A Mothers Marvelling Luke 1:46-56

Introduction

After the words of Gabriel (Luke 1:26-38) Elisabeth, (Luke 1:42-45), Zacharias (Luke 1:67-75) Joseph, the Shepherds, Simeon and Anna the Bible tells us in Luke 2:19 that Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. In Luke 2:33 it tells us that Mary and Joseph marvelled at the things spoken of Jesus.

What must have been the thoughts of Mary when she knowingly looked into the face of her Maker as well as her child.

Illustration: I remember when we had Bethany and I got to hold her for the first time, my mind was racing with thoughts, as I looked into her eyes, I was full of joy and also scared to death. When I looked at Bethany, I had no idea what she would grow up to be. When Mary looked at Jesus she knew he would be the saviour of the world

Mary indeed had a little lamb! Yet her lamb was not only white as snow, He was Lord, her Lord.

The great Creator, became the creature! The Son of God became also the Son of man! The King of Kings became the Servant of Servants.

John Donne(Dun) said this “Twas much, that man was made like God before, But that God should be like man - much more”

The Analogy of Shepherding

As we focus on the Shepherd becoming the Lamb it is important to note that Mary’s Shepherd, your Shepherd if you are saved, became a lamb.

Jesus didn’t become any shepherd and any lamb, But as Psalm 80:1 tells us the Shepherd of Israel became her spotless lamb.

Jesus did this to save a flock, on a level he could not have done in the role of a Shepherd only.

In the Bible, Jesus is portrayed as both a shepherd and a lamb.

Ezek 34 is a good passage to study on Jesus being a Shepherd

Jesus is known as the:

Good Shepherd

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”

John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.”

Great Shepherd

Hebrews 13:20 “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,”

Chief Shepherd

1 Peter 5:4 “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.”

He is also known as the Lamb of God

Ex. 12:1-30 The Original Passover Lamb that Pictured the Coming Messiah

Isaiah 53:6–7 “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, Yet he opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth.”

In both roles, He says he will Give his life

John 1:29 “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

John 10:15 “As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Some would say that God used the Shepherd and Sheep analogy because they were prominent in the Hebrew way of life, and both roles are very fitting depictions of God’s dealings with mankind - in the area of salvation and of life thereafter

We can see this in passages like Luke 15 where Jesus left the 99 sheep to go after the one who was lost.

We can look at it and realize there is more to it than God accommodating Himself to a people’s way of life. God shapes cultures toward His ends - more directly and definitively than others, as is the case with Israel. Because of that he would have even created sheep with a nature fitted to be used as an eternal analogy of His Son’s sacrifice for the world.

God knew exactly what he was doing when he created sheep, He knew that His Son, Jesus was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

When it comes to the celebration of the incarnation of God in the flesh, the Christmas Story, certain Biblical imagery comes to mind.

Some of us think of the Angels that appeared to the Shepherds.

Others think about king Herod and the Scribes.

Some think of the wise men

But I think if we were to take a survey most of us think of the shepherds and the manger scene.

The announcement to the Shepherds

Luke 2:8-20 gives us the events of that miraculous night in a field near Bethlehem.

As these Shepherds were out in the field tending to their sheep and Angel appears to them and tells them a Saviour has been born

The angel went on to give them a sign of the saviour and that was that they would find him in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

The a multitude of heavenly hosts joined the angel praising God saying Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, Good will toward men.”

When the Angels went back to heaven, the Shepherds talked it over and headed to Bethlehem, and as they came to Bethlehem they found exactly what the Angel had told them they would.

As they are there with Mary and Joseph they tell them what the Angel had said to them, and the Bible said that Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The Shepherds return to their sheep Glorifying and praising God for what they had heard and seen.

The aim of the Series

Before probing the details of that astounding night - what occured outside of Bethlehem, we will consider in three lessons to follow this one, truths which will greatly deepen our understanding for why the message of the birth of Christ was singularly announced to a group of shpeherds rather than kings, priests, prophets, scribes, carpenters, potters or farmers - all of which are relevant to the story of Christ.

Luke 10:21–24 “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”

Our next lesson, an overview of the unfolding dramatic portrayal of the lamb of God in the Bible is called “The Lamb of God Motif”. The we will look at the Shepherds of the Old Testament in a Study entitled “The Shepherd Mosaic”. It will set off afresh the role of Christ as a Shepherd. The Lesson that follows, “The Christian Matrix”, will bring the Shepherd imagery into the 21st Century and show how relevant it is to our everyday life. The final lesson, “A Night of Mystique” will use the major points that we have covered to finalize the Tapestry of truths found in the Luke 2 account.

Illustration:"On occasion, after an evening of especially heady talk with a significant personage, Theodore Roosevelt would go out on the lawn and search the skies for a certain spot of star-like light near the lower left-hand corner of the Great Square of Pegasus. Then Roosevelt would recite: "That is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It consists of one hundred billion suns, each larger than our sun." Then the President would grin and say, "Now I think we are small enough! Let's go to bed." SEE: Psalm 8:3-4.

Bro. Stewarts said this “The wonder of it all, that not only did Christ come to us, but he came as us, for us - we who live on a wee little marble!