Introduction: the first Christmas was important to many people, three in particular. Besides Baby Jesus Himself, there were Mary, His mother after the flesh; and Joseph, chosen by God to be the foster father of the Son of God (what a challenge!). This message focuses on Mary first, because there is more information about her part in this story and Luke’s gospel in particular has more of a record of what she said. It could also be that she would suffer more than most women because of her Son and what He did. Regardless, without Mary, there wouldn’t be much of a Christmas!
1 When Mary met the angel Gabriel
Text, Luke 1: 26-38, KJV: 26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible. 38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Gabriel is mentioned several times as one of God’s angels. He first appeared to Daniel (8:16, 9:21), then just a few months before this when he appeared to Zacharias the priest, telling him that he and his wife would become parents. Zacharias didn’t believe Gabriel and became mute until his son was born (compare Luke 1:18-20 with 1:59-64). After he regained his speech or voice, the song of Zacharias is a beautiful expression of praise (Luke 1:68-79).
Now he appears to Mary, and she was not expecting this (does anyone expect a visit from a heavenly messenger?)! He tells her something that either she was not expecting, or, thought it was too good to be true. In fact, Luke says she was “troubled” at his saying (“scared stiff” might be a good paraphrase) and wondered just what she was hearing. At any rate, Mary was afraid but Gabriel told her “Fear not” or “Stop fearing, Mary”—she had found favor with God!
Then Gabriel followed this by saying some of the most remarkable words ever spoken: “You will conceive, and bear a child; you’ll call Him JESUS” along with other things. In a word, he told her, “Your Child will be the MESSIAH!”
By now Mary may have gained some of her composure. She heard what Gabriel had said, and didn’t protest or say, “Ah, thanks but no thanks—why don’t you find another virgin for this?” No, she only asked something that made sense from a moral and practical standpoint. She said, “How can this be? I know not a man (or, I am not knowing a man in the marital sense)”. From this, we can determine she was at least old enough to bear a child. Would God have asked her to do this if she was too young? And, she is aware of her virginity, so that’s maybe one reason why she asked Gabriel how it would be possible for a virgin to bear a child. Ordinarily, this would not be possible: males and females both have a contribution to make before a child is conceived.
But this was not a normal situation.
Gabriel explains so beautifully, so tactfully, just what was going to happen to Mary, waiting for her approval of this situation. Isn’t it good to know, that even when God makes a choice, He gives the person a choice, too? Mary could have said No, but she didn’t. She made her choice. She gave herself to the LORD completely: “handmaid” is in late 2020 receiving a great deal of bad press but it simply means the girl, Mary in this case, was submitting her own will or choice so that God could use her to accomplish His purpose.
Then Gabriel left her, and returned to wherever the Lord had need of him. And Mary was no doubt wondering just what would happen next: to her, and to Joseph, and maybe others too.
2 When Mary met Elisabeth
Text, Luke 1:39-56, KJV: 39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. 54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; 55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. 56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.
Probably soon after Gabriel’s visit (“in those days”), Mary left Nazareth (verse 26) and came to visit Zacharias and Elisabeth. Gabriel had told Mary that her “cousin” (kinsman—they were from different tribes; Elisabeth from Levi, 1:5, and Mary from Judah) but we are not told why Mary went there and there is no need to guess why. Even Elisabeth seemed surprised to see Mary: verse 43 has Elisabeth’s expression, “Why did the mother of my Lord come to me?”
But one thing Mary and Elisabeth both noticed was that when Mary “saluted” or greeted Elisabeth, she told Mary that her unborn child leaped for joy once he heard Mary’s voice! This, by the way, should prove that unborn children are real, and really are, people. Then Elisabeth commented that Mary was blessed because she believed! This may have more than one meaning: first, Mary had believed and was, as we would say, “saved,” and second that she had believed the promises of God as mentioned by Gabriel.
After this, Mary sang one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded in Scripture. Some call this song the “Magnificat” after the first word of the Latin translation. Note some of the highlights from this song: first, Mary said her soul magnified the Lord and her spirit rejoiced in God, her Savior! She added several other things, all in praise to God and what He had done and would do in the future. Mary stayed with Elisabeth for “about three months” then returned to Nazareth.
But she wasn’t going to stay there very long. A Roman emperor was about to arrange for an Old Testament prophecy to be fulfilled!
3 When Mary arrived in Bethlehem
Text, Luke 2:1-7, KJV: 1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
Mary, and quite probably Joseph too, were no doubt content to stay in Nazareth until Mary’s Child was born. After all, she had spent three months in Judea with Elisabeth and now—well, she was probably beginning to display the signs (!) of pregnancy. Travel anywhere was either on foot, or on a cart, or on the back of an animal but I doubt this couple wanted to choose any of those options. Then as now, the closer to the birth of any woman’s child, the greater was the risk of problems if she went on a long journey. But Mary’s wishes were soon overruled by two things: one, an Emperor who ordered a census of his empire, and two, a prophecy where the Messiah was to be born.
And that place was not Nazareth. Micah 5:2 stated clearly that He was to be born in Bethlehem of Judah (apparently there was another Bethlehem somewhere else in Israel). Bethlehem-Judah was the land of Joseph’s and Mary’s ancestor David and his ancestors Boaz and Ruth. The Scriptures do not say when, how, or why Joseph and at least some of his ancestors moved to northern Israel but there he was.
Now they had to leave. The Emperor’s decree clearly stated that everyone went to his own city, and in Joseph’s and Mary’s cases, that meant Bethlehem. Again we are not told if this was to be a permanent move, or just a brief (relatively speaking) “down and back” journey after the taxing was to be completed. As an aside, some commentators observe that “taxing” wasn’t the best translation for the word in the original, which meant “registration”. The Emperor must have wanted the details on just where his subjects had originated. One commentator (A. T. Robertson, perhaps) also observed that seldom if ever did a government program ever come without fees or “taxes” of some kind. Someone wryly commented that then and now, it’s all about the money!
The text does not tell us when they left Nazareth for the trip to Bethlehem, nor how far along Mary was in her pregnancy. We can be sure there was a lot of prayer on their behalf, not only for safety (the journey might take a week, going on foot) but also for provisions when they got there. One has to admire the faith, as well as the obedience, of Mary and Joseph and no doubt many others from David’s line, and others, who traced their ancestry to Bethlehem.
But they faced one disappointment after another when they got there. Chances are, Bethlehem was no ways near ready for the influx of people coming to be “taxed” or registered in that city. Probably every spare room in every house was taken by the time Joseph and Mary got there. They could not find any suitable lodging places in town and had to settle for an “inn”. The word means “lodging place” but, perhaps mercifully, we are not told anything about the location or condition of the place.
Yet this was the place where the Son of God, the King of the Jews, the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, and the many other titles He bore and will bear, came into this world. He was not born in a palace, He was not born in a regular house, nor was He born in the presence of human relatives. Mary had been “great with child” and the days were completed.
The Baby was born.
And they were alone. The text mentions nothing about any other human companionship. Martin Luther in one of his messages spoke of this event, observing that Mary and Joseph were alone, and who if anybody was there to help her with the birth? Reading this all too brief story ought to make us weep as well as rejoice. John would write “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not (John 1:11)”. Sadly, the world still has no room for Jesus, generally speaking.
One final thought: Mary wrapped Him, Jesus, in “swaddling clothes” which according to some means strips of cloth. Dake’s Annotated Bible has a note that many, if not all, babies were wrapped almost like an Egyptian mummy; only the baby’s face would be visible. Also, the note adds that the better quality of the “clothes”, the higher the social standing of the parents. Did Mary bring anything with her to use as these “swaddling clothes”? If not, where did she get the material? No matter what, she was going to make sure her Child was comfortable and protected. A few moments later, when the shepherds came, they knew which child was the one they sought because they saw the “swaddling clothes” and the Baby, lying in a manger or feed trough. Of note, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, there is a replica of a holy land village. On display, as of about 2000, were black tents made of goat’s hair; stone houses, one modeled after a house in Capernaum (so the guide explained); and an inn, complete with a “manger”. The manger at that village was a stone block, with a section hollowed or carved measuring about six inches wide by two or three feet long. This was where the food for animals was placed.
And this was where the Son of God was placed, just after He was born. Certainly Mary and Joseph did all they could while there and we can estimate God was pleased with their efforts: there was not one word of condemnation recorded in the text.
Conclusion: Mary was a young woman, a virgin, old enough to bear a child. She was also a believer in God; much like Abraham had believed God many years before. Gabriel came to her, assured her everything was going to be part of God’s plan and program, and Mary agreed to do her part. Did she guess what she would endure? If she did, she stayed strong and true and gave birth to her firstborn Son, Jesus, the Messiah, and the Savior of the World!
Certainly none of us are going to be asked to do anything like this. Christ Jesus was born, He lived, He died, and He rose again from the dead. Mary did her part to fulfill God’s plan; I hope each one of us will do our part to fulfill God’s plan as well.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
