e. In fact as you read the Christmas Story you will notice that angels played a major role in the birth of Jesus.

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1 Mary Luke 1:26-38 I. INTRODUCTION- a. Luke s Christmas Story begins in the Temple in Jerusalem when an angel named Gabriel appeared to an old priest named Zacharias as he was discharging his priestly duties at the altar of incense. b. Suddenly an angel appeared to Zacharias and the angel told him that he and his wife Elizabeth who had been childless were going to have a son. c. Though the child would be conceived and delivered in the natural way this would still be a miracle because Zacharias and Elizabeth were far past the age of childbearing but God allowed it to happen. d. Before we go further in our story let s look for a moment at the angel who appeared to Zacharias that day his name was Gabriel the angel Gabriel played a very important role in the Christmas Story. e. In fact as you read the Christmas Story you will notice that angels played a major role in the birth of Jesus. f. Not only did Gabriel announce the birth of John the Baptist to his father Zacharias. g. Gabriel is also the angel who six months later appeared to a young virgin girl named Mary and told her by the power of God she was going to have a Son who would be the Son of God and Savior of the world. h. From what we are told about Gabriel in the Bible it appears that he was God s chief messenger angel. i. Gabriel is first mentioned in the book of Daniel when God sent him to help Daniel understand the meaning of the visions of the future that God was giving Daniel.

2 j. Gabriel s role in the announcements he made was not only informing but also providing answers which he did with Daniel, Zacharias and Mary. k. Six months after Gabriel appeared to Zacharias in Jerusalem, he appeared to a young virgin girl named Mary in Nazareth of Galilee. l. To Mary as with Zacharias Gabriel announced a forthcoming birth but in the case of Mary the birth of her child would be without the involvement of a human father. m. The angel told Mary in Luke 1:35 (NKJV) The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. n. In this passage I want us to see the Revelation the Redeemer and the Response. II. THE REVELATION- a. There are only two angels in the Bible who are mentioned by name one is Gabriel and the other is Michael. b. While Gabriel is God s chief messenger Michael appears to be God s warrior angel he appears to be the leader of the angelic armies of Heaven and the protector of Israel. c. Jewish historians record that every Jewish woman of Mary s time secretly prayed that if God so willed they would be chosen to be the mother of the Messiah. d. Let s carefully look at Gabriel s announcement to Mary in Luke 1:28 (NKJV) And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women! e. In this verse Gabriel makes three statements to Mary.

3 f. #1, Rejoice, highly favored one there is no biblical support for the exalted position that some have given Mary over the centuries. g. Mary was not sinless before or after she gave birth to Jesus. h. Mary did not remain a virgin all of her life the names of the children she and Joseph had together are recorded in the Bible. i. Mary did not perform any miracles while she was alive or since she went to Heaven Mary did not ascend into Heaven without dying. j. Mary cannot be prayed to she cannot answer prayers or give grace to any person. k. Mary has never appeared to anyone in a vision and God has never put the image of Mary in an avocado or on a rock or in a fried egg or anything like that. l. Mary does not stand beside Jesus in Heaven passing along our needs and prayer requests to Him none of that is true. m. What is true is Mary was an extraordinary young woman she was a woman of great faith, courage, commitment and obedience to God. n. Mary is one of the greatest figures in the Bible and while she is not to be worshipped she is to be honored and admired and her example of love for God and commitment to Him should be followed. o. Mary was highly favored because God chose her as the one through whom Jesus would be born into humankind and human history. p. By the way the phrase translated highly favored is also found in Ephesians 1:6 where it speaks of all believers as being highly favored and acceptable to God because of what Jesus has done for us.

4 q. #2, Blessed are you among women this phrase does not mean that Mary had been set apart to an exalted position above all women and men. r. This phrase means that of all the women who would ever live Mary was uniquely blessed because she had been sovereignly chosen by God for the extraordinary task, privilege and responsibility of being the mother of the Messiah. s. As special and unique as that blessing was the greater blessing is being saved and redeemed by God s grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. t. #3, The Lord is with you this phrase was a statement of encouragement and assurance to Mary that the Lord was going to be with her in a special way that He was going to help her in the scary, frightful and amazing thing that was about to happen to her. u. In the same way the Lord gives those who trust in Him this promise I will never leave nor forsake you. v. What was about to happen to Mary?... Luke 1:31-33 (NKJV) And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. III. THE REDEEMER- a. The statement by Gabriel in Luke 1:31-33 is one of the most doctrinally rich passages in all of the Bible. b. In those verses there are seven prophetic statements concerning the Lord Jesus that express some of the great doctrinal truths about our Lord.

5 c. #1, The angel told Mary Thou shalt conceive in thy womb that statement refers to the doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. d. The virgin birth was necessary because a virgin birth is the only way that Jesus who is the eternal, perfect and sinless Son of God could come into the world as a human being. e. #2, Thou shalt bring forth a Son this speaks of the humanity of Jesus Christ. f. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus was the God-Man in this world He was fully God and fully man. g. Jesus was just as much God as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit and He was just as much a human being as any person who has ever lived has been with one great and glaring difference Jesus was sinless. h. Because of His virgin birth Jesus was born without an inherited sin nature and during His life on earth though He was tempted in His humanity in ways that we cannot imagine Jesus never chose to sin. i. For Jesus to be our Savior and an acceptable sacrifice for our sins He had to live a perfect and sinless life and He did. j. #3, Thou shalt call His name Jesus refers to Jesus as the promised Messiah on almost every page of the Old Testament God promised a Savior, Lord, Deliverer and a righteous King for all people Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise. k. #4, He shall be great Jesus is the greatest person who has or who will ever live. l. When all is said and done no One will have had a greater impact and greater influence on life in this world than the Lord Jesus Christ.

6 m. As old Simeon would later tell Mary as he held the baby Jesus in his arms the destiny of every person rises or falls on what they do with Jesus Christ. n. #5, He shall be called the Son of God, the Son of the Highest Jesus is great because He is God. o. #6, For the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David that is a prophecy that will not be fulfilled until Jesus comes again and sets up His millennial kingdom on earth. p. #7, He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of His kingdom, there shall be no end at the end of His millennial reign on this earth Jesus will usher in a new Heaven and New Earth and He will reign forever. IV. THE RESPONSE- a. There seems to be little doubt that the gospel writer Luke received the details of this amazing event from Mary herself probably years and years after it happened when Mary was an old woman. b. It could be that Luke was the first person and maybe the only person other than Joseph her husband that Mary ever shared these details with. c. For decades, Mary had pondered these things in her heart and now she shared them with Luke and with us. d. Mary described her response in this way #1, At first she was troubled and afraid Luke 1:29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. e. Mary had never seen an angel before his appearance troubled her literally caused her to tremble to be afraid and confused.

7 f. The angel saw this which prompted his comforting words fear not. g. #2, She tried to understand what she was being told verse 29 says Mary considered what the angel had said Mary concentrated on what the angel was saying to her. h. Mary understood that the angel was telling her that she was going to have a baby a Son a remarkable Son was it possible could it be that God had chosen her to be the mother of the Messiah the Son of God? i. But how could this be Mary was a virgin she was engaged but she was not yet married how could she have a baby? j. #3, So Mary asked the angel a question Luke 1:34 Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I do not know a man? k. The answer Gabriel gave to Mary is to me one of the most beautiful verses in all of the Bible Luke 1:35 (NKJV) And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. l. I am sure that at the time Mary did not understand all the doctrinal significance of what was happening but she did understand that a miracle was going to take place though she was a virgin she was going to give birth to a child and not just any child the Messiah the Son of God. m. Knowing that Mary would need support and encouragement in what was about to happen to her the angel told Mary about Elizabeth the wife of Zacharias and her relative who was miraculously with child in her old age. n. The angel then waited for Mary s reply would she say yes or no to what God was asking of her?

8 o. Mary knew this would be a miracle no child had ever been born of a virgin if she agreed to what God wanted who would believe the circumstances of her pregnancy?... who would believe that she was with child by the power of God? p. Would Joseph?... would her family?... would the community? would she be abandoned by her family?... would she be ostracized by her people?... would she be arrested and tried for adultery? q. The safe thing would be to say, No, Lord I don t want to do this I don t want to lose my future husband my home my family my friends maybe even my own life. r. But Mary this young teenage girl loved God with all of her heart she loved God more than anything in this world she loved God more than her own life I ask myself do I love God like that? s. #4, So Mary bowed before the angel and she bowed before God and she said Luke 1:38 (KJV) Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. t. In essence Mary said Lord, I don't understand how all of this is going to happen I don t know what is going to happen to me I don t know how you are going to handle everything I am going to face but I surrender myself and my life to your will. u. What an amazing girl and she was a person just like us may we have the same faith, love and devotion that she had for God. V. CONCLUSION- a. It came time for the annual Christmas pageant. The people in charge were trying to find some way they could use Johnny without jeopardizing the whole presentation. Johnny was one of those big clumsy kids. He was the same age as his friends but two or three inches taller. His feet were bigger than all the rest, he wasn't coordinated and he seemed to constantly fall all over himself. As you can imagine, he was always the last kid to be chosen on the team.

9 What's more, he was always saying the wrong thing. In short, everyone sort of put up with Johnny. They finally decided that he would be a great innkeeper because he was the gruff kind of character who could say, "No," to Mary and Joseph when they came knocking at the door. So he practiced his lines. And when the night of the pageant came, dressed in his innkeeper garb, Johnny stood there inside the door. When the knock came, he opened the door, and there were Mary and Joseph. In his gruff voice, he said, "We ain't got no room in here tonight." Then Joseph said, "But sir, my wife is with child and we have tried all of the inns in town, and they are all filled. With nowhere else to go, you are the last one. If we cannot stay with you, we will have to stay out of doors." To that, Johnny was supposed to say, "I can't help it. There's no room here." And then he was to slam the door. As he started to slam the door, Joseph put his arm around Mary and she laid her head upon his shoulder, and with heads bowed, they started to walk away. Big, gruff, tough Johnny forgot it was a pageant and said, "Wait a minute, come back. You can have my room." Some of the people thought that John had ruined the pageant. But those who knew the real meaning of Christmas recognized that he had made the pageant a success. b. This Christmas may God give us all the spirit of Mary Lord, be unto me according to Your word you rule my heart and life. c. And may that be our commitment for every day of our life.