The Parents of Jesus

Prayer

Introduction

Opener

Main Point of Text (MPT):

Please open your Bibles to Luke 1.

Luke begins his gospel with his account of the priest, Zacharias, and his wife, Elizabeth, of the daughters of Aaron, Moses’ brother.

Both were righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years, but through a divine act of God, despite Zacharias’s unbelief, Elizabeth would conceive a child, a.k.a. John the Baptist, just as the angel had told him.

Luke interrupts this narrative by turning his attention to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.

Gabriel, an angel sent by God to visit this virgin, Mary, in a city of Galilee named Nazareth, would deliver the news that she too will conceive in her womb and bring forth a Son, and He shall be called Jesus.

Mary questioned the angel, asking, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

He responds, “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. 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. For with God nothing will be impossible.”

But rather be in disbelief of her situation, her response shows the strength of her faith in God, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

And so, what did Mary do with what she had been told?

Verse 39 tells us she arose and went to the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and greeted Elizabeth at her house.

As John, the baby, heard Mary’s voice, he leaped for joy in Elizabeth’s womb (keep in mind, John was the prophet of the Highest, Jesus, and would go before Him to prepare his ways, he knew that even in the womb); and, as for Elizabeth, in this moment, Luke tells us she was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Motivated by the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth would exclaim, before any Mary even told her, knowing that Mary was a virgin, that she knew that Mary was pregnant, calling her the mother of her Lord.

She then would declare that Mary was blessed due to her belief that the Lord’s message was true as she encouraged Mary’s faith, letting her know that her faith would not be in vain, as the Lord would fulfill those things which were told to her, that she would indeed give birth to the Son of God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, despite being a virgin, for just as Gabriel had told Mary when he visited her, “For with God nothing will be impossible.”

And it is at this moment that we first find ourselves in Scripture today, where I will first focus on Mary’s reaction to all of this news and then I would like to move over to Joseph’s reaction, and so, if you are following along we will be first be in Luke 1:46-55, but before we hop into the text, may we go to the Lord in prayer.

Prayer

Body

Point 1: Mary’s Reaction

Scripture: Luke 1:46-55

Explanation:

For those who were here on Mother’s Day, you may remember much of what I will be sharing today, but as I was thinking of what I wanted to preach on these two weeks before Christmas, a memory from last week popped in my head as I remember little Leeland was up here giving us a devotional of his own during communion.

I remember that my first instinct was to look at Peyton, or momma, and I noticed her smiling and when I looked back at Jimmy, he had a huge smile on his face as well as he was popped up over the ledge listening to what Leeland had to say, and I couldn’t help but smile.

What a moment, what a blessing, hearing him in church, and watching Peyton and Jimmy’s response got me to thinking about Mary and Joseph response when they found out that she was pregnant.

While I have already mentioned Mary’s initial response that showed the strength of her faith in God, responding to Gabriel with, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

I believe it is here, beginning in verse 46, that we get to see deeper into her feelings about what God has done by giving her Jesus and so that’s where we start to unravel what is known by many as Mary’s Song.

Beginning in verse 46, she with starts by magnifying the Lord as she says “My soul magnifies the Lord…”

Another phrase for "magnifies the Lord…” would be to say that her soul “declares the greatness of the Lord...”

Only the Lord could do this, only the Lord, the only virgin birth in the Bible, the only virgin birth to ever occur would come through Mary, as nothing is impossible with the Lord, and she knew that, so she magnified the Lord, offering praise to He who would do the impossible through her!

She speaks to her spirit and how it rejoices in God her Savior!

Mary knew God, she was a Jewish woman who had placed her faith in God before now, but now, God had brought her into His story, His plan of redemption, His plan of salvation, for she knew, being a Jew that one day a Savior would come, but what she didn’t expect, what nobody would expect, that it would come through someone such as her!

We see this in verse 48, Mary says, “For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.”

We can recall what Gabriel had spoken about Mary earlier in Luke as he had said she was a woman highly favored by God, whom the Lord was with, and now was blessed among all women to be selected by God to be the one to bear His Son.

Not only was Mary with the Lord spiritually, but now physically as well and instead of being prideful she responds with humility by saying that God had regarded, has noticed, has paid special attention to the lowly state of His maidservant and from now on, because of what He has done through her, all generations will call her blessed.

What a humble way to respond, Mary knew her place in the world hadn’t changed, she was still a lowly maidservant of the Lord, she wasn’t going to receive money or be elevated to a status in her lifetime that would place her in any palace or position of authority, but she did know that she was blessed for being chosen to be used by God to bring Jesus into this world, because through Him, the world would be saved.

Mary then celebrates God’s power, His faithfulness, and holiness, all of who He is, as she says, “For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name.”

What He was doing through her was not small, but rather, significant.

Women, please pay attention here for...

Mary knew this, she knew this was significant, she had just labeled herself a maidservant of the Lord.

A maidservant of the Lord, what does that look like?

Hopefully it looks like what each of us on a daily basis, where we just serve the Lord, devote our entire lives to Him, but a maidservant in human terms, what is that?

It is a female slave, someone who does what the world has deemed what is natural for a woman to do, stay home, clean, do laundry, the list never ends.

And this is where Mary is shows us more about herself as though she considers herself a female slave, a maidservant to the Lord, she praises him for it.

A woman whom most of the world would regard as insignificant, cause trust me, I know sometimes my wife, being the one who does most of the chores around the house as I work out of the house feels, as she had expressed it to me before, insignificant, but Mary here shows that she had now been reminded that she was not insignificant, rather, she was significant.

And ladies, you are significant to, no matter what anyone tells you, you are and God will or maybe even has already used you to do the impossible.

Mary not only recognizes God as mighty and holy, but she also recognizes that He is merciful to those who fear Him from generation to generation!

She understands that we must maintain a healthy fear of the Lord from one generation to the next, one that recognizes that He is the Author and Creator of the universe.

This is something to we can learn from Mary in this moment as many have no fear of the Lord.

We worship Him, but do not fear Him, but Mary knows the importance of fearing the Lord because she knows of His past with her people, the Israelites,and so she brings that out here in her words.

In verses 51-55 Mary enlightens us with examples from the past:

Mary speaks to the strength of the Lord, as she says that He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts (she is speaking to moments such as the tower of babel).

We return back to pride. Oh, how prideful the world is today, how the world has forgotten to fear God, how the world considers themselves a god, believing they hold power over the God of the Bible, declaring what is right and what is wrong, not seeking the wisdom of the Lord, but instead relying on their own.

The world, the church, is missing the mark on the type of faith that Mary had, a faith that brought a fear of the Lord rather than ignorance of what Scripture tells us He is.

She regarded Him as a merciful just Lord.

Verse 52, she continues reminding us of who He is saying, “He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly” (Think of baby Jesus and what He would do).

She is speaking what He did through those such as David, the lowly shepherd, whom He made a King.

But this also speaks to what Jesus, the One in her womb will do as He humbles us off of our worldly thrones.

Remember she is speaking to the need for all generations to fear Him.

What type of people might she be referring to?

Verse 53 gives us one example, she says, “He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty”.

The rich He has sent away empty, while the hungry are filled.

Church, think about the life you lived before you met him, were you rich?

If your like me, maybe you weren’t rich in terms of money, but life often looked how I wanted it to look, now that I know what God has given me in His Word, I realize it was a life full of sin, and I found pleasure living in it, but never fully feeling satisfied.

I was like a rich man who bought a mansion on a hill, bought all the cars I wanted, never was without, but still wanted more as something felt like it was still missing.

I was felt full, but was never completely filled, I felt empty, but once I surrendered my life to him, oh how full, how satisfied I became, for He filled me with His Spirit and life was never the same, that empty part of me had been filled with who He is and while I still find myself hungry for sin, it is not sin that satisfies me, it is God.

Because as Mary alludes to in the final two verses, verses 54 and 55, that God is faithful.

She makes mention of her people, Israel, saying, “He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

Over and over, even when God’s servant Israel failed Him, He has came to their aid.

Psalm 98:3 tell us that “He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”

And over time, He has spoken through the fathers of Isreal:

To Abraham, He said, “...Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him” (Genesis 17:19).

To David, He said, “...your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16).

And now, through Mary, God’s faithfulness for all would be revealed as she would bring Jesus, who is the Seed, who is the Christ, the Savior into the world, so that all might be saved through Him.

Point 2: Joseph’s Reaction

Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25

Explanation:

And so now that we have read of Mary’s reaction, let’s briefly turn our attention to Joseph's, if you will, please turn your Bibles to Matthew 1.

Sometime after Gabriel’s announcement to Mary in Luke 1 occured, we learn in Matthew 1 that Joseph, her betrothed at the time was made known of her pregnancy, although the Bible doesn’t tell us of that moment, it does tell us of his thoughts following it.

Matthew 1:19, “Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.”

We learn a little about Joseph here, as Matthew describes him as a just or upright man, meaning that he tried to do what is morally right, as he too, being a Jew, tried to do as the Law required of him.

Joseph had the same thought that any man would have if his future wife came to him telling him she was still a virgin, but somehow had been impregnated by the Holy Spirit…she’s crazy and she’s lying.

Back in these days a wedding was much more than two people doing on dates, one presenting a ring, telling parents, and then setting a date, it was more involved, it was very formal and serious, often agreements that involved families and commitments.

Being engaged to someone who you know didn’t get pregnant by you was a no-no, but as we know and as Joseph would come to know, this wasn’t something Mary had done, but God.

Despite Joseph being a just man, his love for Mary wouldn’t have him expose her to the public, but instead was minded to put her away secretly, quietly breaking off their engagement.

Joseph loved her, he didn’t want her entire life to be ruined by a public announcement of what he thought was her betrayal of their future together, but soon he would learn that what she had told him was not a lie, but the truth.

Starting in Verse 20, beginning with that wonderful word we love, “But”, meaning forget what you just read cause God is about to do something to change the outcome!

It reads, “But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’”

Just as an angel had appeared to Mary, one would appear to Joseph now, in a dream, offering words of comfort that would allow this just man to remain with the woman he loved.

Not only would this allow him to stay with her, but he would get to be the step-father of Jesus, the Son of God, the One who will save God’s people from their sins!

Like we know being Jesus’s mother was special for Mary, and as a man, if an angel of God is telling me that God is entrusting His Son to me, to raise Him, what a blessing, what a privilege, what an honor that must have felt like for him.

Matthew reminds us that one of the reasons Joseph was chosen was because it fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah concerning the Messiah, “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’”

Joseph would get to wake up each and everyday knowing that he would be fathering the Messiah, like the One his fathers who came before him spoke about, the One who would change the entire world for his people, the Israelites.

And so with this new information in Joseph’s mind, how does the “But” back in verse 20 change Joseph’s future actions?

Verse 24 and 25, “Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.”

Due to what God did between the “But” and the “Then”, we see that he was aroused from sleep, meaning he woke up, and did what the angel of the Lord had told him and took Mary as his wife, being obedient to the Lord, trusting in Him, believing in what he had been told, what a faith Joseph must have had.

Months later, in a little manger in Bethlehem, Luke tells us that Mary brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there, as verse 25 tell us, they would call His name Jesus, otherwise known in Hebrew and Aramaic as Yeshua, a combination of Ya, an abbreviation for Yahweh, the name of Israel’s God (Exodus 3:14); and the verb yasha, meaning “rescue,” “deliver,” or “save”.

Praise the Lord!

Altar Call

As the worship team comes...

Do you have the same type of faith that Mary had? Do you have the same type of faith that Joseph had?

A faith that worships God.

A faith that exalts God.

A faith that trusts God.

A faith that fears God.

A faith that remembers God.

A faith that obeys God.

A faith that puts God’s will above all else.

One that says, sure God, you do the impossible through me.

I’ll do it, I am your guy, I am your girl, there is nothing impossible with you.

Is that the type of faith you have?

That’s the type of faith a life in Christ requires, because without Him, it would be impossible to be who we are