Christmas service
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Hook:
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Introduction:
Introduction:
vv. 26-33) Christ will come.
vv. 26-33) Christ will come.
[26]After his appearance to Zacharias, Gabriel reappeared—this time to a virgin named Mary who lived in the city of Nazareth, in the district of Galilee.
Nazareth is about 15 miles from the Sea of Galilee. Being about 6 miles from the closest major road it probably wasn’t the most popular town. It was said that the town only had one fairly weak well in the center of the village. Even Jesus’ disciple, Nathanael had this to say about Nazareth:
46 And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Jesus would forever be identified with this place, being repeatedly called Jesus of nazareth through out the Gospels of Mark and John even in Act. Later in Acts Jesus’ followers were called:
5 For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
[27] Mary was betrothed to Joseph. This isn’t quite the same things as how marriage works in our day and age. There are three stages to a Jewish wedding during this period:
Engagement: a formal agreement made by the fathers.
Betrothal: The ceremony where mutual promises were made.
Marriage: About a year later, when the bridegroom came fro his bride at an unexpected time.
This couple were betrothed, meaning they were under the obligations of faithfulness, and divorce was required to break the betrothal. This was not some flippant promise.
Mary is clearly stated to be a virgin. There is no ambiguity about the idea here—Mary had never had relations with any man.
A few verses before this passage alludes to miraculous conception of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah. We should expect that the conception of the Messiah to be even greater.
Mary is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Miriam, the same name as the sister of Moses. It means “exalted one” and what a fitting description of the soon-to-be mother of the Messiah.
[28] Gabriel said three thing to Mary. Each of these were certainly true as well. Mary had a unique privilege among any person to have ever lived.
She was highly favored
That the Lord was with her
She was blessed
All of these things are true of the believer in Jesus.
We are highly favored as Mary.
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
The Lord is with us.
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
We are blessed.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
[29] Mary was understandably troubled by this greeting; she pondered what it meant.
[30] Gabriel calmed her fears, then told her that God was choosing her to be the mother of the long-awaited Messiah.
[31-33] Mary isn’t the focus here, the focus is on the boy she will give birth too. And His name would be Jesus a pretty common name. This Son would be unmistakably identified as the Messiah predicted by the OT
Notice the important truths which are enshrined in this announcement:
The real humanity of the Messiah—you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son.
His deity and His mission as Savior—And shall call His name Jesus (Means: the Lord is salvation)
His essential greatness—He will be great, both as to His Person and His work.
His identity as the Son of God—and will be called the Son of the Highest. Jesus wouldn’t only be Mary’s son; He would also be known as, the Son of God.
His title to the throne of David—the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. This establishes Him as the Messiah.
His everlasting and universal kingdom—He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of the His kingdom there will be no end.
No one has influenced history more than Jesus Christ.
“Is it not proven that he is great? Conquerors are great, and he is the greatest of them. Deliverers are great, and he is the greatest of them. Liberators are great, and he is the greatest of them. Saviors are great, and he is the greatest of them.”—Spurgeon
Jesus is great in the perfection of His nature:
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Jesus is great in the grandeur of His offices:
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus is great in the splendor of his achievements:
10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
8 He will swallow up death forever,
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces;
The rebuke of His people
He will take away from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.
Jesus is great in the number of those He rescues:
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
In the Sports world, fans argue over who is the Greatest of all time—the G.O.A.T. However across all religions:
Jesus is the G.O.A.T. There is no one greater before Him, and there will be no one greater after Him. He is truly undefeated.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
vv. 34-38) Confirmation of Mary’s faith.
vv. 34-38) Confirmation of Mary’s faith.
How can this be, since I do not know a man? Mary’s question was logical. She asked the same question Zacharias asked in Luke 1:18
18 And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
but there is one crucial difference, she didn’t ask in skeptical unbelief but in wonder-filled faith.
Gabriel would explain that that the power of the Highest would overshadow her.
This word overshadow means “to cover with a cloud” as in the cloud of Shekinah glory:
10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
9 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.”
So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.
Or the cloud of transfiguration:
5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”
This could was a visible manifestation of the glory and presence of God; this means that the same power of God that was with Moses and others in the OT was now going to do a unique work in the life of Mary.
Because of Christ’s manner of conception, He would be the Holy One. Meaning he would be different from all others, and He will be called the Son of God.
This statement “Son of God” doesn’t really have the same impact on us today because we are unfamiliar with the idea of being a Son of God. Yet, Mary and most of the Jewish people from her culture would know what it meant. This child would be equal with God:
58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Jesus did not become the Son of God; He was called the Son of God, recognizing His nature from all eternity.
[36] Gabriel also brought evidence, explaining that Elizabeth was pregnant. If God could do that, He could do what He promised for Mary.
“though believers are satisfied with the bare word of God, yet they do not disregard any of his works which they find to be conductive to strengthen their faith.”—Calvin
[37] Verse 37 is clear. A more literal translation of this verse could be this, “no word of God shall be powerless.” God will absolutely perform what He has said.
Mary’s response to this Gospel Message demonstrates that she has placed her faith in God.
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Mary after all was the maidservant of the Lord, and it was not her position to debate with her Master, but to accept what He said.
Family we come to the first applicable point of our study this morning:
Let it be to me according to you word: This is the proper response of every believer to every promise of God.
This was not an insignificant demonstration of faith. This took a lot of trust in the Lord than we might think. Mary agreed to receive a pregnancy that would be seen as suspicious, and this in a culture that had a potential death penalty for adultery. Mary identified herself with sinners so that the purpose of God would be fulfilled.
We are not given an exact moment when Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb. It may have been when Gabriel spoke to her, or soon after. Whatever it was, the cloud of God’s glory overshadowed Mary, and Jesus was miraculously conceived in Mary’s womb.
vv.39-41) Blessed are those who believe.
vv.39-41) Blessed are those who believe.
[39-40] Mary heard from Gabriel that her relative Elizabeth was pregnant. So she went the considerable distance, somewhere between 80-100 miles, from the region of Galilee to the hill country of Judea for a visit.
[41-45] When Elizabeth saw Mary, her unborn child—John the Baptist—leaped, because he was filled with joy. Though John wasn’t born yet, he had a spiritual awareness and could respond to the Spirit of God.
If an unborn child, who hasn’t seen the Messiah, yet responded rightly to the Messiah with joy. What excuse do we have?
We cannot sleep on Jesus. What I mean by that is that we cannot simply claim that Jesus was a good teacher and that’s that.
What Jesus proclaims will lead us to three outcome: mad, bad, or God. Or in the words of C.S. Lewis, “Liar, lunatic, or Lord.”
This is because of what Jesus proclaimed. He claimed to be God. As we have seen in:
58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
Who is Jesus to you?
vv. 42-45) Elizabeth’s blessing
vv. 42-45) Elizabeth’s blessing
Speaking by special inspiration, Elizabeth blesses Mary as “the mother of my Lord.” There is no trace of jealousy in her heart; only joy and delight that the unborn baby would be her Lord.
Mary was blessed among women in that she was given the privilege of bearing the Messiah. The fruit of her womb is blessed in that He is the Lord and Savior.
The Bible never speaks of Mary as “the mother of God.” While it is true that she was the mother of Jesus, and that Jesus is God, it is nevertheless a doctrinal absurdity to speak of God as having a mother. Jesus existed from all eternity whereas Mary was a finite creature with a definite date when she began to exist. She was the mother of Jesus only in His Incarnation.
In Elizabeth’s blessing we see that she recognized that Mary’s faith played an active role in receiving the promise “Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things.”
God promises should never make us passive; they should prompt us to seize them by faith. Elizabeth wanted to encourage Mary’s faith, declaring, “there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
vv. 46-56) Mary’s Song: Magnificat
vv. 46-56) Mary’s Song: Magnificat
This song resembles Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel 2:1-10, but it also has at least 12 other allusions to the OT, unfortunately we don’t have the time this morning to look into all of them. But what this tells us is that Mary was a young woman who studied and knew God’s Word. The Scriptures were on her heart, and came out through her song.
Mary was greatly gifted, highly privileged. she did exactly what such greatly blessed people should do: She magnified the Lord. When we glorify the Lord it remedies pride in an instant.
There are a few points I want to draw out from her song as we close:
My Spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior: This one line shows us that even Mary needed a Savior, and that she knew that she needed one.
She was a member of the human race meaning she was a sinner… honored and blessed greatly. But she needed to believe and confess in Jesus to be saved.
[49] He who is mighty has done great things for me:
This song mainly focus and celebrates God’s goodness, faithfulness, and power. It also demonstrates the futility of trusting in self, of trusting in political power, or trusting in riches.
Mary trusted in God, and was rewarded.
This morning we are celebrating the birth of Hope, the Child of promise, the King of kings, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last.
The Bread of Life
The Light of the World
The Door of the sheep
The good Shepherd
The Resurrection and the Life
The Way, the Truth, and the Life
And the True Vine
And He is the only one that can save you. For He truly is, who He says He is.
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
[Prayer]
“Here is a benediction that can go all the world over, and can give all the time without being impoverished. Every heart may utter it:it is the speech of God: every letter may conclude with it; every day may begin with it; every night may be sanctified by it. Here is blessing—keeping—shining—the uplifting upon our poor life of all heaven’s glad morning. It is the Lord Himself who brings this bar of music from heaven’s infinite anthems.”—D.L. Moody
24 “The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’