Micah 5:2-5, Psalm 80:1-7, Hebrews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-55.
A). THE DELIVERER.
Micah 5:2-5.
In Micah 3 a threat was made against the judges and rulers of Israel. In Micah 5:1 we are reminded that the judge, or leader, would be smitten upon the cheek. This also has Messianic overtones, of Jesus the ultimate judge, prince and ruler being smitten on our behalf.
That thought is carried forward in the following verse:
‘But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting’
(Micah 5:2).
Bethlehem was a small City in Judah.
Here Rachel, who had once said to her doting husband Jacob, "Give me a son, or I die!" was buried after her death giving birth to her second son and his twelfth, Benjamin. It was here that Rachel was metaphorically heard weeping for her children when they were carried into exile, and for the massacred innocents under King Herod.
Amongst those buried in Bethlehem, was the Judge (literally Saviour) Ibzan.
To here the widow Naomi returned from Moab with her widowed daughter-in-law Ruth, and here Ruth found her kinsman-redeemer in the person of Boaz.
In Bethlehem the young David was anointed King. Bethlehem was where David had fed his father's sheep.
This City was once a stronghold of the Philistines, from whence David's mighty men drew water which he poured out as a drink-offering to the LORD.
The City was fortified by Rehoboam for the defence of Judah.
To Bethlehem some of the people fled at the time of the upheavals of the exile: Bethlehemites were also amongst those numbered as returning from exile.
To Bethlehem went a young couple during the census in the days of Caesar Augustus. There was born, "a Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord." Laid in a manger, he would have known the company of creatures of His creation.
Angels acknowledged Him, and shepherds worshipped Him. The wicked sought to destroy Him, for our kinsman-redeemer drew near. The very heavens which He had created led wise men to Him.
And the wise still seek Him in a day when He may be found. Not a child in a manger, but the very birth of God within our hearts.
Bethlehem is, after all, no mean City.
In Micah 4:9 the people of God had been encouraged to think of their troubles like a woman’s labour. It is painful at the time, but the end result is cause for rejoicing.
The image is taken up again in Micah 5:3: they will be given up until she that travaileth brings forth. There is more than a veiled reference to the birth of Jesus here. Then, says the writer, “the remnant of His brethren shall return.”
The imagery of Bethlehem, of David, of leadership all finds its ultimate expression in the person of Jesus. It is He who shall stand and feed His people “in the strength of the LORD” (Micah 5:4). He is the great shepherd of His sheep.
‘Peace’ had been glib upon the lips of the false prophets. However, the only assurance of peace against the Assyrians in Micah’s near future resided in the One who was to come (Micah 5:5).
So it is for us. He is our peace, and He gives us the peace which the world cannot give. Through His under-shepherds and principal men the kingdom of the gospel ultimately prevails over the Empire-building of men, from Nimrod who built the first city (Micah 5:6), through the Assyrians and Babylonians, to our own day.
B). TURN US, SHINE FORTH, SAVE US.
Psalm 80:1-7.
Belief in the God of Israel is not blind faith, but an informed trust. One expression of our confidence that the LORD is in control of all things is to make our complaints known to Him. In Psalm 80 the writer bemoans the plight of the divided tribes of Israel, and boldly expresses his perplexity at God’s dealings with them.
The Psalmist uses two metaphors: that of God as shepherd (Psalm 80:1-7; Psalm 80:17-19), and that of Israel as a vine (Psalm 80:8-16). Both of these Jesus applies to Himself (John 10:11; John 10:14; John 15:1). He as the God-man embraces both.
Asaph begins his prayer with an appeal that God will hear (Psalm 80:1). Sometimes our Shepherd seems distant, and deaf to our cries. We might need, like the Psalmist, to remind ourselves just who He is - “the one who dwells between the cherubim” - and what He has done on behalf of His church in the past (1 Samuel 7:12).
It is customary to think of our salvation as a single event, ‘when I got saved’. In one sense this is true, but it is also an ongoing event in our lives. The changes and so-called chances of life may present us with new problems as we grow from one level in our Christianity to another, so we need to call on God anew to continue His saving work within us (Psalm 80:2).
There is a refrain throughout the Psalm, growing in intensity and boldness. The appeal for our restoration is first addressed to “God” (Psalm 80:3), then to “God of hosts” (Psalm 80:7), and finally to the “LORD God of hosts” (Psalm 80:19). The prayer that God’s face would shine upon us reminds us of the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24-26), and of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ transfiguration.
There is a picture in the Hebrew language of the LORD “fuming” against the prayers of His people (Psalm 80:4): “How long You fume?” This may not be anger on God’s part, but rather an expression of the Psalmist’s frustration that his prayers seem unable to penetrate the cloud of God’s glory. Sometimes our prayers might seem to reach no higher than the ceiling: nevertheless we must still pray, and tell Him about it!
This Psalm is different to another great Shepherd song, Psalm 23. There the LORD sets a table before us, but here He allegedly feeds us with the bread of tears (Psalm 80:5). God is unchangeable, but our experience of His Providence may vary from time to time.
Sometimes our neighbours bring us strife, or our enemies laugh at us (Psalm 80:6). Or, as Jesus warned us, a man’s foes may be those of his own household (Matthew 10:36). The solution is the same: we must look to Him to shine upon us, “turn us” and save us (Psalm 80:3; Psalm 80:7; Psalm 80:19) - and “return” to us (Psalm 80:14).
C). LO, I COME.
Hebrews 10:5-10.
The Old Testament tabernacle was appointed by God, and patterned upon the realities of heaven (Hebrews 8:5). The law was written with the finger of God, but only served to reveal man’s inadequacy (Romans 3:20). The sacrifices were required by the LORD, but they had served their purpose in shadowing forth the ultimate sacrifice of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19).
Now it was time to move on to new and better things (Hebrews 7:19; Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 8:13; Hebrews 11:39-40). The “fullness of time” had come (Galatians 4:4-5), and the Son of God was waiting in the wings to fulfil all that the sacrifices had represented. The little passage before us follows the epitaph of the Old Testament sacrificial system: “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin” (Hebrews 10:4; see also Hebrews 10:6; Hebrews 10:8).
The answer to this deficiency came out from the borders of heaven (Hebrews 10:5). With the words of Psalm 40:6-8 upon His lips, Jesus was already on His way. He was heard announcing the incarnation: “a body You have prepared for me … Lo, I come” (Hebrews 10:5; Hebrews 10:7).
It is by “the body of Christ” that we become “dead to the law” (Romans 7:4). “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Mary’s child, Jesus, was also known as “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).
Jesus also said, “In the volume of the book it is written of me” (Hebrews 10:7). His name is, in effect, the heading of the scroll. After the resurrection, Jesus opened up the Scriptures to show His disciples “the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27; Luke 24:44-45).
He added, “Lo, I come to do Your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:9). Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10) - yet it was also His prayer. He echoed this in the Garden of Gethsemane: “not my will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
The Lord takes away the Old Testament to establish the New, “by the body of Jesus Christ” (Hebrews 10:9-10). The incarnation had its foundation in the love of God (John 3:16). It was the beginning of the Lord’s own self-sacrifice, which would lead all the way to Calvary (Philippians 2:6-8).
John the Baptist recognised Jesus as “the Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). John the Evangelist writes that “He was manifested to take away our sins” (1 John 3:5). It is by this outworking of God’s will that we are saved and sanctified (Hebrews 10:10).
The “body of Jesus Christ” is the bridge between heaven and earth.
D). THE SONG OF ELIZABETH.
Luke 1:39-45.
The angel Gabriel told the virgin Mary that her hitherto barren cousin Elizabeth was pregnant, because “with God, nothing is impossible” (Luke 1:37). Mary's reaction to this news was to leave Nazareth, and to go into the hill country to the city where her cousin was residing (Luke 1:39). Mary, as we know, also had some news of her own for Elizabeth – but how would she explain it to the older woman?
When Elizabeth heard Mary's voice two things happened. The babe in her womb leapt - “for joy,” she tells us (Luke 1:44) - and she was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied (Luke 1:41-42). The words of Elizabeth's welcome confirmed that there was no need for Mary to explain her own pregnancy.
Elizabeth spoke out in a loud voice (Luke 1:42). When we have something to say, we need to say it. You have good news? Spread it. You have enlightenment? Don't hide your light under the bed. You have heard a joyful sound? Be swift to share it with others. We need not mumble truths that are at once wonderful, and relevant.
Elizabeth's words, of course, are well known. She called Mary “blessed” (Luke 1:42). Whatever did she mean?
There are different kinds of blessing. Paul says in Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” There is one kind of blessing whereby God has blessed us, which adds something to us, and another kind of blessing whereby we “bless” God in return. We are returning thanks, but we add nothing to Him.
The younger woman is called “blessed” by Elizabeth because Mary was carrying a blessed fruit in her womb (Luke 1:43). Mary is the human mother of the incarnate Lord. Only in this sense is she the “mother of God.”
Mary was bearing the source of all blessings within her. He who is the eternal Lord became man in the Person of Jesus, and Mary was blessed to bear Him. The man of God's right hand continues hereafter as both God and man in one Person forever, able to “lay His hand upon both” (Job 9:32-33).
In her unique situation, Mary had already been pronounced “blessed among women” by Gabriel (Luke 1:28). However Mary's blessedness, as ours, resides in personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 1:45). There is a blessedness shared in common with all believers, but the form that our blessings take will differ from person to person. All are equally a free gift of God's grace.
How do we know that we have God's blessing? How do we prove our faith? For Mary, if she needed any proof, there was the fulfilment of the things which had been promised to her (Luke 1:45).
Mary's own song first of all magnifies not herself, but the Lord (Luke 1:46). He is her Saviour just as surely as he is Saviour to any who turn to God through Him (Luke 1:47). She acknowledges her own lowliness (Luke 1:48; Luke 1:52). She celebrates the covenant-keeping God (Luke 1:49-55), and finds in Him her blessedness (Luke 1:48).
Wherein lies our own blessedness? Not in Mary, blessed as she is; but in the fruit of her womb, Jesus (Luke 1:42).
E). THE SONG OF MARY.
Luke 1:46-55.
I) Context.
A young woman, betrothed but not married, had a visitation from an angel and was pronounced “blessed amongst women” (Luke 1:28). In what way was Mary blessed? Well, she had “found favour with God” (Luke 1:30): Mary was going to be the mother of the Messiah (Luke 1:31-33).
Mary’s cousin’s husband, the priest Zachariah, had doubted the angel when he was told that his barren wife was going to bear the forerunner (Luke 1:18). The old man was struck dumb (Luke 1:20), and went home and hid himself (Luke 1:23). For her part, Mary did not disbelieve the angel, but wondered (Luke 1:34).
It is interesting to notice the different tone of Gabriel towards the priest, who should have known better (Luke 1:19-20), and the young woman who believed (Luke 1:35-37). Sometimes it is Christian professors who are slowest to acknowledge what God is doing in the midst of His people. Be careful, or the blessing may pass you by.
Already a believer, Mary submitted herself to the word of God (Luke 1:38). If we love Jesus, we will willingly surrender our souls and bodies to Him. Our faith is demonstrated not so much in what we say, but in our obedience to Him (James 2:18).
Mary also made haste to the house of Zachariah in the countryside. It may have been prudent to get out of town for a while, and to consult her godly cousin Elizabeth. More likely, the younger woman wished to congratulate Elizabeth.
There she was greeted by the older woman, who was immediately aware of Mary’s situation from the forerunner’s leap of joy in her own womb (Luke 1:41). Filled with the Holy Spirit, and in a loud voice, Elizabeth proclaimed three ways in which Mary was “blessed” (Luke 1:42; Luke 1:45). How can we mumble about these things when God has put a new song in our hearts?
Mary was again pronounced “blessed among women” (Luke 1:42). The fruit of her womb (Jesus) is also blessed. And Mary is blessed, says Elizabeth, as the one that believed (Luke 1:45), in contrast, no doubt, to Zachariah’s incredulity.
II) Text.
1. Mary immediately turned the focus away from herself to the Lord (Luke 1:46-47). This anticipates John the Baptist, who always pointed away from himself to Jesus (John 3:30). We should follow this example: we should glorify the Lord in our “soul” with our understanding, will, emotions and desires; whilst in the “spirit” of the new man we rejoice in God.
2. Far from exalting herself, Mary confessed her lowliness, and recognised that she was nothing without the blessing of God (Luke 1:48). This is the stance of the Christian: we are nothing, and can do nothing without Jesus (John 15:5). However, with God, nothing is impossible to us (Luke 1:37; Matthew 17:20).
3. Mary accepted the work of God within her, and acknowledged His holiness (Luke 1:49). Gratitude plays a big part in all true Christian prayer. We must count our blessings, and be thankful (Lamentations 3:22-23).
4. Mary contrasted the plight of the wicked with the blessedness of God’s people (Luke 1:51-53). Those who satiate themselves with the things of this world are sent away with nothing but woe (Luke 1:53; cf. Luke 6:24-25). Those who yearn after the things of God receive the blessing (Matthew 5:6).
5. Mary remembered the covenant mercy of God (Luke 1:50; Luke 1:54-55; cf. Exodus 20:6). God’s mercy extends to generations of those who reverence Him. Through the One who was conceived within her the promise that Abraham would be a blessing to the nations was about to be fulfilled (Genesis 12:1-3).
III) Conclusion.
Mary called God her Saviour (Luke 1:47). However, Jesus shares in the attributes and titles of God (Luke 2:11). He is indeed Emanuel, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Amen.
