THE BIRTH OF JESUS FORETOLD Luke 1: Had Mary not believed, she would not have conceived. --Anonymous

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1 1 THE BIRTH OF JESUS FORETOLD Luke 1:26-45 Had Mary not believed, she would not have conceived. --Anonymous He comes in the most ordinary way to identify with the most ordinary of humanity. No halo, no shinning armor, no flashy clothes, no great physique, no glowing eyes of fire, no flaming sword, and just an ordinary human Birth? Why did He have to experience a human birth? By becoming flesh, God became real, and thus dependent upon the same air we breath to sustain life. When God became the son of Adam, He became as human as He was divine. And the Scriptures are as intent on stressing Jesus' humanity as they are on stressing His deity. HIGHLY FAVORED BY GOD! (1:26-28) Caesar held the attention of the world. His edict overshadowed everything else. Who would have imagined that God was about to enter the world! Yet In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you" (vv ). In the Bible we have already met many miracles with heavenly beings appearing in different forms. The angels Appeared to Abraham as ordinary men Spoke to Balaam through the mouth of a donkey Appeared in a fiery furnace in the book of Daniel Therefore, should we be so surprised now to find an angel speaking to Mary about the birth of God's Son? Rather, what is remarkable is that God would send his Son in the first place. How different from those with worldly authority! Why didn t He straighten out this mess by simply giving orders from His throne room in heaven? At the time of Christ's birth, all Caesar had to do to bring the world to its feet was issue an order that the whole world should have a census.

2 2 If the Son of God is to enter this world, why not prepare a robe, a crown and an ivory palace for his arrival? Why have the Prince of Peace, the Lord of lords, King of kings born in a smelly barn? Why such a lowly birth? God didn't grab the news headlines about the birth of his Son? Why has the Christ child come through a race the rest of the world considered despicable? Why have him born to a single teenage girl? (Jn 8:41) A TROUBLED, BUT FAVORED TEENAGER (1:29-31) Mary is pictured as a troubled, but favored teenager: Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus (vv ). How is Mary highly favored? There is nothing in the Bible to support some of the current Roman Catholic teachings about Mary: Her Perpetual Virginity. The belief that she had no children after Jesus and remained a virgin throughout her life. Her Immaculate Conception. The belief that she was born without the stain of original sin Her Bodily Assumption. The belief that her body and soul were taken into heaven after she died instead of having to wait for the general resurrection. Protestants are right to be concerned about these issues, especially when such extreme devotion to Mary remains unchecked at a popular level. However, in reaction to Roman Catholic excesses, have we gone to the other extreme. After all, we are quick to minimize her importance and special place in her role in salvation history the agent used by God to bring His Son into the world. We typically say less about Mary than the New Testament does. Seldom is she mentioned in our sermons or worship services, except for her honorary appearance in the annual Christmas pageant. The same angel who spoke to Zechariah in the Temple was sent by God to Nazareth of Galilee and appeared to Mary and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." "Mary was greatly troubled" at these words (v. 29).

3 3 She recognized the angel was greeting her in a rather special and exalted way. Mary is high favored--by the Lord. She is blessed by the Lord. Jesus was the appropriate name since it means Jehovah is our Savior and He was going to save His people from their sin. JESUS WILL BE GREAT AND CALLED THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH (1:32-33) He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High (v. 32). This title has two senses: 1. The divine Son of God 2. The Messiah born in time Most High is a title frequently used of God in both the Old Testament (Ge 14:19; 2 Sa 22:14; Ps 7:10) and the New Testament (1:35,76; 6:35; 8:28). Jesus Messiahship is clearly referred to when Luke states: 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" (vv ). Throne is promised in the Old Testament to the Messiah who would descend from David (2 Sa 7:13,16; Ps 2:6-7; 89:26-27; Isa 9:6-7). His father David is a reference to the fact that Mary was a descendant of David, as was Joseph (Mt 1:16). This is why Jesus could rightly be called a son of David. His kingdom will never end tells us that although Christ s role as mediator will one day be finished (1 Co 15:24-28), the kingdom of the Father and Son, as one, will never end. THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (1:34-35) How will this be, Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin? The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God (vv ). Mary was called blessed not primarily because of her humility, but because of her Son. Jesus is identified as the holy one (1:35). This is in keeping with the fact that He never sinned (2 Co 5:21; Heb 4:15; 7:26; 1 Pe 2:22; 1 Jn 3:5).

4 4 God gave to Mary a distinction that He gave to no one else in the history of the entire human race, that is, the privilege of giving birth to His one and only Son. There Greek word theotokos translated God-bearer caused argument and controversy in the early church. The Council of Ephesus (A. D. 431) used this phrase and branded as heretics those who did not use it because it was considered a denial of Jesus humanity. Mary was exalted and blessed and favored because she was chosen of and by God to be the God-bearer. She was appointed to give birth to the Messiah (1:33). It was her privilege, and hers alone, to carry the second person of the triune Godhead, the eternal Son, from conception until birth. It was through her that the "Son of the Most High" was born of a woman (Gal. 4:4) and thus took on our flesh (1:32). We celebrate then not only Mary as the God-bearer, but the union of the human and divine in her Son. Sometimes we forget that not only did Mary carry the Christ-child to term and thus give birth to Him, but she was also the mother who cared for His physical and psychological needs as an infant and boy. She nursed Him at her breast and changed His diapers. Along with Joseph, she Dedicated Jesus to the Lord by bringing Him to the Temple and having Him circumcised Nurtured and taught Him the ways of the Lord Taught Him to memorize the Holy Scriptures and to pray It is no wonder that Mary was blessed and favored by God as the "God-bearer," the mother of the Savior! NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD (1:36-37) Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God" (vv ). Not only is Mary s conception miraculous, but so is Elizabeth s. Why? Because of her old age. Like Sarah, she conceived even though she was already considered barren. The explanation is simple: nothing is impossible with God (1:37). The God who spoke this universe into existence (Ge 1:1), is certainly able to have Elizabeth get pregnant and have a child (John the Baptist) destined to prepare the way for the coming Messiah.

5 5 THE LORD S SERVANT (1:34,38) " I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May it be to me as you have said. Then the angel left her (1:38).. Mary asked Gabriel, "How will this be since I am a virgin?" (1:34). Gabriel, in his answer, told her about the virgin birth through the conception of the Spirit. To be pregnant and give birth out of wedlock during the first century A. D. was fraught with serious consequences for single women. Even thought she was already engaged to be married to Joseph, his reaction to her pregnancy was predictable: Joseph did decide at first to quietly divorce Mary (Mt 1:19). Mary knew what this announcement meant. She knew people would be skeptical in believing her claim to be pregnant by and through the Spirit of God. She must have reasoned that Joseph would probably leave her and that she would have to face life without a husband with no visible means of support. She knew her friends, neighbors and family would probably brand her an adulteress. She not only faced mockery but death by stoning, since the Law commanded the death penalty for premarital sex (Dt 22:13ff). Mary knew what it meant to be the mother of the Messiah as the prophet Simeon had warned her about the cost, the pain, that would characterize her life: "And a sword will pierce your own soul too," he said to Mary (2:35). Mary knew full well what the virgin conception and birth would cost her. Yet, what was her response, what did she say? "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Mary weighed the cost and decided that obedience was worth it. Mary s humility is shown in the fact that it bothered her that the angel greeted her in such an exalted fashion (1:29). Her devotion to God is seen powerfully as the grieving mother who stood before the cross. As "the Lord's servant," Mary adopted the status and attitude of a slave. In serving the Lord," she was serving the God who is almighty, supreme, and worthy of authority. Mary s statement at the wedding feast when Jesus changed water into wine illustrates this attitude: "Do whatever He tells you" (Jn 2:5).

6 6 We want to call Mary blessed not only for being the God-bearer, but also for her obedient surrender to her heavenly Father. BLESSED FOR HER FAITH (1:39-45) Mary Visits Elizabeth Mary was not only blessed for being the God-bearer, but also for her faith: At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit (vv ). It says that when Elizabeth heard Mary s greeting, that the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit (1:41). This was obviously something extraordinary that the baby in the womb (who was to be named John the Baptist ) responded in such a fashion. Furthermore, this became the occasion when Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy (vv ). When Elizabeth repeats what happened, she adds that the baby in her womb leaped for joy (1:44). In some mysterious way the Holy Spirit introduced this remarkable response in the unborn baby. When Elizabeth greeted Mary she said, Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" (v. 45) Mary was blessed because she heard the Word of God and responded in faith. Because Mary was already a disciple of Christ before she was His mother, she responded in faith. There would have been no conception apart from her faith. It was Mary s faith in her Savior that brought her to the cross and kept her there, even though every disciple but John had fled in fear. APPLICATION Mary was highly favored and blessed by God as the God-bearer and as a humble servant whose faith made her risk her life in devotion to the Most High God. Because she believed before she conceived.

7 7 While none of us can be God-bearers, that blessing belongs to Mary alone, we can, however, imitate her humility, her faith, her obedient surrender to her heavenly Father. Then, we join her in also being blessed.