In Jesus Holy Name December 19, 2021
Text: Luke 1:39,56 Redeemer
“Two Miracles, Two Expecting”
Some of you had the good fortune of attending a baby shower last Sunday after church. Baby showers are joyous occasions. Everyone celebrates the advent of the little one that will soon to enter our world. We rejoice with the mother, father and grandparents. Stories are told. And there will be laughter. (Idea from Rev. Mary Erickson Sermon Central 2018)
“Expecting” is the word we use when a woman is pregnant. “She’s expecting!” What exactly is she expecting? Joy, and so much more!!! Parents are expecting this new and unique creation. They’re expecting that there will be new duties thrust upon them as parents. They’re expecting a change in the balance of the family system. In short, they’re expecting their whole world to change. And then remembering their own past, I’m not sure they will look forward to the “teen” years to come. But a new baby usually blocks those future teen year thoughts out.
In today’s gospel reading, we encounter two expectant mothers-to-be. Elizabeth and Mary, both are both pregnant. To begin with, both of their pregnancies were a surprise.
Luke tells us that Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah were unable to have children. Which in Jewish culture meant people wondered why God was punishing them. Zechariah could have solved the problem by divorcing Elizabeth, a common practice in that day. But he did not divorce her. That speaks about his love for her. Both had endured the whispers in public settings and the looks of pity from the kind-hearted. His support was unwavering.
One day Zechariah is serving incense in the temple. Don’t pass by that little detail. Historians tell us there were perhaps 20,000 priests in Israel in the first century. They were organized into 24 divisions, each serving twice a year, one week at a time. The highest honor was to bring incense into the Holy Place where it would be sprinkled on the burning coals on the golden altar. It was such a high privilege that a priest would perform that ceremony once in his life.
This was Zechariah’s day. It was not an accident that his number came up. God had a surprise waiting. In that holy moment as he was burning the incense, an angel shows up. It had been 400 years since there had been an official word from the Lord. Gabriel shows up and makes a promise, but Zechariah doubted!
Six months later, Gabriel makes a visit to a teenage girl in Nazareth named Mary. He promised that she would become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. The angel surprised her suddenly making a series of incredible announcements (Luke 1:31-33):
• You will conceive and bear a son.
• You will call his name Jesus.
• He will be great.
• He will be called the Son of the Most High.
• He will rule over the house of Jacob forever.
• His kingdom will never end.
The angel adds two other facts:
• Remember how Elizabeth got pregnant.
• Nothing is impossible with God.
When the angel finished his announcement, Mary reaction was different. “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34) Later she said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).
Zechariah wanted proof. Mary wanted understanding. Zechariah knew that young couples have children, old couples do not. Zechariah should have remembered His bible stories, especially the one of Abraham and Sarah. God knows what he is doing. The news was just so unexpected for both families.
Luke tells us that Mary went to visit her Aunt and Uncle in Bethlehem. We are not sure why Mary’s parents decided to have her visit her aunt Elizabeth, but we could guess the conversations. Maybe they were worried about what neighbors would think? More than likely Mary’s parents knew of the angel’s visit to Zechariah and Elizabeth. Whatever worries Mary’s parents had it was still a good idea to have her visit relatives in Bethlehem, the proposed marriage to Joseph was still a ways off.
God knows what he is doing, but Joseph did not. Once Joseph discovers the news that Mary is expecting he struggles with the decision to continue with the marriage or give her a divorce. It was then that Joseph was also surprised by the unexpected. He had a dream about Mary and her expectant child. He puts away the divorce papers and takes Mary as his wife.
From God’s point of view, history is His story, it is the record of God’s dealings with the human race.
Here’s the Reader’s Digest version of what history is all about. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He then placed Adam and Eve on the earth and made them stewards over the whole planet. But when they disobeyed, they surrendered their stewardship into the hands of Satan, the fallen angel. From that day until this, the whole world has been the domain of Satan. Michael Heiser in his book “The Unseen Realm” notes: “The only perfect Being is God. This is why things could and did go wrong in the Garden of Eden.” (P. 59)
It is still God’s world by creation. But Satan usurped God’s authority and set up a counter-kingdom to challenge the kingdom of God. From that day until this, the earth has been the central battlefield in a war between those two competing kingdoms. The Apostle John writes in Revelation (12:17) that after Satan failed in his attempt to use King Herod to kill the child of Mary and Joseph, “he went off to make war against those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the teachings of Jesus.”
Whether you read Michal Hieser’s book: The Unseen Realm” or Leonard Sweet’s book “Jesus, A Theophany” they all make the same point that once the world fell into enemy hands, God planned to win it back at any cost. His plan moved into action with the angel’s visit to two women both surprised with an unexpected pregnancy.
For centuries, God had been sending his message through kings and prophets and priests and poets. It meant raising up an entire nation, of Israel, through whom He would bless the earth. But ultimately it meant that He had to enter the conflict Himself. In order to take the world back from Satan, God entered the human race in the person of his Son, Jesus, He is the reason Mary was expecting.
Some once wrote: “ God declared war at Bethlehem.” It is a good truth.
Ever since Eden, a battle has been raging between God and Satan for control of planet earth. When Adam and Eve sinned, Satan struck a blow for evil. From that time until this very hour, sin and death has reigned in every corner of this planet and has found a home in every human heart. All the pain and suffering we see around us–every bit of it–can be traced back to that fateful moment in the Garden of Eden.
At Bethlehem God launched a mighty counteroffensive that started with a tiny baby boy named Jesus, born in an usual circumstance , to a young couple who at traveled to Bethlehem. The world had no idea what God was up to. Only in retrospect do we understand. (thoughts from a sermon by Ken Pritchard Luke 1:26-33 December 26, 2018)
Both expectant mothers had their baby’s. One was named John, the other Jesus. Jesus came to an imperfect world filled with imperfect people who thought imperfect thoughts and said imperfect things and did imperfect deeds. Jesus came, according to God's plan and promise, "When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law." (Gal. 4:4)
After the baptism of Jesus the Holy Spirit placed Jesus in the wilderness to challenge Satan over God’s divine authority and rule. (Note: I just wrote a great bible study on the temptations of Jesus and this battle. It is on our web site) Jesus cast out demons. He healed the blind. He cured those with leprosy. He battled Satan on the cross and shattered Satan’s hold on death by rising with a glorified body on Easter.
Jesus' entire life was dedicated to doing all that was necessary to forgive our sins, save our souls. He was true God, and perfect human being, so that He might fulfill the law of God. Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul: Colossians 1:19-20 (read)
Josh McDowell in his book “Evidence that Demands A Verdict” wrote:
“Two thousand years ago, a man was born contrary to the laws of life. He lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity. He was the child of a peasant woman and worked in a carpenter’s shop until he was 30. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. (His miracles demonstrated God’s power over sickness, demons and death.) He never owned a home, never wrote a book, never held public office. He never went to college and never set foot in a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born.
In his infancy He startled a king; in childhood He puzzled doctors; in manhood He ruled the course of nature, walked upon the (waves of the sea) as if on pavement, and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His service.
The names of past leaders have long been forgotten. The great men of Greece and Rome are dusty names in the library of time. Scientists, philosophers, kings, generals and theologians have come and gone, but the name of this Man abounds more and more. The name of Jesus remains.
He stands alone on the highest pinnacle of heavenly glory, proclaimed of God, acknowledged by angels, adored by saints, and feared by devils, as the living, personal Christ, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Savior of the world. This is who we celebrate this Christmas. His name is Jesus.
