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December 5, 2010
The Good News as Told to Mary
By Samuel E. Ward
Introduction
The Purpose: To find truths in the stories of those who received the Good News of Jesus' birth that also relate to how we ought to respond to the same news today.
I. Mary and the Good News
A. The Scripture:
(Luke 1:26-38 NIV) In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, {27} to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. {28} The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." {29} Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. {30} But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. {31} You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. {32} He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, {33} and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." {34} "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" {35} The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. {36} Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. {37} For nothing is impossible with God." {38} "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
B. The Messenger: Gabriel (Hebrew = "man, or hero of God")
1. The first appearance of Gabriel in Scripture was to explain to Daniel certain end-time events with information about the destiny of Mary's child "the coming Prince of princes," Dan 8.
(Dan 8:16, 23-25 NIV) "In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a stern-faced king, a master of intrigue, will arise. {24} He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men and the holy people. {25} He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power."
2. The second appearance of Gabriel in Scripture was to explain to Daniel the 70 weeks vision concerning the judgment of the world and the completion of the Anointed One's ministry.
a. The ministry of the Anointed One
(Dan 9:24 NIV) "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy."
b. The appearance of the Anointed One
(Dan 9:25 NIV) "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble."
c. The "cutting off" (death) of the Anointed One
(Dan 9:26 NIV) After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
3. The third appearance of Gabriel in the Scriptures was to explain to Mary about the significance of the child she was to bear minus some of the details given to Daniel.
(Luke 1:26-33 NIV) In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, {27} to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. {28} The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." {29} Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. {30} But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. {31} You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. {32} He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, {33} and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
C. The Location: Nazareth, a town in Galilee (a week's journey of about 80 miles)
Nazareth was located in lower Galilee about halfway between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea. It lay in the hill country north of the Plain of Esdraelon. The hills formed a natural basin with three sides, but open toward the south. The city was on the slopes of the basin, facing east and southeast. Cana was about five miles to the northeast. A Roman road from Capernaum westward to the coast passed near Nazareth. It was a small village in Jesus' day, having only one spring to supply fresh water to its inhabitants.
Nazareth did not possess a good reputation, as reflected in the question of Nathanael, himself a Galilean (John 1:46). The early church received similar scorn as the Nazarene sect (Acts 24:5). Such lack of respect was likely due to an unpolished dialect, a lack of culture, and quite possibly a measure of irreligion and moral laxity.
Holman Bible Dictionary, "Nazareth"
D. The Recipient: Mary
1. She was a virgin.
Matthew makes this fact significant by recording Gabriel's statement to Joseph later that the baby would not be conceived through a human father but by the Holy Spirit. He will be "God with us, Immanuel." The prophecy being fulfilled was made by Isaiah in Isaiah 7:14 with a double reference. The first reference was to a child born in King Ahaz's time indicating the closeness of God's deliverance of Israel from her enemies in his day. The second pointed to a future time when a virgin-born child would "deliver his people" from their sins.
2. She was Joseph's fiancé, who was a descendant of David.
(Luke 1:26-27 NIV) God sent the angel Gabriel . . . {27} to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
The importance of this genealogical tie is seen when one remembers the prophecy of Isaiah concerning this child to be born.
(Isa 9:6-7 NIV) For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. {7} Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
3. She was a woman especially blessed by God.
(Luke 1:28 NIV) The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
She was blessed with God's marvelous grace (Greek, κεχαριτωμένη = blessed with special honor or grace). The only other occurrence of this word is in Ephesians 6:6 in a verbal form (Greek, ἐχαρίτωσεν) where it is translated as "freely given" pertaining to the "glorious grace" received as adopted sons of God.
(Eph 1:5-6 NIV) He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- {6} to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
In this sense, believers are also "highly favored" or have received great spiritual "charity" from God. The biblical passage indicates some of these in the verses that follow:
§ received redemption through Christ's blood
§ received the forgiveness of sins
§ received knowledge of the mystery of God's will according to his good pleasure
§ chosen to be the first to hope in Christ
§ included in Christ
§ marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession
On this visit by Gabriel to Mary there was abundance of "amazing grace" set into motion that would extend into all of eternity for those who would by faith accept as Savior the baby Who would become the Atonement.
E. The Message:
(Luke 1:31-33 NIV) You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. {32} He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, {33} and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
1. Mary will give birth to a son.
2. The specifics and significance concerning the son are as follows:
a. God's Anointed One has a name, Jesus, meaning "Jehovah is salvation" from the Hebrew name, Joshua.
b. God's Anointed One has an exalted position, the Son of the Most High, indeed God in the flesh.
c. God's Anointed One has a throne, the throne of early ancestor, David.
d. God's Anointed One has a tenure, eternal over the house of Jacob, Israel.
F. The Response:
1. Her emotional response—"troubled"
2. Her intellectual response—"wondered"
The Greek word translated "wondered" is διελογίζετο from which the word "dialogue" is derived. In her mind, she was talking to herself about what all she was experiencing in this event and what it all might mean.
3. Her spiritual response—submission.
(Luke 1:38 NIV) "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
Conclusion
Mary's response to this amazing announcement and all its implications, perceived or not, was willful acceptance of God's will for her. She recognized that she was the Lord's servant with a very important and unique place in God's grand plan of redemption.
Believers are servants in the will of God. Our calling may lead us to privileged places of service. Indeed, for most of us, it will be in positions and places without much notice or appreciation from the world. But take heart—w e are "highly favored" by the Lord, and He is with us as He was with Mary.
(Eph 6:6-8 NIV) Like slaves of Christ, [do] the will of God from your heart. {7} Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, {8} because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
