Luke 1:26-38 – Mary, Did You Know?
Today we are continuing our series on fear at Christmas time. In the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke, there are 4 times when people are told specifically not to be afraid. Last week we looked at Zechariah, and this week we are looking at Mary. Let’s read the story from Luke 1:26-38.
Now, you can see that Mary’s 1st response to the angel showing up was subdued. I mean, last week we saw how Zechariah, an old man, was terrified of the heavenly messenger. But Mary, a young teenage girl, wasn’t terrified. She seemed more questioning of the angel’s appearance than scared by it.
The angel shared good news with Mary. He said she was highly favoured, that God had chosen her to be part of His wonderful plans. The angel said that the Lord was with her. Now, this is important. Mary most certainly needed to know that the Lord was with her. She needed to know that what was going to happen was part of God’s plans.
Which is why Gabriel told Mary not to be afraid. Because Mary’s life was about to be turned upside-down forever. And that’s never an easy thing to handle.
Generally, change is hard. Positive changes we generally welcome. A better job, a new relationship, an improvement of some kind in our lives. But even then, a change comes with certain difficulties. Getting used to the new thing takes time. Getting married is wonderful, but then you have to give up half the bed. It’s a welcome change, but it’s still a change that takes some getting-used-to.
Now, picture Mary’s changes. She was engaged to a good man, Joseph. They were going to be married. Back then, an engagement was practically as binding as a marriage. To end an engagement was the same as divorce.
So then the angel showed up and told her she was going to have a baby. That would be stunning enough. Let’s pause there for a moment. Even if girls got married as teenagers back then, and it was expected, you tell her she’s pregnant out of wedlock, too. Nowadays, it’s shameful. Then it was disgraceful. Nowadays it’s sad. Then it was considered sinful.
Mary was entering a whole new world by becoming pregnant. That was a change that she seemed to embrace well, but the angel still told her not to be afraid over it. Mary’s plans for her life and for her family were changed forever by the announcement that she would have a baby.
As if that weren’t enough. As if hearing the news that you were going to have a baby isn’t life-changing enough. Throw in the fact that it was impossible for her. She was a virgin. She had never been with a man. Now, that’s even more of a shock. There’s the shock that she was having a baby out of wedlock, but there’s the shock of being impossibly pregnant.
On top of it all, we must not forget the main point of the story: the shock of being pregnant with the Son of God. That’s what this is about. This is about Jesus coming to earth. You see, Mary’s plans weren’t being changed just for the sake of change. It wasn’t some whim or flight of fancy. Mary’s plans were being changed because it was for the greater good. It was for everybody’s good. Even if the changes were not going to be 100% pleasant, they were certainly good.
I think of the Chronicles of Narnia. The King, the lion Aslan, is returning to the fantasy world of Narnia. When he returns, he will set the world right. There’s an old saying, “Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”
But the question is, is he dangerous? Well, yes. He is. I mean, have you ever met a tame lion? He most certainly is not safe. But, he’s good. He’s not safe, but he’s good.
I think that describes God’s plans too. They are not always safe. They will sometimes lead us into dangerous places. Missionaries go to unsafe places. Many of the early explorers were believers, and they entered unsafe places. Many believers over the years have lost their lives because they were willing to follow their faith in unsafe places, like Communist regimes, radical Muslim countries, or extreme Hindu nations. Look: if you think that following God’s plans will always lead you to green pastures and beside still waters, you’re in for a shock. God’s plans are not always safe.
But they are good. God’s plans for Mary’s life were good. She was favoured. The Lord was with her. She had found favour with God. You can see the excitement in Mary’s voice as she sang her song that we call the Magnificat, in Luke 1:46-55. She was excited to be part of God’s plans. She took the angel’s words to heart when he said, “Don’t be afraid.”
But I take you to Simeon’s words in Luke 2:35 when he said to Mary, “And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Simeon knew that Mary was going to have a rough time in being the mother of the Son of God.
You see, there were prophecies. There were almost as many prophecies about a suffering Messiah as there were about a kingly Messiah. The people were excited about the Messiah coming to rule, but they didn’t piece it together that the Messiah would also go through torment, too.
Psalm 22 shows us so much about Jesus’ life. V1: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
v7-8 describe the events at the cross: All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."
V17-18: “I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”
And you throw in Psalm 69:21, which says, “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” These Psalms give a good picture of Jesus’ suffering.
Zechariah 11:12 mentions Judas’ betrayal: “So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.” Zech 12:10 says these words of God: “They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” And Zech 13:7 says, “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”
Daniel 9:26, speaking of the Messiah, says, “the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.” The word Messiah is the same word in Hebrew for the Greek word Christ, which means Anointed One. Clearly, Daniel saw the rejection of the Christ in his prophecy.
And Isaiah is chock-full of words concerning the suffering Messiah. 50:6 says, “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.”
52:14 says, “Just as there were many who were appalled at him – his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness.”
And 53:1-10 is so clear a passage about Jesus. It says, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”
You see, this is the sword that would pierce Mary’s heart. Her firstborn would suffer this fate, and she would see it. Is this safe? Is this pleasant? No, of course not.
But is it good? Yes, most definitely. It was good for us that Jesus suffered, because it is through His suffering that we find forgiveness. The angel told Mary not to fear God’s plans for her life. “Don’t be afraid of how God will do His will in your life,” Gabriel told her. Perhaps he would say the same thing to us. Don’t be afraid of what God wants to do in your life. Don’t be afraid of how His plans are changing yours.
In Let’s Roll: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage, Lisa Beamer, whose husband died as a hero on Sept.11, 2001, reflects on the loss of her dad. She says, “Slowly, I began to understand that the plans God has for us don’t just include “good things”, but the whole array of human events. The “prospering” he talks about in the book of Jeremiah is often the outcome of a bad event. I remember my mom saying that many people look for miracles – things that in their human minds “fix” the situation. Many miracles, however, are not a change to the normal course of human events; they’re found in God’s ability and desire to sustain and nurture people through even the worst situations. Somewhere along the way, I stopped demanding that God fix the problems in my life and started to be thankful for his presence as I endured them.”
So what of your plans does God seem to be changing? What is not turning out the way you wanted? What is God leading you to do that you just don’t want to do? What is happening that you don’t know if you have the courage to handle?
I tell you, don’t be afraid. Things may not turn out the way you expected or wanted, but if you let God do His thing, things will turn out good. Maybe not safe, maybe not easy, but good. His plans for your life are to be prosperous, but that doesn’t exclude painful along the way.
So what fear do you need to surrender to Him today? Fear of a new job or new home? Fear of the future and all that it holds? Fear of loneliness, fear of failure? What changes are you afraid of? I encourage you to spend some time talking to God about them in particular, and ask Him for strength to do the right thing anyway.
