Luke 1:26-38
A man was putting a tin roof on his barn when all of
a sudden, he slipped and began to slide down the
roof. He cried out to God to save him when no
sooner he got the words out of his mouth a nail
caught his pants and stopped him. When he
stopped, he said, never mind God I took care of it”.
The problem isn’t that God doesn’t perform
miracles anymore the problem is we’re not looking
for God to perform miracles.
Last week we talked about the miracle of Christmas from
Joseph’s perspective. We read about the angel coming
and encouraging Joseph to stick with God’s plan.
It was a great reminder that sometimes God changes our
plans.
And we know that God’s plans are higher than our plans.
We should always trust His plan and submit to it.
Today we are going to talk about the miracle of Christmas
from Mary’s perspective.
Let’s pray and ask God to reveal Himself through His
word and teach us His truth.
Luke 1:26-28
An Angelic Greeting
What do we know about Mary?
She was from a little known town in Galilee called
Nazareth.
She was a young teenager. Probably middle school or
early high school age. She is a virgin.
Why did God choose Mary?
This was an act of God’s grace. Gabriel greets her and
calls her favored one. Mary is favored because the
recipient of God’s grace.
Divine Favor
She is favored because God chose her, not because of her
merit or anything else. This is divine favor from God.
Do you remember the definition of grace? Unmerited
favor.
Mary didn’t earn the right to bear the Messiah, God chose
her because He knew her and knew she would humbly
submit to His plan.
People often have an incorrect view of Mary.
Some take too high a view. They believe that Mary is to
be prayed to and they think she is above all women.
This is not accurate.
Mary was chosen by God, given grace and the incredible
honor of carrying the Savior of the world in her womb for
9 months.
She is by no means a dispenser of grace.
Only God can bestow grace on others.
Some have too low a view of Mary. Gabriel calls her
favored one and that she has found favor with God cf
v.30.
Also, Mary sings in her song of praise that from now on
all generations will call her blessed. Cf v.48
Mary was a humble servant who surrendered to God’s
plan despite what anyone might say.
Divine Presence
Also, Gabriel tells Mary of the presence of the Lord.
The Lord is with you! Gabriel says.
God not only provides His grace, He provides His
presence.
How does Mary respond to this incredible honor?
Luke 1:29
A Greatly Troubled Virgin
Earlier in the chapter Gabriel came to Zechariah and he
was troubled.
When Gabriel appears to Mary, the Greek word has more
emphasis meaning she was greatly troubled.
She was pondering, contemplating, considering why the
angel was coming to her. Imagine how this humble
teenager felt having an angel visit her and call her
blessed.
Luke 1:30-33
An Angelic Announcement
Gabriel tells Mary not to be afraid,
because she has found favor with God.
Remember, Mary was a poor humble girl from a small
unknown town. But God knew her heart and knew how
she would respond to His favor and grace.
Gabriel also tells Mary that she is going to conceive and
bear a child and she is going to call him Jesus.
Then Gabriel goes on to talk about how incredible Jesus
is.
He will be Great – John the Baptist will be great in the
sight of the Lord. Jesus is greater than all.
Hebrews tells us in great detail how Jesus is greater than
everything.
He will be called Son of the Most High – Luke 1:76 tells us
John the Baptist will be called prophet of the Most High
and that he will go before the Lord to prepare His ways.
The angel tells Mary Jesus will be the Son of God. She is
going to bear the savior of the world!!
God will give Him the throne of his father David – this
child is the promised one from the Old Testament. The
Messiah is coming and will fulfill everything that was
prophesied about Him.
So many prophets wrote about Jesus, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, Micah, Zechariah.
He will reign over the house of Jacob forever – Jesus is
going to rule over the 12 tribes of Israel. And His
kingdom will never end. He will reign not only in this life,
but forever!!
Mary is great, but she is not the focus, Jesus is alway the
focus.
God uses people to accomplish His plan.
Mary was favored, but Jesus is the one who saves us!
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is
no other name under heaven given among men by
which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
Mary follows up Gabriel’s announcement with a question.
Luke 1:34
Mary’s Question
Mary’s question is not one of doubt like Zechariah’s when
he was told about his son being born. This is purely a
quest for understanding. Mary is not ignorant about
matters of human reproduction. She knows she has
never been with a man and is curious how this would
happen.
It’s an honest question that Gabriel will explain in the
next verses.
Luke 1:35-37
A Miracle Explained
To sum up Gabriel’s words succinctly the Holy Spirit is
going to do what has never been done before or since.
The Holy Spirit is going to overshadow Mary and cause
her to be pregnant. God is going to come in the flesh to
accomplish the redemption of man.
I would imagine Mary sensed the Holy Spirit as He
overshadowed her. Just like we can sense the Holy Spirit
working in our lives.
The same power of the Holy Spirit that caused the
apostles to be able to speak in many languages so that
thousands could come to faith in Christ is about to
overshadow Mary to accomplish God’s plan.
Gabriel says the baby will be holy – the Son of God.
Remember, Jesus did not share the sinful nature that we
are born with. Since God is His Father He remains sinless.
I Peter 2:22 “He committed no sin, neither was
deceit found in his mouth.”
Gabriel also mentions another miracle that God had
already caused. Mary’s relative Elizabeth who was known
to be barren was now 6 months pregnant with a son.
It makes the point doesn’t it?
If God can cause an elderly barren woman to be
pregnant, why couldn’t He cause a virgin to become
pregnant?
God can do anything He wants to do and He has all the
power in the world to do it.
Nothing will be impossible with God.
We should remember that in our lives when we get
caught up in our trials. With God the impossible is
always possible.
Luke 1:38
Mary’s Obedient Submission
There are plenty of examples of disobedience in the
Bible.
Adam and Eve, Jonah, Saul, and Lot’s wife to name a
few.
Today we see an example of a young lady who trusted
God and obeyed even when she didn’t understand
everything.
She identifies herself as a servant of the Lord and agrees
to do whatever God chooses for her.
It takes great faith to trust God when we don’t know
exactly what He is doing. We must remember that He
wants what is best for us. And He wants us to follow Him
completely.
If anyone would follow Me he must deny himself and take
up his cross and follow Me.
APPLICATION
Choose Humility and Submission
We can learn humility and submission from Mary.
We must remember that we are a part of God’s story.
We are not the main character.
If we are not careful pride can get in the way of us
hearing what God wants us to do.
We must also be ready to allow Him to do the impossible.
This can only happen when we are fully submitting to His
will and plan.