Text: Luke 1:26-38
How do you react to unexpected honor or happenings?
I remember as a young boy playing part in a lot of surprise birthday
parties. I remember a crowd of us waiting in a dark house for the
honoree to return home with their spouse. I remember them opening the
door, and I remember the look on the face of the person as a crowd of
people in the darkness shouted "happy birthday!" People react
in different ways to these kinds of surprises, some are so affected
that they have to sit down and let their hearts recover from the shock.
No matter what the surprise it makes the heart beat faster, the adrenaline
pump harder. We like them but they really challenge us.
In this message today we see that Mary had a surprise. In her surprise we
see the character of this special woman, a character that we would do well
to emulate today.
I. SHE RECEIVED A BLESSING.
The first blessing was seeing an angel.
Not many people are privileged to see an angel. Still fewer had the
privilege of seeing Gabriel. Gabriel appears only three times in the Bible.
He appeared not only to Zechariah and to Mary but also to the prophet Daniel
more than 500 years earlier (Daniel 8:15-17; Daniel 9:21). Each time Gabriel
appeared, he brought important messages from God.
It was a blessing to think that God recognized her. Mary was young,
poor, female — all characteristics that, to the people of her day, would make
her seem unusable by God for any major task. But God chose Mary for one of
the most important acts of obedience he has ever demanded of anyone.
You may feel that your ability, experience, or education makes you an
unlikely candidate for God’s service. Don’t limit God’s choices. He can use
you if you trust him.
It was a blessing to think that God had honored her
- God’s favor does not automatically bring instant success or fame. His
blessing on Mary, the honor of being the mother of the Messiah, would lead to
much pain: her peers would ridicule her; her fiance would come close to leaving
her; her son would be rejected and murdered. But through her son would come the
world’s only hope, and this is why Mary has been praised by countless
generations as the young girl who "found favor with God." Her
submission was part of God’s plan to bring about our salvation.
If sorrow weighs you down and dims your hope, think of Mary and wait patiently for God to
finish working out his plan.
It was a blessing to think that God was with her.
The scriptures say that God was with her. Isaiah years ago gave a
name for the Christ Child he said Isaiah 7:14
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.
Matthew adds in Matthew 1:23
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will
call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."
All the other religions of the world exalted a man to be a God because of
what they saw as a godly life. Only in Christianity does God come down to
be with us, to walk with us, to show us himself in the form of Jesus Christ,
His Son.
II. SHE RECEIVED A HEAVENLY BLESSING – She was to give birth to a child.
Isn’t it amazing that God chose a child to bring His presence into the world?
He was to be a Holy Child, for he was to be called the Son of the Most High.
He was the Son of God, His name Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name
Joshua which means "the Lord saves". He was also to be the inheritor
of a kingly throne - Centuries earlier, God had promised David that David’s
kingdom would last forever (2 Samuel 7:16). This promise was fulfilled in the coming
of Jesus, a direct descendant of David, whose reign will continue throughout eternity.
III. SHE RECEIVED A HEAVENLY BLESSING THAT WAS MIRACULOUS.
Four questions are asked directly or implied in verses 34-36.
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How can this be? I am a virgin? The birth of Jesus to a virgin is a miracle
that many people find hard to believe. These three facts can aid our faith:
-
Luke was a medical doctor, and he knew perfectly well how babies
are made. It would have been just as hard for him to believe in a virgin birth
as it is for us, and yet he reports it as fact.
-
Luke was a painstaking researcher who based his Gospel on eyewitness
accounts. Tradition holds that he talked with Mary about the events he
recorded in the first two chapters. This is Mary’s story, not a fictional
invention.
-
Christians and Jews, who worship God as the Creator of the universe, should believe that God has the power to create a child in a virgin’s womb.
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How will it happen? She was not too surprised to be practical, she was a virgin, how would she bear a child. The angel told her that the holy spirit will come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her. He said that the one born will be "the Holy One" and indeed "the Son of God."
- Give me a sign? He angel let her in on another miraculous event that had already happened that she did not know of – Elizabeth, her relative was pregnant. Elizabeth was an old woman past childbearing age, now she who was barren all her life was blessed by God and was to have a son also. Isn’t it interesting that after the angel left Mary she hurried off to the house of Elizabeth, maybe to share their common experiences, but maybe to convince herself that what was happening was not some dream, some fantasy.
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Give me reassurance? She did not ask for it, her faith was sufficient but the angel gave her reassurance anyway. He said "nothing is impossible with God". Elizabeth’s child seemed impossible but God conquered it. Mary’s birth also seemed impossible but God specializes in the impossible.
IV. SHE RECEIVED A HEAVENLY BLESSING THAT WAS MIRACULOUS AND ACCEPTED.
How could she refuse? Was this not what every Jewish girl longed for -
to bring the Messiah into the world? Yet she could have thought of the
consequences of what was happening and shy away, she could have been more
concerned with her reputation.
A young unmarried girl who became pregnant risked disaster. Unless the father of the child agreed to marry her, she would probably remain unmarried for life. If her own father rejected her, she could be forced into begging or prostitution in order to earn her living. And Mary, with her story about being made pregnant by the Holy Spirit, risked being considered crazy as well. Still Mary said, despite the possible risks, "May it be to me as you have said." When Mary said that, she didn’t know about the tremendous opportunity she would have. She only knew that God was asking her to serve him, and she willingly obeyed. Don’t wait to see the bottom line before offering your life to God. Offer yourself willingly, even when the outcome seems disastrous.
Hers was a bold and humble acceptance of God’s will. God’s announcement of a child to be born was met with various responses throughout Scripture. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, laughed (Genesis 18:9-15). Zechariah doubted (Luke 1:18). By contrast, Mary submitted. She believed the angel’s words and agreed to bear the child, even under humanly impossible circumstances. God is able to do the impossible. Our response to his demands should not be laughter, or doubt, but willing acceptance.
What does this annunciation to Mary tell us today about the nature of God? It says that Christmas is about God reaching down to mankind. It is about God uplifting the lowly. It is about faith in God that He will do as He promises even when by our own eyes it seems impossible. Are you willing to accept God’s love offering? Are you willing to let Him come in and transform your life? Are you willing to exercise the kind of faith that Mary exhibited so that Christ can use you for His glory?