BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS #2 Luke 1:26-38 INTRODUCTION A. For nearly 2000 years the followers of Jesus Christ have argued over the proper place of Mary. The early church apparently did not have this problem. Mary is mentioned in the birth narratives of Jesus in Matthew and Luke and then infrequently and briefly in the rest of the gospels. After that she is mentioned only once in the book of Acts and then she passes into obscurity. B. The New Testament Writers developed no theology concerning Mary's part in God's plan of redemption, yet later generations have gone to seed in their speculations. 1. By the fifth century she was hailed as "the Mother of God." 2. By the middle ages she had become, in the imaginations of some, the "perpetual virgin" and "co-redemptrix" ( the woman with the redeemer ). 3. Today prayers are lifted up to her by millions of people, though the Bible gives no basis for it. 4. In 1950, the Pope declared the "assumption of Mary," a non-biblical doctrine that teaches that Mary did not die, but rather ascended into heaven just as Jesus did C. In reaction to these things, Protestants have often gone to the other extreme, reducing Mary almost to a non-entity. Rarely is she mentioned. 1. According to the Bible, Mary was a virtuous woman. Otherwise God would not have chosen her above other women to become the bearer of the Son of God on earth. 2. She was a humble woman who did not let this high honor go to her head. She was also an obedient woman, the kind of person all Christians should be. D. This morning we will look at the announcement of the birth of Jesus to Mary by the Angel Gabriel. DISCUSSION I. THE ANGEL S VISIT. A. LK 1:26 - Informs us of the time and place of this event The mention of the "sixth month" ties this in with what Luke has just finished telling his readers right above in his narrative. 1. It was the sixth month of the pregnancy of Elisabeth, Mary's relative and the mother of John the Baptist. We considered that birth announcement last time. 2. Six months after Gabriel visited Elizabeth, the mother of John, he came to Nazareth, Mary's hometown. 3. Mary and Joseph would later return to Nazareth, after the death of King Herod, to raise Jesus. For that reason, Matthew tells us in Matthew 2:23, Jesus would be called a "Nazarene". 4. So Gabriel comes to Nazareth, dispatched by God, to speak to this young woman named Mary. B. LK 1:27 Introduces Mary. 1. We know nothing about Mary prior to this. We do not know who her parents were or if they were living when these events happened. Nor do we know how old she was when Gabriel came to her. 2. Girls as young as twelve were sometimes betrothed in that culture, though it was not necessarily a common thing. 3. It says here that Mary was a virgin. Why did Luke make such a personal comment as that? (We probably would not introduce someone in that manner. "I want you to meet Mary. She is a virgin.")
4. To understand the significance of Luke's introduction, you need to know a little about Scripture. You see, 700 years before this, a prominent Jewish prophet made a prediction about the coming of the Messiah. We read his words in Isaiah 7:14 where it says, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel. 5. Isaiah wrote this seven centuries before Jesus birth. It is only one of over 300 prophecies concerning the coming of Messiah. 6. If you are a Christian you may have just accepted the statements in the Bible about the virgin birth without much question. Many Christians have. Yet, like the case with some of the other claims about Jesus, there are those who have attempted to discount the virgin birth. Why? I see at least three reasons. a. Firstly, the enemies of Christianity would love to discredit any and all of the claims of the Bible about Jesus. If they could show he was not born of a virgin, then his pre-marriage conception would cast doubt upon the character of his parents and ultimately upon Him. b. Secondly, there are those who wish to be considered Christians because they are attracted to the high ideals of Christ, yet are unwilling to accept the accounts of miracles in the Bible. To explain away the virgin birth makes the Bible, at least to them, a little more "believable". c. Thirdly, some people do not know what the Bible says on the subject. They are ignorant for one reason or another, so when one of the two kinds of people I just mentioned (an enemy or a rejecter) comes along and throws out a challenge, the claim is accepted without little struggle because they simply do not know what the Bible teaches. In such a way Jesus is discredited in them before He is even heard. d. Such people fall victim to blasphemous misrepresentations such as the Universal Studios movie of 1988 called "The Last Temptation of Christ," which reportedly depicted Jesus as the mixed up, sex crazed, illegitimate son of Joseph and Mary. 7. What does the bible say about the virgin birth? We will look at the answer to that question in detail as we get into this passage. a. Mary was engaged to Joseph. Their engagement, or more properly, "betrothal," was more binding than is our custom today. It was as legally binding as marriage. It could only be ended by divorce. It seems the primary purpose was to provide a waiting period to assure the chastity of the bride. That is why Matthew records in his account of this that Joseph was going to quietly divorce Mary. He thought, when she told him she was pregnant, that she had been unfaithful to him. Of course, she had not, as we shall shortly see. b. Joseph and Mary were both descendants of David. Luke mentions Joseph's lineage here because the Christ was to be born of the bloodline of David. We will look at that again in a few minutes. Gabriel's greeting is in the next verse. 8. Verse 28 - What favor it was for Mary to be chosen to be the mother of the Christ Child, the Savior of her people and the whole world! 9. Verse 29 - Can you blame Mary for this sort of response? Outside of Gabriel's visit six months before this to Zacharias, something Mary had not heard of yet, there had been no visit from God among the Jews for nearly 400 years. Now,
suddenly, with no pre-announcement, here is Gabriel speaking to this young virgin. It is understandable that she would be troubled and afraid. Gabriel was quick to put her fears to rest however, being no stranger to delivering messages to men and women on God's behalf. 10. Mary s response follows in verse 29. 11. Verse 30 - That word "favor" is worth noting. It is the Greek world "CHARIS" and it is translated elsewhere in Scripture as "grace". a. It was knowledge of the grace that God had for her that put her fears to rest. b. Grace is unearned favor and just as knowledge of this grace from God to Mary allayed her fears, so such knowledge of God's grace should take away our fears. c. All true Christians have "grace" or "favor" with God. They need not fear condemnation. They need not fear God (in the sense of terror of His judgment). If you, as a Christian, are fearful of God in this way, you need to become better acquainted with what the Bible says about God's grace and how it impacts your relationship with Him. II. THE ANGEL'S MESSAGE LK 1:31-37. A. Verse 31 - Gabriel's message begins with a birth announcement. 1. These initial words spoken to Mary are not unlike the words spoken by Gabriel to Zacharias six months earlier. Look back up the page to verse 13-15a. 2. Though they sound very similar, there are several fundamental differences between these two birth announcements that are worth noting. 3. A primary difference was that the angel foretold John's birth to his father. In Jesus case it was told to his mother. Probably this was because Jesus was to be born without the agency of a human father. 4. A second difference is found in the kind of life that was foretold. Let us read what was predicted of Jesus' life. B. Verses 32-33. 1. Both John and Jesus were to be great, but the similarity ends there. John was to be the forerunner of Christ. He was to prepare the way. 2. Read verse 76. Notice what it says of John. Now look again at verse 32. John was to be called "the prophet of the Most High" in both verses. Jesus was to be called, "the Son of the Most High." That difference has eternal significance. 3. It is not enough to do as some world religions do today - view Jesus as a "Great Prophet." He is more than that. The distinction is seen here. He is "the Son of the Most High." World religions such as Islam that teach that Jesus was only a prophet fall short of Biblical standards and, therefore, differ critically from true Christianity. 4. The difference between John and Jesus is like the difference between the President's press secretary and the President himself! John was a very significant spokesman for the Son. Jesus was the Son. 5. A third difference is also evident here. John was to be a servant of the king. Jesus was the King. Read verse 33. a. A thousand years before Christ, when David was King of Israel, God promised that David's house would rule over Israel forever. b. Let us look back at that prediction in 2 Samuel 7:12-13: And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy
seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. c. The rule of the house of David was interrupted when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 606 BC. From that time onward, down to the time of Christ, the Jews were anxiously waiting for this descendant of David who would re-establish the kingdom of Israel. That one predicted by David came to be known among these expectant Jews as the "Anointed One" or "Messiah." (By the way, the word "Christ" we use is simply a transliteration of the Greek word "Christos" which is the equivalent for "Messiah.") d. In verse 33, Gabriel is telling Mary that this Son who was to be born to her would be this one predicted. This was a tremendous fulfillment of prophecy! e. Later, after Jesus' birth, when Gabriel announced his birth of Jesus to the shepherds in the fields and they quickly came to Bethlehem to see the Christ child and tell Mary and Joseph what had been told to them. Read Luke 2:19. A portion of her pondering must have been the marvelous realization that this Son of hers would fulfill the greatest prophecies in the Old Testament! 6. But let us not get to far ahead. There is still a very practical issue in the mind of this young virgin of Nazareth that needs to be resolved. She puts it in the form of a question. C. Verse 34. Take a moment, if you will. Transport your mind back - away from the familiarity we have with this foundational Christian doctrine of the virgin birth - to the wide-eyed innocence of Mary. She was hearing this for the first time. It did not make sense to her. D. Verse 35 - The angel's explanation follows. No human father mentioned is there? That is because there was not to be one. The conception was miraculous - a virgin with child, just as Isaiah had predicted. How can people read these things and say the Bible does not teach the virgin birth of Christ? E. Some argue that the word virgin in the prophecy can also be translated young woman or maiden." They do this to do away with the virgin birth. Isaiah 7:14, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel. 1. Considering the context Isaiah says that this birth was to be a sign. What the word "sign" usually means in Scripture is "attesting miracle" - something out of the ordinary. 2. If the word "virgin" here actually means "young woman," what kind of sign would this event be? In what way would this prediction of the birth of the Messiah to a "young woman" be any different from any other birth? 3. There are 7 billion people on earth. Every one of them came into the world in the same way. A woman and a man conceived a child and that child was born. 4. If the birth of Jesus is no different from those 7 billion births, how can it be said to be a sign? (The only sign it provides in my mind is a sign of the ignorance of the people who propose it.) 5. Matthew 1:18-25.
III. 6. I can understand how a person can have difficulty believing that a child was conceived without the agency of a human father. In any other context it is a preposterous assertion. What I cannot understand is how those who claim to be a Christians can read these passages and reject what they clearly say. 7. If these verses are mistaken and you cannot trust them, then how can you trust anything else that is written in this book we call the Bible? Further, if it is mistaken, how can we even know that the Jesus we follow is even the same Jesus who lived so long ago in the home of Joseph and Mary? You see, the credibility of the entire Bible rests upon the validity of its claims. Therefore, Christianity stands or falls on issues like this one - the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. F. Verses 36-37. Mary needed a bit of convincing herself - so much so that the angel offered some evidence of his claim. G. Verse 39. Luke tells us that, as soon as the angel departed, Mary beat feet up to the hill country of Judah to check out the angel's story. Can you blame her? MARY'S RESPONSE. A. Verse 38 - I am amazed and impressed with the simplicity of the statement she makes to the angel. It could serve as a model for any child of God. B. What an attitude of submission! No questions. No arguments. No bargaining. No denial. "Whatever God wants is fine with me." "If it is God's will, I will." That was Mary's attitude. She was not forced to bear a child against her will. She was ready to do whatever God wished. C. Realize though that her decision was not problem free. Think of the difficulties she would have to endure in order to do God's will and submit to a virgin birth. 1. She would be the subject of gossip, which probably did happen. 2. Others might shun her in her village who did not understand. (Imagine trying to explain to a group of busybody women that an angel told you that you would be the recipient of a virgin birth!) 3. Mary also had a well-founded reason to believe the Joseph would divorce her. D. All these risks, yet she never hesitated or refused God's will. The Phillips Translation renders this: "I belong to the Lord, body and soul." CONCLUSION A. God's love and favor sometimes brings with it great responsibility and some difficulty. B. Faithfulness usually has a price. Every time Mary faced the malicious gossip, the awkward silence when she came into the room, the furtive glances and the upturned noses, she would understand the price of her statement, "Be it unto me according to thy word. C. If God, in the course of our life, wills that we suffer for His cause, will this be our attitude?