The Birth of Jesus ForetoldLuke 1:26-38Key Verses Luke 1:32-33He 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. Thanksgiving was last week. In our church, we each were encouraged to find 20 reasons to be thankful for the past year. Some people who had had a difficult year found that they really had a lot to be thankful for. Despite our problems, we are highly favored by God, to have a relationship with him. Today, we will think about Mary, whose mission from God was also difficult, but who was called highly favored by God. Next week, we will look at her song of thanksgiving. Of course, this passage is part of our Christmas series, and so let us especially think about the Christ, and not just about Mary. Our key verses tell us four key facts about the Messiah: he comes to save, he is great, he is the Son of God, and he is our eternal king. Part 1 You Have Found Favor with God (26-30). Look at verse 26. "In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee...." The birth of Jesus was closely related to the birth of John the Baptist, which had been foretold in the previous passage. In verse 26, "the sixth month," refers to the time since baby John had been conceived. Now, according to God's plan, it was time to send his one and only Son Jesus into the world. But who would God choose? Look at verse 27. "...to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary." To a virgin. The first fact said about this woman was not her name, but that she was a virgin pledged to be married. From this verse, we learn that Mary must have been a woman of purity around 17 or 18 years old because that is about when Jewish people of Jesus day would marry. I think there are some people of that age here today. Mary was a virgin pledged to be married. This morning let’s take a few moments to think about the implications of this. Has anyone here watched any TV in the last ten years? Seen any movies? If so then you notice that there is something wrong with this picture – a virgin pledged to be married. From almost every movie that I’ve ever seen, Mary has it backwards! No the way it works is you meet someone and you like them. So you sleep with them. Maybe if things are “serious” you move in together. After two years of then the woman mentions the marriage word, and the man panics because he is afraid of commitment. I thought that was how it worked. How could there be a virgin pledged to be married? Did anyone see Titanic? Everyone said it was such a beautiful love story. Of course the couple in love were two virtual strangers who couldn’t control their bodies for more than a few hours after they had met. Yes, a beautiful love story! Many Christians watched it and thought it was beautiful, and never thought about what message it sent to our youth. No more is expected of people than that. And it is the same message in every movie I see (except those for children). Even movies that are about something else entirely still sneak this idea in if you look for it. And in high school, students are taught all about birth control. The University of Maryland celebrates it with condom balloons. Abstinence is mentioned briefly, but the message is clear – we don’t think its realistic to expect people to exercise self-control. The fact is, from classmates, to school dances, to movies our young people are being fed a big lie. Among the people of our day, virginity is made into a joke and promiscuity is made into an expression of love. Everything is twisted upside down. This summer, there was a hit movie called the 40 year-old virgin. Virginity was a big joke. I went to high school not so long ago, I remember being laugh at for being a virgin. What has happened to our society? How can young people be upright in such a wicked and corrupt generation? But when a society rejects God’s view of marriage, you will find a culture of divorce. Wounded children. Wounded men enslaved by pornography and every kind of desire. And wounded women who feel cheated and abused. Listen, young people, the message of the Bible is unpopular today. And this very morning, millions of young people all over the world are going to churches and all the while living in sinful relationships. But they feel a guilt that they cannot solve until they repent. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Let’s accept the words of 1 Cor 6:18-20 tells us “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” A common slogan is “Its my body!” – but it isn’t you are not your own. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Secondly, we learn the commonness of God’s mission. God’s mission is not exclusive to a special group of people. Elizabeth was too old to bear a son, Mary was too young. But it did not matter. Mary was a very ordinary country girl. But she was chosen to be the Messiah-bearer. The common factor of Jesus’ 12 disciples was their commonness. They were very ordinary people. God's mission is not given to some special people. Anyone can be eligible for God’s mission, if they are willing to accept it. When we look at ourselves and our young people, we should not be discouraged that we are common. But we should live before God. Then we are very special to God. Praise God that there are still godly men and women like Mary who keep their purity before God. Let’s pray for our nation, that it truly can be a kingdom of priests and a Holy nation.
But back to the passage. Let’s read verse 27 again. "to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary." No doubt, Mary dreamed of her bright and happy future with Joseph. He was a poor carpenter, but in her mind he was like a gallant prince. The time of engagement is one of the happiest (and most anxious) times of our life. The months of my engagement seemed to pass in a blur. But I think women have the best idea of what Mary felt. We have two engaged women among us here. So I asked them what it was like. One of them shared that she did not want to be bothered with other things when she thought about her marriage. They both had had dreams at night about their husbands-to-be. One of them told me that she never knew she had such a good imagination until she became engaged, The other share with me that yesterday afternoon, she had been flipping through the pages of “Modern Bride” magazine when she went shopping. You can try to guess which one said which. I asked one of them how she would feel if an angel suddenly appeared to her and gave her a mission that threatened to end her beautiful marriage dream. She said that, speaking honestly, “I would feel terrible. Like the world should just end. Why me Lord?” Perhaps Mary may have had similar thoughts. Look at verses 28-29. "The angel went to her and said, `Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.' Marry was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be." It sounded like the most wonderful greeting. But Mary was greatly troubled at his words. Now Mary was not accustomed to being visited by angels and must have been surprised. But this was not the source of her trouble. Instead, verse 29 says that she was “greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of a greeting this might be.” We can understand this. Sometimes when Missionary Jacob says hi to me, I am apprehensive that he has some assignment to give me.
Sensing Mary's apprehension, the angel spoke again. Let’s read verses 30,31, "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.'" Now what does it mean to find favor with God? We use the word favor when we want to get help from others. A large percentage of phone calls begin with “Hi, so and so. How are you? Uh huh. Yeah. Say! Could you do me a favor?” If anyone says, “I’d like to do you a favor” be careful, there is probably a string attached. Like when the King of Sodom offered to do Abraham a favor.
But God’s favor is different. Actually the word translated here as favor is, on other passages, translated as grace. God’s favor and grace are unmerited and one-sided. They are superior to the favor that any man could do for you. Secular Christians think that to be favored by God is to receive many human blessings such as good jobs or a raise in pay. But do not think that way. God’s grace is first, to save us. And second it is to give us a mission. Paul mentions God’s grace to call him to work as an apostle, and of the grace that we receive even to suffer for Christ. To be favored by God is to be given a task or mission from God. Mary was not favored with a happy life or a rich family. Quite the opposite. But she was favored, as we all are, with God's mission for her. Mary was not only favored, but "highly" favored, not because she was some sinless person we should worship (as some do), but because her mission was so precious. She was chosen to be the mother of the Messiah, the Son of God. When we accept God’s mission, someone may feel like they are doing God a favor, but it is God who is favoring for us.
Mary would bear in her own body the Savior of the world. No one can deserve this favor. It was given to Mary by God's one-sided grace. She was highly favored in proportion to the magnitude of her mission. But that did not mean that God’s grace would be easy to bear. Sometimes God’s mission is a joy, like Elizabeth, whose pregnancy brought delight to all who heard about it (Lk 1:25). And sometimes God’s mission is difficult, like Mary’s. She would have to be pregnant before marriage. She would risk breaking her relationship with Joseph due to misunderstanding. She could be exposed to public disgrace and possibly be stoned to death. It was costly and dangerous. But the angel did not say to her, "Mary, I have some good news and some bad news." The angel said, "You have found favor with God." He did not say, “I have a proposition for you, what do you think?” He said, “You will be with child”
Part 2, Jesus is the Son of God (31-32a). In verses 31-33, the angel tells us about the child Mary would bear. Four points: 1) His name will be Jesus, 2) He will be great, 3) He will be the Son of God, and he will reign on David’s throne forever. To begin, let’s read verse 31. "You will be with child and will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus." God named his son through the angel. His name is Jesus. Jesus means God's salvation. Matthew 1:21 expounds further, saying, " you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." To any person, his most serious problem is the sin problem. Sin destroys men. For instance, we know that students should study hard and be successful. But sin makes many watch television, play video games and eat potato chips. Do you see how destructive sin is? And these are just the “small sins.” They ruin a man’s future. The sins of hate and lust are even more quick to destroy. They ruin our hearts. Men become trapped on the web and don’t know how to get out! Paul shared his agony in Romans 7, “What I want do, I do not do, but the evil that I do not want to do, this I keep on doing.” He cries out for a savior, “What a wretched man I am, who will rescue me from this body of death?” He does not say that he needs a little help, but that he needs someone to rescue him. Jesus does not come as our helper, but as the Savior of the World. We need a savior to deliver us in our powerlessness. By shedding his holy blood for sinners, Jesus restores the glorious image of God in man. Jesus can change any kind of petty and ugly sinner into a glorious child of God.
Second, “He will be great." (verse 32a) Jesus will be great. What makes a man great? We are likely to think of someone who has great in his name, like “Alexander the Great” or “Catherine the Great”. They were great because the conquered large Empires. But this was not the key of Jesus’ greatness. Jesus taught, “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:43-45) Jesus is the greatest man of all, because he came to be the servant of all. Even many non-believers credit Jesus as a great man. Yet Jesus is far more than great man or even than just the greatest of men, because Jesus is more than a man. Look at the third fact stated about the Christ. Third, he “will be called the Son of the Most High.” Jesus is not only the Son of Man, but he is also the Son of God. His birth without a human father means that he, quite literally, would be the son of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit. To understand the significance of Christ’s Holy birth, we should go back to Genesis 3. Originally, Adam and Eve were made holy, God called them “very good.” But, when they sinned, their relationship with God was broken. They were changed, and all of creation was subjected to decay. Ever since that time, men have been born with the sinful nature of Adam. But God provided hope in Genesis 4, that one day, the offspring of the woman would crush Satan and free man from this curse. Jesus is the offspring of the woman but not the man. Jesus was not born of sinful Adam, but of the Holy Spirit. So he is pictured in the New Testament as the “Second Adam.” We read in 1 Corinthians 15:22, "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." Moreover, the Son of God is equal to God. His birth was foretold in this way: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Is 9:6) and “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Is 7:14) Immanuel means “God with Us”. Jesus was, in very nature, God. But he came to be with us. This is the love of the Holy God, to want to be with sinful men.
Fourth, Jesus is our eternal king. Look at verse 32b-33. "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." David was known as the greatest king in Israel's history. In essence, David was a shepherd for his people who risked his own life to deliver them from their enemies. His reign brought about peace and justice and great prosperity both spiritually and materially. God promised David that he would raise up his offspring to establish an everlasting kingdom. (2Sa 7:12) But God seemed to have forgotten his promises. It had been hundreds of years since Israel had had a king. They were controlled by one foreign power after another. Now they were in the grip of Rome. Where was the line of David? It was like a mighty tree that had been chopped down, leaving only a stump. But God had promised that, out of this stump, a branch would bear fruit (Is 11:1). God had not forgotten his promises. He would establish Jesus as our eternal king. Look at verse 33 again: “and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." The kingdoms of the world are temporary, they vanish in the are like the pieces of clay, bronze, iron of Daniel’s statue. (Da 2:35; 44-45) But the kingdom of Jesus is will never end. We may ask, “Where is your hope?” Many people place their hope in temporary things that are sure to disappoint, like a good job, or an early retirement. Some people place their hope in government. In the sixties, people wanted to establish a “Great Society.” But our social problems remained, and many people became disillusioned with the government. Many live without hope. But the Bible gives us a sure hope. We find hope in the Kingdom of God, a permanent kingdom that never ends. A glorious kingdom of righteousness and peace. Listen to Jesus kingdom as it is foreseen in Is 9:7: “Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” If there is a kingdom, then there is a king. These days, we do not like to think about kings. We like to think about presidents, because, if we do not like them we can vote them out after four years. The reason that our government is designed this way, is because our founding fathers knew that most kings had been tyrants, because power corrupts. But in Jesus, we find the true king. The king of righteousness and peace. We must accept him as our eternal king, and obey him as his eternal subjects. Praise God for Jesus, who is our savior and eternal king! Part 3, "I am the Lord's servant" (34-38). What was Mary's response? Look at verse 34. "'How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?'" Mary was moved by the good news of Jesus. But she had a scientific question. If she had a modern understanding of biology, she might have asked what kind of DNA the child would have, It was not a question of doubt, such as how she could be sure of it, or how it was possible. It was a sincere question of understanding god’s way of working, “how will this be?” In our difficulties, we know that, by seeking first his kingdom and righteousness, he will provide everything we need. But we may wonder how it will be. Many people scoff at the idea of a virgin birth. How could a virgin conceive a child? The angel’s answer does not explain about DNA. Instead he gives a fundamental answer: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 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." (35-37) Elizabeth was too old, Mary was too young. But it did not matter, nothing is impossible with God. God made the world and all that is in it. He made man, and gave him DNA. He can give DNA to his son. To strengthen Mary, the angel shared the work of God in Elizabeth and planted faith in God Almighty that nothing is impossible with God. Look at verse 38. "'I am the Lord's servant,' Mary answered. 'May it be to me as you have said.' Then the angel left her." When Mary believed that God would fulfill what the angel told her, she was ready to obey without any conditions or second thoughts. It was because she knew that she was the Lord’s servant. Her obedience to God's will is exemplary. We learn from her to accept the good news of Jesus with faith and obedience. In this passage we learned that God's favor is in his mission for us. Most of all, we learned that Jesus is great because he is the holy Son of God. Jesus is the eternal King and his kingdom will never end. Let's accept the good news of Jesus with faith and obedience, like Mary.