the purpose -
Not only is this baby the Holy One of God - he will have the throne of his father David, and his kingdom will have no end.
This means that this coming baby will be the ONE who brings all the promises of God throughout the OT about bringing salvation and restoration that God promised Abraham and confirmed to David.
That God will make an everlasting kingdom on earth. That God will restore what was lost when we sinned and broke our relationship with God. That God will bring a solution to the age old problem of sin that stands as a wall that separates God and men.
This is without a doubt the most loaded message delivered by any heavenly messenger to any human being in the history of the world.
God is finally bringing the fulfillment of the deepest need and the answer to the deepest problem that fills the world in this baby, born of Mary.
In one sense - Mary is the first one to hear the gospel.
This is so amazing.
BUT. but theres a bit of a problem. Because this good news comes with some serious implications.
2. Mary's response to the good news.
34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?”
35 The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
How can this be, if I am not yet married?
In Jewish culture, the engagement phase was very serious, more serious than our version of engagement. It was like the first step of marriage and to break off an engagement was already a version of divorce.
It is obvious from the message, that this baby will be coming much sooner than her wedding date.
And to have a pregnancy before you are married in Mary's little Jewish village is a MUCH bigger deal than it is even today.
We live in a world of diverse and constantly evolving morality.
Its pretty easy to find support for any and every lifestyle if thats what your looking for.
When someone has a pregnancy outside of marriage today, there is still ample room for grace, for restoration and life and blessing as long as sin is genuinely confessed.
This is NOT the case for a young girl in a Jewish village who gets pregnant before she is married.
Of course Mary has not sinned in any way, this baby is from God, not from any man Luke makes it clear over and over she has never been with any man.
But who is going to believe her when she says that?
So when Mary asks, "how is this possible since I don't have a husband?"
Its a loaded question because on the one hand she is asking - how is this physically possible?
But on the other hand she is alluding the big glaring reality - that she is to be a pregnant girl without a husband??
The savior of Israel is coming through me. But how is all this going to work out??
A Jewish girl who gets pregnant outside of marriage faces, at best - a life of social shame and isolation, at worst - death.
These fears are confirmed because when we read in Matthew 1, when Joseph hears of her pregnancy he doesn't believe its from God, he thinks she betrayed him - and he resolves to break off the engagement quietly so as not to bring more suffering into her life.
Mary receives this unbelievably glorious news of the birth of the Savior King and that SHE gets to be his mother - but this news comes with some very scary and very complicated strings attached.
There is a much less scary and less socially complex way God could have done this - he could have waited a few months until Mary is married to Joseph.
And then he could have told her - You will have a baby, but this baby wont be of Joseph - it will be of God - and there would be NO PROBLEMS for Mary.
But God has his own ways. He is entering our world in way that is CLEAR that he is no ordinary child - that God most high is taking on flesh and a miracle is taking place pointing forward to the greater miracle of new life he will bring into the world.
Mary probably had plans about her life and how her wedding is going to go.
All of that is interrupted with the announcement of this baby.
How is all this going to happen is I'm not married yet?
35 The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
In many ways this is not answering her question!!
You've told me nothing about HOW this is all going to work out!
But in another sense, the angel has told her EVERYTHING she needs to know.
"the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you..."
Luke is giving us such beautiful language that is both revealing and protecting the mystery here.
Yes its still uncertain how the next 9 months will go for you, but there is one thing that IS certain - you will be empowered, you will be carried along - by the presence and power of God.
So much still scary and unclear - but you know that? this is enough -
38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.”
Mary is not a perfect saint. Yes Mary is in many ways totally unique here in the calling she is given. She is chosen to carry the growing life of the God-Man, the one and only Savior of the world.
And yet Mary's position as receiver of the good news is not so different from us - and her posture and words here communicate the model of real gospel faith.
The good news about Jesus' coming comes into Mary's life and it changes everything in her life. It is not just a general message of God's blessings. It is a message of God's blessings and salvation that carry with it demands on her life, that change everything about her life.
Technically she could have had one of three responses:
First, she could have said - NO this is way too scary and too much for me. I want the Savior to come but I don't want his coming to mess up all my plans and priorities in life.
This is the response of unbelief. People who hear the gospel and sit on the fence - im not sure, its kind of scary to commit my life to Jesus. What if he takes away my favorite things?
This is the unbelief we battle when we see that obedience to God is costing us something we don't want to let go.
This is where you have to ask yourself - what is more safe? What is more sure to bring real joy - your own vision and plans? Or the purpose of God for your life?
Second, her response could have been to take things into her own hands and say "YES ok I got this I am going to DO THIS!!"
This is how religious people think. God said it so I will do it! There is no sense of deep and total dependence on God and his power.
And neither is her response totally passive, like, "Ok whatever let go and let God, lets just see what will happen."
She receives the full meaning of the message and she actively submits herself to it.
She is actively passive - she brings herself into submission to God and his plans, she understands that its going to be hard and yet by his power this will take place.
True gospel faith is NOT - ok Jesus i believe in you - can you please fix all my problems now??
True gospel faith is NOT - Jesus died for my sins - now I GOT THIS. I m gonna get my life together, i am going to be better, i am going to be self controlled and productive and wise and good. i am going make the right decisions now.
True gospel faith is - wow I am so small and sinful and hopeless and WOW God's promises are so great - he has died for my sins and he offers me eternal life and forgiveness and I am called to this glorious HIGH CALLING of being his son or daughter - this is nothing less than a total reconstruction of my whole life
- and I know I can't do any of it without his continual grace and at the same time I also know I can't go back to living in sin - Jesus is my only way - oh GOD have mercy on me, change me and make me what YOU want by your strength - take everything I am.
"I am the Lord's servant. May it be done to me according to his Word."
God speaks to us his word, his promises and his good news.
In Jesus we are rescued from sin, redeemed and made children of God.
God calls us to a high calling to be his people in a broken world.
But those promises leave hanging so many scary questions in our lives.
How do I follow Jesus and respond to a rebellious teenager in my family?
How do I follow Jesus navigate illness and failing health or aging?
How do I follow Jesus and think about my future? My finances? My broken marriage?
"I am the Lord's servant. May it be done to me according to his Word."
There is a lot I still don't know about how my life and my problems will work out - but thats OK - I don't demand that God reveal his 10 step plan for my life for the next 10 years before I can submit myself - that would be the opposite of faith.
I will trust in God and continue to praise and follow him in the midst of storms and uncertainty because in his Word I have a strong enough foundation to know I CAN TRUST HIM to work all things out.
2 Cor. 4:16-18
16 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. 18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Does your walk with Jesus mean actively submitting to God's Word in ways that often put your own plans or priorities at risk and danger?
It is the risk of faith that trusts God and moves forward in everything else that is uncertain, knowing for sure that he will lead the way.
"I am the Lord's servant. May it be done to me according to his Word."
3. Mary's exaltation and joy.
39 In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah 40 where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed! 43 How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!”
46 And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and his name is holy. 50 His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him. 51 He has done a mighty deed with his arm; he has scattered the proud because of the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he spoke to our ancestors.
Mary follows through on the calling the god gives her and also Mary seeks community with someone in a similar position.
Gabriel tips her off to this because he tells her about Elizabeth and her pregnancy with John the Baptist. This is another miracle pregnancy because Elizabeth has been unable to have a baby all her life and now she is old.
Why does she go to Elizabeth? Maybe to find at least one person who may believe her?
This passage contains the song of Mary, one of the most beautiful songs of confidence and joy in God. But notice HOW she got to this state of joy.
There is a beauty with which Elizabeth greets Mary the honor that she gives her
“Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed! 43 How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!”
Remember at this point, Mary is just a poor young village girl from a town that nobody knows
And she’s pregnant prior to getting married
The way that Elizabeth greets her bring so much honor and affirmation to her - something she likely hasn't ever experienced.
This beautiful, powerful prophetic word of commendation is what Mary needed in this moment
God speaks through Elizabeth to affirm and encourage Mary.
Its amazing how, as God is working through his people he also works AMONG his people - he always pulls people together and empowers them for mission together. This is a theme throughout all of Scripture.
You can't really follow Jesus if you are detached from his people. One of the biggest ways you will experience affirmation and encouragement for his calling in your life is through the lives of others in your life who are submitted to and moved by God's Spirit for God's work.
There are no solo christians.
"Blessed are you for believing and trusting in what God has told you!!!"
Mary is filled with confidence and joy in the Lord
46 And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and his name is holy.
Mary's exaltation is the result of her humiliation.
Her path for praising God and experiencing his power and strength in her life is the byproduct of submitting to him actively and following his Word.
Interestingly enough - Mary is the greek translation of the Hebrew name Miriam. Part of the meaning of Miriam is "stubborn".
There's two ways to live up to that name. Being stubborn against God means submitting to sin and Satan and the enemies of God.
Being strong and stubborn against sin means submitting to God and his ways.
God made himself dependent upon a poor village girl by becoming a baby, the poor village girl made herself dependent upon the Lord - the result is the victory and power of the Lord over the all evil and all the enemies of God.
the glory of the gospel is the product of humility and self denial.
This is how God himself secures the victory in the end. The Most high, humbles himself to become the most low - becomes one of us, takes the shame of our sin and our death - suffers in the place of sinners, endures the mockery and defeat - all of that to have victory over sin and death and bring his saving purposes to the world.
And this is how Jesus welcomes us to come and follow him.
renounce your pride and your sin, surrender to his love and his grace. Allow him to make you totally new and to fill your life with his power and strength to make you a vessel for his grace in a broken world.
Application:
• Have you truly ever received the message of Jesus in its fullness?
• Is your daily discipleship to Jesus a process of actively submitting yourself to his will in your life? What are the areas that he is calling you to submit today?
• What are you greatest moments of joy? Are they the result of following through and seeking God's ways in your life, and seeing his mighty hand at work? What prevents more of this kind of joy in your life?
