When a Nobody Became a Somebody

Luke 1:26–38 ESV

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, 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. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Introduction: CONGRATULATIONS! YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!

If you are a parent, you know how exciting and terrifying and wonderful and dreadful and life-changing those words are. That is, if you are hoping to hear those words. Otherwise, it might not be welcome news.

But what about hearing those words knowing that it was impossible because you had never had sexual relations with a man. You might think the one making that announcement had lost their mind, or at the very least had made a mistake.

Now imagine you are a teenage girl who was engaged to be married and you knew you were a virgin. You know it is absurd until you realize that an angel of God is the one telling this news to you.

Welcome to today’s story staring Mary, the betrothed future wife of Joseph, a humble carpenter. With our special guest, Gabriel, the archangel. It’s not fiction, it’s a documentary. It’s history.

We are going to take a closer look at this passage today and see how God takes nobodies and turns them into somebodies for His glory.

Unlikely Conditions (v. 26)

Nazareth was a most unlikely place for anything historically significant to ever occur. It was a backwater place that didn’t have a good reputation. Even though it was an insignificant little village, it was known for it’s immorality and corruption.

It was not on the major trade routes and the predominant industry there was agriculture and livestock. It was the home of about 300 Jews who sought to live out a simple life. Most homes were built on stone foundations with bricks made of mud.

Just to show you how little people thought of Nazareth, I refer you to the words of Nathaniel in John:

John 1:45–46 ESV

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

We also see in John 7, when Nicodemus defended Jesus before the Sanhedrin, they objected incredulously saying that no prophet was predicted to rise out of Galilee which is the region where Nazareth was located.

Yet, this unassuming village was the hometown of Mary and her husband Joseph. It would have never made the top ten destinations that you needed to see before you kicked the bucket, but it was God’s choice.

Isn’t that just like God? He works through the most unlikely conditions in order to bring himself maximum Glory.

Unremarkable Choice (v. 27)

While Nazareth was a nowhere place, Mary could be considered a nobody kind of person. She was a teenager - most likely around 15-16 years old. But she was just an ordinary young girl.

She did have a few things going for her...

Her family lineage traced her back through King David, Boaz, Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore her son could rightly bear the title, “Son of David.”

She was engaged to a man who’s home town was Bethlehem. When the census was initiated, this guaranteed that she would be in the Town of Bethlehem at just the right time for Jesus’ birth.

She was a Virgin - This was to fulfill the prophecy given by Isaiah regarding the virgin birth of Christ.

But to be honest, God could have chosen someone else. But he chose a nobody named Mary. God takes nobodies and makes them into somebodies for his work.

God took a 75 year old man out of his land and put him in a land flowing with milk and honey making him the Father of a great nation.

God took a boy shepherd and made him into a king.

God took three teenagers and enabled them to withstand the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar delivering them out of the flames without even the smell of smoke in their clothing.

God took a brash fisherman who constantly stuck his foot in his mouth and turned him into a flaming preacher of the gospel.

I tell people that I’m just a nobody trying to tell everybody all about somebody who can save anybody.

Unexpected Confrontation (vv. 28-33)

So here we have Mary, minding her own business one day when suddenly Gabriel, the Archangel appears to Mary. Gabriel means “God is my strength” and is one of two Archangels named in the Bible.

Gabriel stands in the presence of God and he is a messenger that delivers messages of the highest importance about the Kingdom of God.

Luke 1:28 ESV

And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

She might have thought of herself as a nobody, but Gabriel tells her she is a somebody. She is special to God because God chose her for an important task - to be the vessel that he uses to bring the Messiah into the world.

She is highly favored - Grace

The Lord is with her - He is present

Luke 1:29 ESV

But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

She was greatly troubled - perplexed - at the greeting of the angel. It literally means she was agitated. The word Luke uses here also means that Mary was considering, reasoning, or reckoning thoroughly what she had heard.

Luke 1:30–33 ESV

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, 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. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Now she is being told that she is going to be the “Theotokos,” the God bearer. Unlike the term, mother of God which can be misunderstood as meaning that she was the originator of God, Theotokos means she simply carried God in her womb and gave birth to him.

Well, how do we know for sure that the child in her womb was God? The fact that he child was to be called son of the Most High pointed to his equality with the Most High God. In Semitic thought, a son was “a carbon copy” of his father and it often referred to one who possessed his “father’ qualities.”

Gabriel also pointed to the fact that there would be no end to His kingdom.

Unconventional Conception (vv. 34-37)

Mary responded with more questions:

Luke 1:34 ESV

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

Well, we know that whatever is impossible with man is possible with God!

Mary knew she had never had relations with her Husband or any other man for that matter. So, she honestly wanted to know how what Gabriel told her would happen. Someone doesn’t just become pregnant on their own.

Luke 1:35 ESV

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

Mary, like most Jews, knew the scriptures. No doubt she remembered the prophesy of Isaiah regarding the virgin birth...

Isaiah 7:14 ESV

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The virgin birth has been one of the most controversial doctrines in Christianity. I remember bible classes at Chowan College and the professor trying to claim that the word that is translated virgin in this passage simply meant “your woman.” And it is true that it can be translated that way. But the problem is that the word “almah” implies virginity.

The virgin birth is an essential doctrine of the Christian faith. According the the the Got Questions Website, “The virgin birth is important in that it preserves the truth that Jesus is fully God and fully man at the same time. His physical body He received from Mary. But His eternal, holy nature was His from all eternity past.

His disciples said this about Christ:

John 6:69 ESV

and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Unwavering Confidence (v. 38)

This is an important question to ponder: How did this young girl go from, “how can this be” to ”let it be to me according to your word” in just a few short verses?

I believe that it was due to her unwavering confidence in God. Put simply, Mary was a person of deep faith and faith is trust. You can’t separate the two.

Illus. “Faith never rests so calmly and peacefully — as when it lays its head on the pillow of God's omnipotence!” - J C Ryle

Mary’s story teaches us that even when you don’t completely understand the plan of God, you can fully submit to his will and obey Him with complete confidence. And to be honest, she didn’t need to know all that the future held for her.

“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.” To be a servant implies obedience and submission. In fact, the word Mary uses means bondslave. As Christians, being a servant of the most high is our first and most important calling.

“let it be to me according to your word” is submission, surrender, and self-denial.

And before you think this was an easy decision for her, Mary understood that there would always be questions, chatter, and gossip - about the birth of her son. “You son was conceived by the Holy Spirit? Yeah right Mary!”

Mary’s decision to say yes to God’s plan was going to cost her.

And what about the potential for divorce? If you recall from Matthew’s gospel, her betrothed husband, Joseph, was going to divorce her quietly. It wasn’t until he received his own angelic visitor that this possibility would be ruled out. And a lesser man than Joseph might have chosen to have her put to death for adultery.

Illus. “This is the glory and wonder of Christmas, that God could plant not only into the womb of this woman the Son of God, but He could plant in her heart the faith to believe the message that she received from the angel.” ~ David Jeremiah

Her story moves us all from who we think we are to what God has called us to be.