Mary

Where does God promise Jesus?

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.

Isaiah 11:1 ESV

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

Luke 1:26–27 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.

First, this is talking about the 6th month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. It is also important to know that Nazareth was not a large town. This would have been like one of the towns out east Colorado that we know of, but no one really goes to and we are not sure who lives there.

Jesus came as humbly as possible. But we are not looking at Him right now, really we are diving to Mary

Luke 1:28–29 ESV

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.

Why was Mary favored?

There was nothing special about her, there was nothing that was super holy about her. She did not constantly have a halo around her head, and it was not like she came from royal family. Really she was just ordinary.

God often moves through ordinary people. I think back all the way to Abraham. He did not come from a special line, but was ordinary, and it was through him that He made a people. David was just a young shepherd yet God moved and called him a man after God’s own heart. The disciples were just ordinary.

It’s ok to be ordinary

Mary, for all we know was an ordinary person that just followed the Lord and He chose to do something through her.

Luke 1:30–32 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,

The promise that is made here is awesome. First, Gabrielle reiterates that Mary is favored by the Lord. Second, he tells of what is to come. That not only is she favored, but that she is to bear a son, and not just any son, but THE SON that was promised. The Messiah that she has read about and heard about her whole life. The Messiah that was to come and set the world free from the bondage of sin.

Not only that, but also the same sone that will have authority and rule forever and ever.

And what was Mary’s response?

Luke 1:34 ESV

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

She asked a practical question here. It takes two to make a baby, and Mary was not married yet, and with that, she was still a virgin and it would not have been normal for her to have a child.

But why was Mary not silenced like Zachariah? Because of the heart.

Luke 1:18 ESV

And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”

Zachariah had doubt, but Mary was asking practically. Zachariah did not believe that it was going to happen, where as Mary was more asking the logistics of how it was going to happen.

God wants your questions

God can handle them, and when He asks us to do something, it makes sense for us to have some logistical questions, but what we cannot have is doubt. We need to trust God that He is going to do what He says, but it is perfectly ok to say “God I am going to walk in this the way that you have called, I believe you can do it, can you show me practically how it is going to work.”

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.

Then Gabriel answered her in the how.

Luke 1:36–37 ESV

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.”

Gabriel continued to give proof of what God was doing by telling what was happening with Elizabeth.

The reason that we know that Mary’s heart was obedience was by the final verse.

What is your heart posture when God asks you do things?

Are you like Mary, obedient and willing to do whatever for God, even if you have practical questions? Or are you like Zachariah who doubts the power of the Lord?