Our Hope

Good Morning

This morning we are going to be Luke 1:25-38.

We are going to take a look at the foretelling of the birth of Jesus to Mary. We are going to look at what the angel told Mary was going to happen. We are going to see what the angel said about Jesus and see how Mary responds to what the angel tells her. This is a foundational truth about our Lord. If what we look at today didn’t happen, then nothing else matters. This is our hope, the Son of God, who came down from heaven, and was born of a virgin. For Jesus to be our savior, He had to come this way. Any other way and the sacrifice is meaningless.

Let’s pray and read our verses

Luke 1:26-38.

26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” 34 But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the holy Child will be called the Son of God. 36 And behold, even your relative Elizabeth herself has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called infertile is now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Where the Angel came to

We see that this takes place in the City of Nazareth. Nazareth was a town about 70 miles N of Jerusalem. It was a place of lowly reputation, and nowhere mentioned in the old testament. It was not something to brag about, to be from Nazareth. The people from this town were often characterized as despised or detestable. It was not an important city until this day in history. It became one of the most famous cities. It is the town that would be forever attached to our saviors name, Jesus of Nazareth. It is the town that God chose to use as the hometown of His Son.

Who the Angel came to

Now we see that the angel came to a virgin girl named Mary who was engaged to Joseph. Jesus had to be born of a virgin, one to prove that God was His father, and to show the power and might of God. There was historical evidence of old women having children in the Bible. Sarah is one for example. There had never been and will never be again, a virgin birth. This had never happened before. This would have seemed impossible to Mary as we will see in a moment. With the birth of Jesus, God will be glorified and His power and majesty will be on display.

We see that she was engaged to Joseph. Back then an engagement was a legal binding arrangement. Only death or divorce could server the contract and often the couple were referred to as husband and wife. If her betrothed husband dies, even though they had not consummated the marriage, she would still be considered a widow. Most engagements were for about a year. The woman was to show her faithfulness and purity, while the man was to prepare a home for his bride-to-be. At the end of the year there would be a 7 day wedding feast, after which the couple would begin their life together. Joseph is an important part of the picture even though he was not the father of Jesus. His lineage is that of David, which the OT foretells that the Savior would be of the line of David. So even though Joseph didn’t have any part in the coming of the Messiah, he was important in that he provide the lineage to match that of the OT prophecies about Jesus. Now Mary is also from the lineage of David, but in that day the lineage of the man was the only one that was taken into account. Jesus had the right to claim the throne of David. He was from the line of the old king. He was born to be the final King of Isreal.

The Angel’s Greeting

The way that the angel greeted Mary confused her. There was nothing special about Mary. She was not from a wealthy family. She didn’t have an important job, she was a handmaiden. There was nothing that set her apart or above anyone else at the time. Mary was a sinner in need of God’s grace. Mary was just a common girl that God chose to use to glorify Himself and be the mother of His Son. We can see this in the greeting when the angel calls her “favored one”, and that “Lord is with you”. Mary was full of God’s grace. God only gives grace to sinners, of which Mary was one. Just having the angel appear to me would have been enough to perplex me, let alone to have him greet me the way that he greeted Mary, would have been even more confusing. The Greek word used here means to be greatly troubled, or confused. Mary could not imagine why God had favoured her. She knew that she was a sinner. Everyone that is genuinely righteous will be troubled in the presence of God, because they are aware of there sins. Nothing in Mary’s short life could have prepared her for the encounter with Gabriel. We can see the common response from the angel to “not be afraid”. Gabriel is trying to calm Mary and reassure her that she has nothing to be afraid of. Gabriel had come to give good news, a message of blessing. She was going to have the Son of God!

What Gabriel Says about Jesus

Gabriel describes what God is going to do, and who her son is going to be. This probably made Mary forget all about the perplexing greeting that she had just recieved. There was only one way that Mary knew of to have a child. But that was impossible for her, she was a virgin. She had never been with a man. I can only imagine what was going through her mind. If that wasn’t enough, Gabriel tells her about her soon to be son. First, His name will be Jesus. Jesus is a Greek form of the common Hebrew name Yeshua (“Yahweh saves”). Jesus’ name indicates why He came to earth, to save. Jesus came to earth to seek and to save that which was lost. We serve a God that is a saving God. Gabriel says that He will be great. That seems like such an inadequate word to describe the Savior of the World! But there are no human words that could adequately describe our King. The English language can not define how great Jesus is. Jesus’ life will define great.

Next he says that He will be called Son of the Most High. This title refers to His position as the supreme sovereign ruler. This affirms that He is of the same essence of God. Hebrews 1:3

Hebrews 1:3 (NASB 2020)

3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

This child would be God incarnate, perfectly righteous in everything.

Gabriel says that God will give Him the throne of His father David. Jesus was the rightful heir to the throne of David through His legal father, Joseph. Jesus is the fulfilment of the promise made hundreds of years ago to David. He will be a Son of David to rule of Isreal forever. 2 Samuel 7:12-14

2 Samuel 7:12–14 (NASB 2020)

12 When your days are finished and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and with strokes of sons of mankind,

Gabriel tells Mary that He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and His kingdom will have no end. This all must have been very overwhelming for Mary. To hear that she will have the Son of God and that He will reign forever without end, I don’t know how she was even able to comprehend everything. We can see that she didn’t completely understand by her response.

Mary’s response

Since Mary was a virgin, she did not know how this could happen. She did not ask out of doubt. She did not know how it could happen since she had never been with a man. Her question though similar to Zachariah's, his was asked in unbelief. Thus the angel did not punish her like he did Zachariah. Mary was truly stumped as to how she would become pregnant. Miracles were rare at this time. At Mary’s time there had been no miracles for four centuries. Mary’s confusion was understandable. So Gabriel explained to her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and power of God would overshadow her. The Holy Spirit would create the child in her womb. This is the only way that Jesus could be born and called the Son of God. He could not be born of a man. This is why He is a holy child, the one true Son of God. Born like every other child, but not created the same. His father is the Most High.

Gabriel gives Mary something to test what he says. He tells her that her relative Elizabeth is with child and six months along. Mary would have known how old Elizabeth was, so this would have been good evidence that what Gabriel said would come to be. Mary obviously did not know of Elizabeth’s pregnancy yet. News did not travel as fast in Mary’s day as it does today. This news would have been heart warming to Mary, to know that Elizabeth who was called barren is going to have a child. Elizabeth’s miracle was not the same as Mary’s. Elizabeth’s was a conception in old age. Mary’s was a virgin conception. Nevertheless Elizabeth’s conception was a sign from God that He was still able to perform miracles. He could do the humanly impossible.

We see Mary’s response to what the angel told her. It is the only proper response to God. She humbled herself and called herself a servant of the Lord. She said, “May it be done as you have said.” She knew what would happen when she started to show her pregnancy. She would be scorned and could be even be stoned to death. But in humble, obedient faith Mary willingly trusted God to defend and justify her.

As we enter this Christmas season, let us remember who we are to put our hope in, Jesus Christ. Through this story of the announcement of the coming of Jesus, it reveals that the sovereign God accomplishes His purposes through His willing and obedient servants. We need to respond to our King with the same humility that Mary had. God is still doing work today through His people who trust Him and put their hope in Him. There is no else who deserves to have our trust and hope. Not the government, not some celebrity or sports star. Not our spouse or any other family member. Our hope is only is Christ Jesus, the Virgin born Son of God!

If you haven’t put your trust in Jesus, then today is the day to make that happen.

Let’s pray.