An Angel Visits Mary Series

Sermon: “An Angel Visits Mary”

Luke 1:26-38

A sermon for December 6, 2020

Pastor John Bright

Luke 1 “26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”

38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”

There is an old saying… “If God is your co-pilot, you need to change seats.” I mentioned in Bible Study recently that some folks – like my wife – are far more comfortable being in the driver’s seat. There was a day when my wife would be all white knuckled holding on to the door if she had to ride in the passenger seat. Any of you like that? For some folks, there is a need to be in control – to be in charge.

Today, we meet Mary – a picture of submission.

One of the nagging questions for readers of Luke’s Gospel is why the Angel reacts one way to Mary’s questions and a completely different way to Zacharias’ questions? Last week, we looked at that other angelic visitation in Luke chapter 1. The two encounters are similar: The Angel Gabriel appears in an unexpected way, both of the people visited by the angel experience fear, the angel tells each to not be afraid and announces a miracle. In both accounts, this is when a question arises. For Zacharias, the question is about the age of he and Elizabeth. For Mary, the question is about her not having access to the normal means to become a mother. Zacharias is scolded but Mary is reassured.

First, let me say that God is big enough for any question you want to ask. The asking of questions is not what is the issue in these two encounters. Here’s what I think is going on – God can tell where your questions are coming from and there are lots of reasons we ask questions. Let me put it this way – I imagine there were lots and lots of times that Zacharias, a 60-something year old priest, had wondered “Why no children?” When we look at Mary, probably a young teenager of 13 or 14, I just don’t see it as probable that she spent even a little time wondering “Why no baby all by myself?” This is all new for Mary and an old (maybe sore) subject for Zacharias.

The news from Gabriel to Mary would shock most of us…

Your child will be the Messiah – v.32-33

“32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

The Old Testament Prophets told of a Messiah who would come as a descendant of King David. In the time of Jesus, the Jews believed the Messiah would re-establish the Kingdom of David and throw off Roman rule of Israel. Jesus proclaimed the kind of Messiah he would be in Luke 4:

“16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: