“MARY’S ASSIGNMENT” Luke 1:26-38
FBCF – 12/14/25
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Most downloaded Scripture in 2025 on YouVersion Bible app – Isa. 41:10 (slide) What are you afraid of today? Your greatest source of fear? I want to invite you to bring that thing to the Lord today, b/c when God shows up, fear diminishes. Words “Fear not” heard different times in the story of Jesus’ birth:
- The “fear not” of salvation – Luke 2:10-11 – “Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for ALL people. For unto you is born…a Savior…”
- The “fear not” of unanswered prayer – Luke 1:13 – “Fear not, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard…”
- The “fear not” of immediate obedience (b/c delayed obedience is disobedience) – Matthew 1:20, 24 – “Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary to be your wife…When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him…”
- The “fear not” of the humanly impossible – Luke 1:30-31 – “And the angel said to her, ‘Fear not, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.’”
“From the very beginning, God’s heart has been to draw people close. The prophets pointed to His coming. The angels announced His birth. The shepherds ran to see Him. The wise men followed the light until it led them to worship. And today, His Spirit still calls out in the middle of our darkness: Come and see. Come and find Me.” (“Light of the World” – YouVersion devo)
This is why we are here today. As the Holy Spirit moves & works in this place & in our lives today, I want to invite you to come & see Jesus – invite you to come find Jesus.
- Like the OT prophets, we are pointing to Jesus as the one & only Messiah, the Chosen One to bring the message of salvation into the world, the One who is the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
- Like the angels, we are announcing Him to you as the “Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
- Like the shepherds, we are inviting you to run to Him.
- Like the wise men, we exhort you to fall down before Him & worship Him like you have never done in any previous Christmas season.
All of them – the prophets, angels, shepherds, & wise men – had their assignment given to them by Almighty God. All important – All essential – All unique to them.
And someone else had a God-given assignment that changed the world forever – “Mary’s Assignment”
EXPLANATION – Luke 1:26-38 (855)
4 parts of this familiar passage:
GABRIEL’S MESSAGE – v. 26-33 – “angel” – “messenger” – “Gabriel” – “God is great.” This heavenly messenger whose very name proclaims the greatness of God had some great news to bring to Mary. What an honor to be the one chosen to deliver this message from God Almighty to a virgin girl named Mary who was probably 15-16 yrs old.
After he calmed her down, he shared God’s miraculous msg:
- Miraculous GRACE – “favor” – charis – unmerited favor – God giving you that which you do no deserve
- Miraculous conception – She had not been intimate w/ Joseph or any other man
- Miraculous birth – At this point, she didn’t know it would be in a stable in Bethlehem
- Miraculous child – JESUS – His very name means, “The Lord is salvation.”
MARY’S QUESTION – v. 34 – Legit question based on simply biology & the human reproductive process that God created. CSB puts it a little more bluntly: “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” She knew that God’s plan has always been that a man & a woman come together intimately only after they are married. And sexual intimacy is a wonderful gift from Him that has been grossly distorted in every way possible in our world – but that’s a whole other sermon for another day.
GABRIEL’S ANSWER – v. 35-37 – Simply put: It’s gonna be a God-thing! The Holy Spirit would “overshadow” her – Gk for “overshadow” - a divine, powerful, cloud-like presence or influence of God's power. Not some bizarre type of mating, but the simple, powerful, life-changing, history-altering presence of God. When His presence shows up, things change in our lives!
MARY’S SUBMISSION – v. 38 – NIV 84 – “May it be to me as you have said.” In other words: “Done! I’m all in! Let’s go! I’m surrendering to you. I’m yielding to you. I don’t have to understand it all b/c I know that, if you have said it & you want me in it, then it’s the right thing. So let it be done.”
She accepted her assignment from God. And in doing so, she set an amazing example for us to follow today. Can YOU say those words to the Lord today? – “May it be to be as you have said.” Are YOU all in on God’s plans for your life? Have you completely surrendered to His plans? Are you living completely yielded to His Word? You don’t have to understand everything, but are you obeying the things that you DO understand? Are you willing to accept His assignment for YOUR life?
APPLICATION – God’s assignments have eternal implications.
Look at the results of Mary’s submission to God’s assignment:
IT BROUGHT LIGHT INTO A DARK WORLD – Isaiah 9:2 – “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” Darkness in Scripture is equated to spiritual ignorance – people all around us simply don’t know about Jesus & the gift of salvation He brings. Darkness also refers to willful rejection & rebellion against Jesus. There are people all around us – even in this room & watching this service who KNOW that Jesus is the light of the world, & yet choose to continue to walk in the darkness & death of their sin.
Darkness is dangerous – depressing – disorienting – distressing – And when Mary fulfilled her assignment & gave birth to that baby boy in Bethlehem, the TRUE Light had come. John 1:9 – “The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” (NLT) Albert Mohler: “We rightly point to Christ’s birth as the central event of human history–the dividing line between the age of darkness & the age of light. This is reason enough to celebrate Christmas, for our response to this gift of light must be a celebration, thanksgiving, & rejoicing.” (https://albertmohler.com/2011/12/24/those-who-walk-in-darkness-have-seen-a-great-light-the-wonder-of-christmas/#:~:text=The%20image%20of%20light%20is,of%20the%20Light%20of%20life.)
Phoenix lights turned off – This Light – the TRUE Light – will never be turned off. It will never go out, never burn out, never go dark. He has come into this dark world to light the way to the Father
IT BROUGHT BREAD INTO A HUNGRY WORLD – Bethlehem – “house of bread” – It became the breadbasket of salvation for all people. When Mary fulfilled her assignment & Jesus was born, the Bread of Life came into the world. There’s no excuse or reason for anyone to die of spiritual hunger b/c Jesus said in John 6:35 – “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again…” (NLT)
People are hungry today – for answers, direction, hope, meaning, purpose in life. They want truth that they can sink their teeth into. That’s why we preach the Gospel of Jesus unashamedly & unapologetically. Sometimes our hunger will drive us to places & practices that end up leaving them even hungrier. Hunger brings a sense of desperation, physically & spiritually. It’s ok to be hungry spiritually as long as you let that hunger drive you to the only One who can satisfy you completely & eternally – Jesus! I hope & pray that you are spiritually FAMISHED today b/c then & only then will you discover that ONLY JESUS TRULY SATISFIES!
IT BROUGHT THE WAY INTO A LOST WORLD – The lostness of our world is staggering. So many people are wandering in darkness, stumbling in hunger, looking for a way out of their hopelessness. Deep down they know there’s a way & they’re searching for it.
When Mary fulfilled her assignment, she gave birth to the ONLY One who is THE Way. His very name means that He is the Way to salvation. From His first cry in the manger to His last breath on the cross, He pointed to Himself as the Way to eternal life & the Way to abundant life (John 14:6).
CONCLUSION – Mary was obedient to the Lord & fulfilled her assignment. What about you?
- If you’re stumbling around in darkness scared to death right now, obey Him & come to Jesus now!
- If you’re starving spiritually right now, obey Him & come to Jesus right now!
- If you’re lost & need to be saved, obey Him & come to Jesus right now!
Mary said, “I’m in! Let’s go!” It’s time for you to say the same thing! Your obedience has eternal implications.
