Gabriel speaks to Mary - Luke 1:26-28

Luke 1:26-28 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!”

The first thing to mention here is that the angel Gabriel visited Marry in the sixth month.

The sixth month? What does that mean?

This was the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy.

Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist

The angel Gabriel had just visited her husband Zechariah six months ago in the temple

Proclaiming that their child would be a prophet and fore runner of the Messiah

Elizabeth and Zaechariah had remained in seclusion since then

However she opened up her home hearing that Mary was coming to visit.

Now, I just want to talk to you a little bit about angels.

Daniel speaks of a hundred million of them before the throne of God at the judgement.

Daniel 7:10 A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

We see something similar in Revelation.

Revelation 5:11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,

The angel Gabriel is one of two named angels in the Bible that serve the Lord.

Gabriel is spoken of as a messenger angel in the Bible

Gabriel was sent to Daniel to give him revelations from God about the end times.

Gabriel was also sent to Zechariah in the temple to tell him the good news about his son, John the Baptist.

And now Gabriel was sent from God to tell Marry the good news that she would give birth to the Savior.

What a wonderful message to bring! Not only to Marry but to all mankind.

We don't know for certain but, it makes me wonder if Gabriel was the one speaking to the shepherds in the field that night.

Luke 2:10-11  But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.” Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!

Angels carry out God's plans including bringing messages, bringing judgement, protecting God's people and children, waging war against demons, and singing praises to God.

Luke 1:29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

From the start Marry is not quite sure what to make of Gabriel's greeting. I am a Favored one? The Lord is with me? Like you and I, like every son of Adam and daughter of Eve, Marry was sinful by nature sinful.

Even after we have believed on the Messiah, because of our sinful flesh it can be hard for us to understand how God sees us.

So Gabriel tells Marry to not be afraid and again reaffirms that she is favored with God.

Luke 1:30 Then the angel told her: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

When Gabriel told Marry she was a favored one, he was describing her position of righteousness with God.

Not that she had done anything to earn this favor but rather by her faith in the coming Messiah she was favored.

In Ephesians 1:6 it uses this same phrase to describe all believers. Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.

Marry trusted that a Messiah was coming and was favored by God, and so are all who today believe in Jesus Christ.

Gabriel continues....

Luke 1:31-33 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 the idea of a child savior has been around ever since the fall of man.

God promised that a Savior would come from the seed of the woman

Genesis 3:15 I will put hostility between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

So now that Gabriel has told Marry about bearing the Son of the Most High, that He will sit on David's throne, and his kingdom will have no end...

Marry knows exactly what Gabriel is inferring.

We know Marry is a believer herself in the coming Messiah. Again, her faith is why she is favored by God.

You can only imagine the things going through her mind at this point.

As is often the case, the circumstances we find ourselves in when God asks something of us can be quite unusual. This is certainly the case for Mary.

For a young woman to suddenly be with child does create some social issues.

You can only imagine what people start to say when a 16 year old girl suddenly becomes pregnant.

Furthermore she was pledged to be married to a man named Joseph.

Marry would certainly be concerned about Joseph.

Finally Marry had never been with a man and she doesn't understand how she can even have a child.

So Marry brings up her concern to the angel.

Luke 1:34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

Gabriel responds ... Luke 1:35-37 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.”

This might have been a bit much for Marry to take in as it can be difficult for people to process today.

There have been some strange teachings surrounding the virgin birth.

Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit we see things through the eyes of flesh.

One of the false teachings that was alluded to earlier was that Marry was without sin in order to conceive Jesus.

Again, it has always been through faith in the Messiah, that we are righteous before God and receive his favor.

Another false teaching that I have been guilty of in the past is that the sin gene is carried through the male seed.

This also cannot be accurate. All of creation has been cursed by sin. Men and women both carry with them the sin gene.

The immaculate conception was just that.

The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and the power of the Most High overshadowed her. God CREATED in her womb a pure human seed untainted by sin.

This is why Jesus is called the second Adam.

That seed was conceved in holiness without the contamination from our sinful DNA. Marry was privilaged to carry to completion of pregnancy and birth the Son of the Most high.

Nothing is impossible with God.

When we hear these today it seems amazing to us. I can only immagine how Marry felt.

I can only hope that my response is like hers.

Luke 1:38 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.

The Christmas story continues in ...

Matthew 1:18-19 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

I have to tell you that this passage confused me for much of my life.

Joseph being a just man ... resolved to divorce her quietly? That never made any sense to me.

I would go to church almost every Christmas and think to myself ...

How could Joseph a Jew be considered a just man when he is not obeying God's law.

Having been raised in church I knew enough about the Old Testament law that I knew in Deut 22:21 it clearly says that if evidence is found of a women sleeping around before being married they must be stoned.

My reasoning for many years was that if Joseph was a just man he would have had to have Marry stoned.

And that is because I was trying to find my righteousness through the law.

Like the Pharisees that were so quick to stone the woman caught in adultery...

I did not understand how Joseph could give Marry a pass, much less be called a righteous man.

After I came to know Jesus Christ personally as my Savior this passage began to open up to me.

Joseph like Mary was a believer in the coming Messiah. Joseph knew that God was merciful and offered forgiveness.

While the purpose of the law is to show us our sin, It is through faith in the Messiah that we are made righteous before God.

Now it is hard to blame Joseph for questioning and doubting Mary's claims of being impregnated by God.

However even in the face of what looked like Mary using God's name to cover immorality, Joseph showed Mary mercy.

It was his faith that stayed Joseph's hand. It was this faith that showed Mary mercy.

Yet Joseph knew that for his part he must walk in purity before God and be obedient to him.

Since it seemed that Mary had chosen to live a sinful lifestyle and be unfaithful to him, he knew he needed to put an end to what he believed was a dishonest relationship before it went any further.

Joseph understood that he would need to "put Mary away" and obtain a legal divorce to dissolve their betrothal.

Matthew 1:20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

Now that must have been some dream!

Today it is not common for us to think about God speaking to us through dreams

Many of us in the west have been so blessed to have the full cannon of Scripture available for a few hundreds of years now.

Special revelation through dreams often seems very unusual to us. However it is Biblical.

And in the Jewish culture it was accepted as a valid way for God to speak to people.

Perhaps you remember the story of how Joseph the Son of Jacob had a dream and that his brothers would bow down to him.

That Jospeph after being sold into slavery by his brothers became an interpreter of dreams to others.

Sometimes God still uses dreams. There are testimonies of Muslums coming to Jesus Christ in the middle east after having dreams.

I have even heard of a testimony of a Muslim that was persued by the same dream of Jesus Christ night after night for over a year before he came to faith.

So now back to our Jospeh who was ready to divorce Mary. He must have been open to God's leading in his life and believed that God was going to direct him.

I personally think Joseph had likley been praying more than usual considering all that was going on, asking God for direction.

When God answered, Joseph obeyed.

Yet in doing so God again is asking Joseph to step our of his comfort zone and walk by faith.

Joseph will now be seen by many as taking in a woman with a child that is not his own.

They will be outcasts in many ways. Judged by their community and even people they worship with.

Matthew 1:22-23  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).

God's Word is always accomplished. His prophecy is always fulfilled.

Mary and Joseph were available to be used by God and willing to obey.

And while both of them had some questions and concerns to start with. God was able to answer them. Mary and Jospeh were not part of the ruling class, they were not wealthy, they were not highly educated.

God is not interested in our titles or worldly qualifications. He is only looking for someone that will follow in faith.

For it is God Himself that accomplishes His purpose to grow the faith of those who follow. There are hundreds of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled the first time he came.  There are hundreds more that he will fulfil in his second coming.

This Christmas I encourage you to read the first half of Luke chapter 2 with your familys and complete the Christmas story.

Benediction

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.