Sunday Evening November 25, 2001 Bel Aire Baptist Church
Series: Christmas Surprises [#2]
A PREGNANT VIRGIN?
Luke 1:26-56
Introduction:
This morning we looked at 4 bad girls of the Bible that were relatives of our Savior. Tonight I want us to look at yet another Christmas Surprise.
In school I learned about a type of word combination. It is called an oxymoron. An oxymoron is a combination of contradictory words. Our title tonight is an oxymoron. “A Pregnant Virgin”. A virgin can’t be pregnant, or can she?
The Story (Luke 1:26-33)
Imagine the shock. An angel appears to you and says that the Lord favors you and is with you. This in itself makes this story hard for many to believe. Angels don’t just appear to someone, especially to a woman in this time and Jewish culture. Mary was not a wealthy woman nor was she an influential person. Why did God choose her?
The angel tells her that she is going to have a baby. Now this is not going to be just any kid. This is going to be the Messiah, the Son of God. I am sure by this point that Mary is so overwhelmed that she is not sure what to believe. Now Mary knew about the prophesied Messiah, but I am sure she was shocked that it was her that would give birth to Him.
Illustration:
There was a little boy that came home from Sunday School and his mother asked him what he had learned. The little boy said that they learned about this man named Moses that was leading some people away from the Egyptians and the Egyptians were chasing them. As they were being chased, they came to a huge river and so Moses had his men build a bridge and then all of the people crossed over. As soon as they crossed over, Moses called an air strike in and the planes blew up the bridge so that the Egyptians could not capture them. The mother asked her son, “Are you sure that is what your teacher taught you?” The little boy said, “No, that’s not what she said, but you would never believe the story she told us”.
The Shock (Luke 1:34-45)
Like this little boy said, “No one will ever believe this story”. I am sure that is one of the first things that pop up in Mary’s mind. It doesn’t take a brain scientist to figure out that a virgin cannot get pregnant. I can imagine Mary at that moment thinking, “What is Joseph going to say? What is going to happen to me? They will probably stone me to death.” Mary had every reason to think these things because Jewish Law said that the punishment for adultery was death.
The angel also tells Mary that Elizabeth is pregnant which is another miracle because of Elizabeth’s age. So now we have a pregnant virgin and a barren woman in her old age that is pregnant.
Mary leaves and goes to stay with Elizabeth and in verses 41-45 we see Elizabeth praising God.
Please notice in verse 38 and verse 45 that Mary commits her life to the Lord as His servant and then Elizabeth states once again that Mary has committed her life to God as His servant. Through all of this Mary is still praising God.
The Song (Luke 1:46-56)
In verses 46-56 we see that Mary sings a song of praise to God. I want to spend a couple of moments identifying several things about this song.
(1) Mary’s psalm of praise reveals a repeated use of the terminology and theology of the Old Testament. Virtually every commentator agrees that Mary’s praise is dripping with Old Testament allusions and references. Mary dwells on the character of God, particularly His grace, which is bestowed on the humble and the oppressed. There is also a distinct parallel with the praise of Hannah in 1 Samuel chapter 2. Some may question how a simple peasant-girl may have such a grasp of the Old Testament. All Israelites from their childhood days knew by heart songs from the Old Testament and often sang them in the home circle and at celebrations. Mary was steeped in the poetical literature of her nation, and accordingly her hymn also bears the unmistakable signs of it.
(2) Mary’s praise begins with her grateful response to the grace God has shown to her, a humble servant of the Lord. In verses 46-49, Mary praises God for His mercy as expressed toward her. She rejoices in God, who is her Savior (verse 47). While this may not refer only to the saving work, which Messiah will come to accomplish, surely it includes it. God looked upon her humble estate with compassion; consequently she will be esteemed blessed by all future generations (verse 48). God’s compassion on her has revealed both His power and His holiness (“Mighty One,” “holy is His name,” v. 49).
Mary does not in any way view herself as better or holier than anyone else. She views herself as a sinner who needs God’s salvation, and as the Lord’s servant, whose humble estate is the occasion for His mercy and grace. There is no hint that she thinks God has chosen her to be the mother of Messiah due to her blessedness, but rather that her blessedness is the result of God’s sovereign and gracious choice to use her as His instrument. In verse 48 her blessedness is viewed as the result of God’s grace.
(3) In verse 50 Mary’s praise broadens, viewing God’s grace to her as a reflection of His gracious purposes for His chosen people, Israel. God has not just singled Mary out for blessing, leaving others in their miserable estate. Mary saw her blessing as but an illustration, one instance of God’s grace, which leads her to praise God for His grace to all those who fear Him, from one generation to generation. Mary thus presses from the specific to the general, from her personal benefits to the blessings which all of God’s people (those who “fear Him”) experience.
(4) In verses 51-55, Mary’s praise focuses on the faithfulness of God to His promises and His purposes, especially His covenant with Abraham and his descendants.
(5) Mary’s praise serves as an encouragement to Elizabeth, just as Elizabeth’s praise was an encouragement to her.
(6) Mary’s praise does not focus on the child she will bear, but on the Father who is sending His Messiah.
In other words, Mary’s praise does not focus on the immediate blessedness of her having this child, but on the ultimate outcome of the coming of Messiah. She looks at the long range, not the short term. She views this event in terms of the distant past, in terms of the covenant promises of God, in terms of the history of Israel, where God’s mercy was shown on generation after generation, and in terms of the distant future, when at His second coming Messiah will set things straight. At this time the social order will under a radical and violent reversal. The lofty will be put down and the humble will be exalted (verses 51-52). The hungry will be fed and the well fed will be hungry. The poor will be helped, but the rich will be sent away (verse 53).
(7) Mary focused more on the results of Christ’s second coming than she did the first.
(8) Mary’s theology, as reflected in her “Magnificat” is vastly superior to that of the scribes and Pharisees, who would become the archenemies of our Lord. Mary did not mention the Law of Moses, the Mosaic Covenant, but only God’s promise to Abraham, the Abrahamic Covenant. Mary understood that Israel’s hope was rooted in the Abrahamic Covenant, not in the Mosaic. The scribes and Pharisees seemed as though they could only think and talk in terms of the Law of Moses. Mary viewed all of God’s dealings in the light of His grace; the religious leaders only thought in terms of human works.
Mary understood the great themes of the Old Testament, such as God’s mercy and compassion, God’s concern for the poor and the helpless. These were the themes of the Old Testament prophets. They were not, however, the themes of the scribes and Pharisees. In His rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus constantly referred to these great themes, and to the fact that legalistic Judaism violated them. Mary also understood the purposes of God as a plan, which He had been carrying out throughout Israel’s history. She viewed history in the light of this plan. The scribes and Pharisees, however, seemed only to grasp a few of the particulars, but missed the plan. They “strained the gnats” but they swallowed the camels. Mary grasped the “camels” and the religious leaders only grasped at the “gnats.”
Conclusion:
There are those who have distorted the truth of God’s word about Mary, and rather than regarding her blessed above all women, have honored her as above mankind, worshipping her and praying to her as though she were on the level of deity, or even above Messiah. This is clearly seen to be in blatant disregard for the teaching of our text. Nevertheless, others have reacted to this error by failing to see this woman as a model disciple. Let us consider some of the ways in which Mary provides us with a model of discipleship.
(1) Mary is a model disciple in her faith in the word of God, and in her submission to the will of God.
(2) Mary is a model disciple in the depth of her familiarity with the word of God. (3) Mary is a model disciple in her grasp of the grace of God, and in her gratitude toward God for bestowing grace on her.
(4) Mary is a model disciple in grasp of the social implications of the gospel.
(5) Mary is a model disciple in her grasp of the purposes and promises of God. (6) Mary is a model disciple in her evident reflection and meditation on the things of God.
(7) Mary is a model disciple in that her praise was not only a personal expression of worship, but also was edifying to Elizabeth.
What a miracle of God. God used a pregnant virgin to bring the Messiah into this world and instead of running scared she praised God.
Are you willing to allow God to use you no matter the cost to your reputation or the comfort of your life?
Mary was and I praise God that she was.
