Mary Series

Scripture

This Christmas I am taking a brief look at the three key human persons in “The Christmas Family”: Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.

This past Sunday we looked at Joseph. Tonight, we will look at Mary. And this coming Sunday we will look at Jesus.

So, let’s read about Mary in Luke 1:26-38:

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from 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. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And 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 bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to 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 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38)

Introduction

One British Bible commentator says that if you ask a newspaper editor what sort of stories will sell the most copies, three categories come swiftly to mind: infidelity, royalty, and religion. If they can be combined, so much the better. “POP STAR’S LOVE CHILD” is good; “PRINCESS HAS SECRET AFFAIR” is better; “KING’S SECRET NIGHT WITH NUN” is better still.

So when people read the story of Mary being visited by the angel Gabriel, who tells her that she is going become pregnant with the Son of God, their minds easily jump in the way the newspapers have conditioned them to do. People have read into the story all sorts of things that aren’t there, and have failed to notice some of the really important things that are there.

There is much worthy of examination in the announcement of Jesus’ birth to Mary. However, this evening we will just focus on Mary’s reaction to the word from God.

Lesson

The actions of Mary in Luke 1:26-38 teach us how to respond to God’s word.

Let’s use the following outline:?

1. Don’t Be Surprised When God Surprises You (1:26-33)

2. Absolutely Nothing Is Too Hard for God (1:34-37)

3. God Will Stop at Nothing to Accomplish His Will in Us (1:38)

I. Don’t Be Surprised When God Surprises You (1:26-33)

First, don’t be surprised when God surprises you.

When Elizabeth, Mary’s relative, was six-months pregnant, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be (1:26-29). Gabriel told Mary that she was going to conceive and bear a son, whose name would be Jesus (cf. 1:30-33).

Mary was very surprised when the angel Gabriel visited her in Nazareth. In fact, we know that “she was greatly troubled” when Gabriel told her that she was going to give birth to the Son of God.

Two thousand years later, we still marvel that God chose a young teenager to be the mother of Jesus. We would think that it would make more sense for a more mature woman to be the mother of the Son of God. But God is a God full of surprises, and he loves to take ordinary people and ordinary things and use them in extraordinary ways.

That is in fact true throughout the Christmas story. The announcement of Jesus’ birth was made to shepherds, not to kings. Jesus was born in a manger, not in a palace. Jesus was born to poor parents, not to wealthy parents. If we had tried to design the birth of the Son of God, we would have done it very differently. But, God is a God full of surprises.