Faith Reformed Church Stevensville, ON December 5, 2010 Morning Service Text: Luke 1:26-38 Sermon: Songs of the Season: Gabriel Visits Mary
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; AMEN. Last week we read of the angel Gabriel. The Lord God dispatched him to Jerusalem, to the Temple, to the Holy Place, at the time of the evening sacrifice. Gabriel stood by the altar of incense and found Zechariah, a country priest, at the high point of his career, offering a sacrifice of incense for his first and last time. This particular service was such a high honour that nobody was allowed to give it twice. Gabriel told the quaking Zechariah not to be afraid and then gave him wonderful news about the birth of a son. With that, four hundred years of silence was broken; the Lord had given a Word to his people once more. And what a blessed Word it was, for both Zechariah and Elizabeth, and the nation as a whole. He and his wife had been unable to have children, but this sad situation would come to an end. They would have a son and he would be a joy and delight to them. Elizabeth s reproach would be taken away. But much more important than these considerations, this son would be great in the eyes of the Lord. He would be a prophet in the spirit and power of Elijah and would turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of the disobedient to their God. He would prepare the people 2
of Israel for coming of the Messiah. Zechariah didn t believe the angel. He asked Gabriel, How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years. Gabriel struck him dumb and dumb he would remain until the birth of his son nine months later, John the Baptist. As we come to our lesson today we find that six months have passed. God dispatches the angel Gabriel again, but this time not to Jerusalem but to Nazareth, in Galilee. His message this time is not for a priest of Israel but for a young girl an unlettered teenager. And this time it is not about a natural birth delayed beyond normal years, but a virgin birth unique in all human experience. Now think of this. When God dispatched Gabriel to Nazareth with this amazing message for Mary, the angel did not say to God, I beg your pardon? I have just been to a priest at the Temple in the middle of a worship service. I gave him good news. He flat out didn t believe me. And now you want me to go to a peasant girl with an even more incredible announcement? It doesn t make much sense to me. Are you sure about this? There was none of that. Gabriel went immediately, without question and without demurring. He obeyed promptly and cheerfully, as he had always done, from the time of his creation. Beloved, every week when we are together we pray, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. 3
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Let s remember the example of Gabriel as we think of God s will being done. Let it be an encouragement and a spur to us to a quicker, more urgent and more cheerful obedience to the Lord. Now we have just begun a sermon series entitled, Songs of the Season. I mentioned last week that over the course of the next six services we would be taking a look at the five songs that are recorded in the opening chapters of Luke s gospel. I had meant to take up the song of Elizabeth this morning, but in my study I found that I just couldn t get to it quickly enough; it is going to have to wait until next Sunday. The series has just expanded to seven sermons. These things happen, especially when you are working your way through material as rich as God s Word. In any event, today we are going to look at four things: where Gabriel went, the young woman to whom he spoke, what he said to her and how she responded. Where, who, what and how. Let s look at the lesson. 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. 4
As he came to earth that day, Gabriel ignored Judea, which had been the centre of God s work down through the centuries. He went instead to Galilee. Galilee was a land held in contempt by many Jews, because its population down through the years had in great measure intermarried with Gentiles, though intermarriage was strictly forbidden in the Law. As a result, they had become to a large extent a mixed people. The people of Galilee were commonly and cruelly dismissed as mongrels. Bypassing Jerusalem, the seat of David s kingdom and the Lord s Temple, Gabriel went to Galilee and, specifically to Nazareth. Nazareth was an obscure little nothing of a place. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament. It is not mentioned in the works of the historian Josephus or in any rabbinical writings of the time. It was a shoddy, corrupt halfway stop between the cities of Tyre and Sidon and was infested with Gentiles and Roman soldiers. Nathaniel, a disciple Jesus described as being without guile, a forthright, plain speaker, once asked if anything good could come from Nazareth (John 1:46). The place did not seem like much, but then neither did the girl to whom Gabriel appeared. She had nothing in the way of recognizable 5
credentials. She was a teenager, possibly 14 or 15 years old. She was too young to have known anything of the world or to have accomplished anything much. She was most likely illiterate; that being said, at the same time it is clear she had a good grounding in the faith. We will see when we come to her song, the Magnificat. Her knowledge of the Bible was clearly extensive; it came from attending worship at the synagogue and memorizing large portions of Scripture. In normal circumstances she would marry, have a big, poor family and never travel more than a few miles from her home, living and dying quietly and in obscurity. And so it was that the greatest news ever proclaimed in Israel came to the humblest of people. Mary sings about that in our lesson in a few weeks: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. Nine months later the angels would proclaim the birth of the Messiah to humble shepherds out in the fields. The good news comes to the poor and humble, the meek and lowly. Martin Luther put it this way: He [Gabriel] might have gone to Jerusalem and picked out Caiaphas daughter, who was fair, rich, clad in gold embroidered raiment and attended by a retinue of maids-in-waiting. But God preferred a lowly maid from a mean town. 6
Why does he come to the lowly? For two reasons. First of all, he comes to the humble because they have room for him. Kent Hughes puts it this way: The Lord comes to needy people those who realize that without him they cannot make it those who acknowledge their weakness and spiritual lack. The Incarnation, salvation, resurrection, Christmas are not for the proud and self-sufficient. Second, he comes to the humble, lowly and weak so that he glory might shine all the more brightly as he works through their weakness. When the Apostle Paul was given a thorn in his flesh he prayed for God to remove it. He didn t. Instead he sent Paul this word: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness (II Corinthians 12:9). Paul gloried in the news, saying, Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses (12:9). When Paul was weak it became utterly clear that God was strong. Now when Gabriel approached Mary this is what happened. The angel went to her and said, Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you. Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. Gabriel tells Mary two things. First, she is highly favoured and second, the Lord s presence is with her. That Mary is highly favoured, or full of grace 7
at it is sometimes translated, has caused a very serious mistake about her to be made. The Roman Catholic Church holds that Mary is so full of grace that, rather than being simply a recipient of grace, she is also a dispenser of grace. They believe that Mary has grace abundant and overflowing and so if a person goes to her in prayer saving grace can be received from her. In some Roman Catholic circles Mary has been elevated to the status of a coredeemer, a co-mediator with Jesus. Some have gone so far as to say that no one comes to the Father but by Mary. Scripture, however, is absolutely clear on this point. There is one Mediator and one Mediator only between God and man and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And Mary, like everyone else born except the Lord Jesus, was born a sinner, born under a curse, born with a dead and stony heart, born in desperate need of a Saviour. Roman Catholics have accorded Mary a divine or semi-divine status. As a result, Protestants tend to ignore Mary. That is too bad, for Mary, rightly understood, is a model for those who experience the birth of the Saviour in their hearts. We have seen that Mary had a humble heart; we will also find out that the mother of our Lord had a reflective heart, a believing heart and a submitted heart. These are qualities we too must cherish and nurture in our lives if we are to mature in the faith and grow as disciples. 8
Reflective, believing and submitted. Let s take them one by one. To her humility Mary added a reflective disposition as well. When the angel made his presence known and greeted Mary, the Bible says she was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. The word wondered here means that she kept pondering the import of Gabriel s words. What do these words mean for me? What will they require from me? Mary had a reflective nature. There is a lovely passage about that in Luke 2. Jesus has been born. The angels have given the shepherds the news. They have run to the manger. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about his child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds had said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. She pondered the things of God in her heart, coming back to them time and again. I ran into an interesting story the other day. The poet Robert Southey was an English romantic poet, contemporary of Wordsworth and Coleridge. He was a remarkable man. As well as being a poet he was an essayist, an historian and a biographer. He wrote biographies of John Bunyan, John Wesley, William Cowper, Oliver Cromwell and Horatio Nelson. He wrote a 9
history of Brazil and of the Peninsular War. In any event, one day he told an old Quaker lady how he filled his day. He studied Portuguese grammar while he washed and shaved, something else while he had breakfast, and something else again in the morning. He gave detail after detail of a life filled with activity of one sort or another. She said to him quietly, And when does thee think? Beloved, don t get so busy that you cannot take time each day to ponder the things of God. Like Mary, take time to reflect upon the Lord and the things of the Lord. Do this especially when you are having trouble with the disciplines of prayer. When you are finding prayer difficult, try this. Stop trying to pray. Instead, think about God. Ponder his attributes: his immensity, power, and infiniteness, his holiness, righteousness, wisdom and goodness, his mercy, compassion and love. Ponder not only who He is, ponder also what he has done: his creation, his providence, his redemption in Christ, his promising to come again. As you reflect upon God, focusing upon who he is and what he has done, prayer will come. You will find yourself praising and glorifying him. His beauty is such that you won t be able to help it. Seek him first and the rest will follow. 10
Let s continue with the lesson, picking it up at verse 30: But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. 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. Jesus the name means Saviour will be great. We learn here that he will be a priest greater than Abraham, a prophet greater than Moses, and a king greater than David. He will be called Son of the Most High. That is to say, he will have a divine nature. He is of the same substance as the Father and the Holy Spirit, co-equal and co-eternal. In Jesus Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will never end. Paul puts it his way in Philippians 2:...at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. John puts it this way in Revelation: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever (11:15). How will this be, Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin? 11
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. 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. Now when Mary got this astounding news that among all the women who ever lived or ever would live, she was the one who would bear the Christ-child, she asked a question. How will this be, since I am a virgin? Now note this. Mary believes the angel. Her question is not an indication of doubt. In this she differs from Zechariah, who, when given astounding news, disbelieved and asked for a sign. Mary does not doubt. She does not ask for a sign to verify what Gabriel is saying. She is, however, mystified because she knows how babies are born and she knows she doesn t fit the bill. It s a biological question she asks. You see, as well as having a humble and reflective heart, Mary has a trusting, believing heart. The angel provided the answer. It would be through the power of the Holy Spirit that the pregnancy would occur. Even as the Spirit was present and hovering over the waters at the time of creation, so the Spirit would be present at the birth of Christ. In fact, the Spirit would be present with Jesus all along the path of redemption. I like very much what J. C. Ryle has to say here: 12
In every step of the great work of man s redemption, we shall find special mention of the work of the Holy Ghost. Did Jesus die to make atonement for our sins? It is written that through the eternal Spirit he offered himself without spot to God (Heb. 9:14). Did he rise again for our justification? It is written that he was quickened by the Spirit (I Peter 3:18). Does he supply his disciples with comfort between the time of his first and second advent? It is written that the Comforter, whom he promised to send, is the Spirit of truth (John 14:17). Let us take heed that we give the Holy Ghost the same place in our personal religion, which we find him occupying in God s word. Let us remember, that all that believers have, and are, and enjoy under the gospel, they owe to the inward teaching of the Holy Spirit. The work of each of the three persons of the Trinity is equally and entirely needful to the salvation of every saved soul. The election of God the Father, the blood of God the Son, and the sanctification of God the Spirit ought never to be separated in our Christianity. The Holy Spirit would bring about the birth of Christ. How? Suffice it to say that with God nothing is impossible. Nothing is too difficult for him who is omnipotent. He would speak a Word and it would be done. Think about it this way. As Christ s birth was a miracle, so was it a miracle when we were born again. We looked at our sin and wondered if there were any way we could be pardoned. We found that there was no sin too black to be pardoned, for the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. We looked at our hearts and wondered if they could be changed and we found that even a heart of stone can be made into a heart of flesh through the power of Christ s spirit. We looked at our calling to walk godly in Christ and wondered if we 13
might take even a small step on that journey and found that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. We felt burdens and wondered if they were too heavy to carry and experienced trials and thought they might be too severe to endure, but we found that the grace of God is sufficient. There is no promise God has made that is too great to be fulfilled, for his Word will never pass away and what he has promised he will accomplish. There is no difficulty too great to surmount, for if God is for us, who can be against us. Even the mountains will be made low and the valleys lifted up and the rough places made smooth. If sinners like you and me can be cleansed and made fit to enter into the presence of God, a virgin can give birth, if God has so ordained. Let me make one last point. In response to the angel s answer Mary said, I am the Lord s servant. May it be to me as you have said. Mary had a submitted heart. Now you must remember. It was no small thing in these days for a woman to become pregnant out of wedlock. Mary was facing ridicule, criticism, a broken relationship with Joseph, her fiancé and possible stoning. There was a huge cost to be born. Nevertheless, Mary placed herself, body and soul, at God s disposal. C. S. Lewis once remarked that 14
there are only two kinds of people in the world. There are those who say, My will be done, and those who say, Thy will be done. Mary was one of the latter and as such she provides us a model and example of godly Christian living. She was humble and poor of spirit and so open to the grace of God. She was reflective and so open to the word and work of God in her life. She was believing and so welcoming of the Holy Spirit. She was submitted and so is now and always will be called blessed by all generations. Humble. Reflective. Believing. Submissive. Here is the question for us today. Have we said in our hearts, I am the Lord s servant. May it be to me as you have said. God grant us grace that we might be able to say Yes, Lord. Let your will be done in me, now and always. May we make that profession with our lips and in our hearts. In Christ s name. AMEM. 15