Obedient To The Will Of God Series

JUST JESUS: CHAPTER BY CHAPTER THRU LUKE

OBEDIENT TO THE WILL OF GOD

LUKE 1:1-80

#JustJesus

INTRODUCTION… Catholics vs. Protestants, biblebelievers.com/bennett/bennett_mary-worship.html

If you were not aware, the Christian faith is divided into three main flavors: Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant. If you did not already know it, you are sitting in a Protestant Church. Surprise! The reasons for the different branches of Christianity are old and require a history lesson which we will not do today. We actually watched some videos on in our most recent Wednesday Night Bible Studies that would help with some of that.

Needless to say, there are some differences between Catholics and Orthodox believers and Protestants. There are certainly differences in the way worship services are conducted and how the church is run. There are also some theological differences. One of the major areas where Catholic Christians differ from other Christians is in their understanding of Mary. They believe some things about Mary which the Bible simply does not support and our church tradition shies away from:

* Immaculate Conception (Catechism 490-492) states that Mary was born without the guilt sin so that she could produce Jesus Christ. Scripture tells us that all have fallen short of the glory of God.

* All Holy (Catechism 411, 493) states that Mary lived a sinless life. No one is sinless, but Jesus.

* Perpetual Virginity (Catechism 496-511) means she was always a virgin. The Bible indicates Joseph and Mary had a normal marriage after Jesus was born and names His brothers and mentions sisters.

* Assumption (Catechism 966, 974) means Mary did not die, but was taken up into Heaven. Not in the Bible.

* Co-Mediator (Catechism 968-970, 2677) says we can trust her and pray to her with our cares and concerns. The Bible is very clear that Jesus Christ is our only mediator.

* Queen of Heaven (Catechism 966, 971, 2675) means she is exalted in Heaven with God. Uh no. There is one God and He has no equal or consort.

Catholic Christians are putting Mary the Mother of Jesus in places and giving her honor or characteristics that she does not deserve and cannot have as a created human being. To be honest, it is idolatry. Because of how Catholics wrongly elevate Mary to the status of equal with Jesus, most Protestant churches (that would be us!) say absolutely nothing about Mary when it comes to anything. We skip over Mary at Christmas. We shudder when we have to read Luke 1. Well, we are reading Luke 1 today!

I would like us to set aside everything we think we know or believe about Mary or have heard or whatever and let us just look at the Scriptures. Let us look at Luke 1 without any issues clouding us and have an appreciation for Truth found in Luke 1. Luke 1 is quite vast with 80 verses and the most significant portions of Luke 1 deal with Mary, the mother of Jesus.

TRANSITION

So, what do we find?

I. MARY FOUND FAVOR WITH GOD

As we begin to read about Mary in Luke 1, we find that at the very least, this woman found favor with God Almighty. I don’t know about you, but I would like to do that as well… I would like to find favor with God.

READ LUKE 1:26-33 (ESV)

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.”

In this passage we have the announcement to Mary about the birth of Jesus. Before we get too far, notice what the angel says about Jesus. First of all, His Name will be and is Jesus. In Hebrew that name is “Yeshua” which can also be translated “Joshua.” The name Jesus, which comes from the Latin word, means “God is salvation” which is quite appropriate for what Jesus would be doing with His life and His death and is descriptive about the purpose of the baby. That Name is so special that most of the time in the English-speaking world we do not usually name anyone Jesus. If you do, they become a punk rock musician and change their name to Kevin (true story).