A King is Coming

At this time of year many of us are hanging out for the Christmas break, or time with the family, perhaps the gifts and traditions of Christmas. Maybe you’re just anticipating that Christmas ham or Christmas pudding next Sunday!

But most of us will have greater longings than just the fleeting joys of the holiday season, many of use have longings and hopes for a better life and a better world.

Perhaps next year will be the year that things improve for me and my family?

Perhaps next year we’ll finally see positive change in the political sphere?

Perhaps next year our society will change it’s self-destructive ways?

The many troubles of today, perhaps the latest of many years of difficulty, mean that some of us have lost hope for a better future.

Yet, despite the difficulties that we face, some of us remain hopeful for what might come.

It is possible that things might change.

We don’t need to despair.

There is yet hope for a better future!

The times we live in right now remind me of the last days of the BC era in Palestine. Before the beginning of the New Testament.

Here was what remained of the once great Israel nation:- Back in the Day under King David and Solomon they were a regional powerhouse. They were prosperous people, they had military victories, they were deeply religious and they were well respected.

But it all went bad over the years...

Israel was split into two countries due to political unrest.

They lost their prosperity.

They lost the respect of others.

The lost their religious distinctiveness.

They became very militarily weak, so that first one, then the other of these nations came under the influence of foreign powers. Many died, many were exiled, many lost their cultural identity and just blended in to avoid trouble.

They kind of regained their independence, for a bit, but then they were conquered by some other superpower.

By the time of the New Testament, that is the back half of the Bible, Israel itself didn’t really exist. Only 2.5 of the tribes of Israel were left, Judah, Benjamin and some Levites. Judah was the majority, so they all were lumped in together and called “Jews”. They lived primarily in the provinces of Judea and Galillee under the thumb of the Roman Empire.

Their hey-day was long gone. Their country was a shadow of it’s former self.

It seemed futile to dream of going back to the old-days when things were better.

Many took the pragmatic rout, and they went along to get along with the Roman overlords and Greek influence of the culture.

But not all were ready to give up...

You see, over the course of Israel’s history they had many prophets, these apparently received messages from God for the people. These messages included instructions about how to live the good life, how to please God, and what was going to happen in the future.

It also included lots of promises and predictions about a return to the glory days.

God promised that he wouldn’t leave his people languishing forever.

God promised that he would restore the throne of David, the dynasty would continue.

God promised that he would personally come and sort things our for them, because they had no hope of doing it under their own steam.

There were many people who still held out hope that these promises would be fulfilled. They longed for the prophesies to come true. They lived in expectation and anticipation that God would do something, despite the poor circumstances around them.

Some tried to take these matters into their own hands, with violent extremism, trying to force the promises into realty. But they made no ground.

So the people were just left to wait. To hope. The live in expectation of God’s future work.

It was in this world that Joseph and Mary lived. Two ordinary Jewish people going about their lives. While they had hope for God to restore their country, they were also just living regular lives. Joseph was a tradie, working hard to make a living. They had dreams and plans. They were going to get married, have kids, raise a family.

It was into these ordinary lives that their long expected King Was Coming!

Heralding the King’s is Arrival (v26-30)

God heralded the coming of this king to these two ordinary Jews! The long awaited king who would fulfill the prophesies, make the promises reality and restore God’s people Israel.

These two passages that are our focus today tell us about the imminent arrival of the King that the people were anticipating. We’re mainly going to focus on the Luke passage, but when you put the Matthew and Luke passages side by side you get a more rounded picture of how Joseph and Mary received the news.

God was going to change their lives, and use them to bring the king into the world. But before God does this, he sends an angel to announce the news. Remember Angel literally means “messenger” - this was a divine messenger.

Luke 1:26–27 NIV

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

We’re not looking at the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth here, read about that in Luke later!

But suffice to say God was also going to work through a relative’s son to prime the pump for the coming king.

When that ball was rolling Gabriel came to Mary with that amazing message. But who was Gabriel? This was no ordinary messenger, he stood in the presence of God! He was the interpreter of the prophet Daniel’s visions!

Yet this messenger of great importance is sent to a lowly girl, probably a teenager, in the backwaters of the Roman empire, a little town called Nazareth.

This girl is a virgin we’re told, and the importance of this will become apparent soon...

But interestingly, this woman Mary is about to marry a descendant of King David of old. Now King David had many wives, as did King Solomon his son. In some respects this may be as unremarkable as saying “I’m descended from Gengis Khan” - he sired so many children that there is an estimated 16 million men alive today who are descended from him.

Yet, despite the fact that King David probably had a bunch of kids, there are so few of the Israelites left that being related to David is a significant fact. There are a two different genealogies recorded in the Gospels, both lead back to David but by different routes. This leads some to believe that this expected king was related to King David of old both via Mary the mother, and through Joseph the adoptive father.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, this note, that Joseph is descended from David, is cluing us into the fact that this message has something to do with the promises to restore the throne of David and save God’s people from their plight.

Lets read on...

Luke 1:28–30 NIV

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.

As usual, people have a hard time speaking to angels. They are otherworldly and terrifying, yet he speaks to reassure Mary.

Marry is wondering why she is being told specifically that she is “highly favored” and “the Lord” is with her.

We’ll soon find out, because she is about to find out some amazing news!

The King’s Nameand Office (v31-33)

That news will include the announcement of the coming king, including details about what his name and what he will do.

The angel gets straight to the content of his message:

Luke 1:31–33 NIV

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 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, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Wow, a lot packed into this, lets break it down...

Conceive and have a son. Ordinary enough, except she’s still a virgin!

Mary is to call the son Jesus. A relatively common Jewish name.

But what is uncommon is that he is Son of the Most High God!

Not only that, he as a descendant of David is heir to the throne, and the LORD God will ensure that he takes his seat on that throne! Forever! There will be no end! He’ll never be overthrown. He’ll never need to pass it on!

Here’s the Coming King who will bring back the glory days. He’ll bring back victory and prosperity to God’s people!

We get a bit more in Matthew’s Gospel (aside: the different inclusions and storytelling between these Gospels increase their perceived authenticity).

Matthew 1:21–23 ESV

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Here we see explicitly when the coming king will be called Jesus, because he will save his people!

Jesus is our Anglicization of the Greek name Yesus, which is is in turn a greekening of the Hebrew name we call Joshua (Yehoshua). Joshua = Jesus. This name means: God saves. The Joshua of OT saved Israel from enemies as he led them in victory to claim the promised land.

And in this case we’re told what this coming King Jesus will save too, save them from Their Sin.

Why do they need saving from sin?

All have sinned and fall short

None can overcome their sin

Sin is the problem that caused all the woes of Israel through their history, and the cause of all our problems today.

How will Jesus do it? Because he is not only the rightful heir to the throne of David ready to step us and take the reigns, he is also God-incarnate. God enfleshed. Born of Mary as a man, born of God as God.

That’s why he is described with another name: Emmanuel - GOd with Us

Jesus is God among his people, the God-man who can make things right.

He does it by taking on our sin, and suffering the consequences for it. He made atonement.

The King’s Arrival Plans & a Sign (v34-37)

But we get more information about this coming King Jesus. Mary wants to know something of the mechanics. The ancients may not have known the exact mechaism of conception, but they understood that there is something that need to happen before pregnancy ensues!

Luke 1:34–35 NIV

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on 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.

The Angel explains that basically the Holy Spirit will miraculously cause you to be preganant.

This is the same Holy Spirit who hovered over the waters of creation to bring forth the world. Now he will hover over Mary’s womb to bring forth the Son of God. Even more amazing that creation is that the creator God is going to become a part of the creation.

But this is a wild message from the angel, as as if often the case with these things, a sign is given as proof of the promise. It is proved a true promise from God when the other miraculous sign is seen.

What is it?

Luke 1:36–37 NIV

Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

The Barren woman is giving birth! A married woman, with a baby conceived in the normal way, yet still a miracle because she was too old for this to happen. This “lesser” miracle is the proof that Mary’s message was legit, and she should expect it to happen just as God said.

So how does Mary (& Joseph) respond to this news?

Responding to the Kings Arrival(v38)

Luke 1:38 NIV

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

What a response! Imagine your life is about to be turned upside down the stigma would be horrible: your reputation ruined by allegations of infidelity, your husbands reputation ruined by marrying a seemingly “unfaithful” wife. There will be gossip. People won’t trust you. Your body will be given over to a pregnancy and birth that was not of your own choosing.

Do you with you could give the same humble answer? “I’m the Lord’s servant. May it happen.”

Whether it be reputational ruin, or bodily discomfort Mary is willing to serve God with her whole being.

A fitting mother to the King who would do the same! Giving over his whole life in service to the Father and even giving his body to save God’s people. Something we will celebrate shortly with communion.

But see here, Mary's own plans are hijacked, Joseph and Mary loose something of their early marriage days together - sacrificed to the Lord as He brings his promises to fruition.

Mary said, may it happen, and Joseph did as the LORD commanded. Examples to follow!

Now what?

The Kings arrival was heralded

The King will be be from David’s line - King

The King is Son of God - Emanuel

The King will Save his people from their sins - Joshua

How will we respond?

That king has come!

Communion

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