Behold the Maidservant of the Lord

Luke 1:26–38 NKJV

26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” 29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then 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 bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; 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 of His kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” 35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.” 38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

1. Fallowing the Lord will only cost you everything… Fallowing the Lord will give you everything.

Until the Lord spoke through the angel Gabriel He had been silent since the end of Malachi for 400 years.

She had to know that Joseph and the community was not going to simply say. “oh cool gotcha!”

Joseph would be hurt by what he would assume was a betrayal. ( we will have a whole sermon about Joseph.

2. to obey God is often simple not easy.

She said yes to God.

In saying yes to him she gave everything with abandon to him.

people who are obeying Him today are doing the same thing.

3. How can this be?

the Text proves her virginity and in doing so proves His divinity.

Isaiah 7:14 NKJV

14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Micah 5:2–3 NKJV

2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” 3 Therefore He shall give them up, Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; Then the remnant of His brethren Shall return to the children of Israel.

Yes! In his book "More Than a Carpenter," Josh McDowell presents evidence and statistical arguments regarding the probability of Jesus fulfilling the prophecies about the Messiah, including the virgin birth. Although the book does not focus specifically on statistics about the virgin birth alone, McDowell cites the improbability of one person fulfilling all the Messianic prophecies. Here’s a breakdown of the statistics McDowell shares: 1. Peter Stoner's Statistical Analysis McDowell references Peter Stoner, a mathematician who calculated the odds of one person fulfilling specific Messianic prophecies. For instance: The odds of one person fulfilling just 8 of the Messianic prophecies (e.g., born in Bethlehem, virgin birth, betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, etc.) is 1 in 10¹⁷. Analogy: This number is so large that it’s like covering the entire state of Texas in silver dollars two feet deep, marking one coin, and having someone blindfolded pick the marked coin on their first try.

4. Behold the maidservant of the Lord!