Annunciation: Awaiting the Christ of Christmas Part 2

Luke 1:26–31 ESV

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from 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. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 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 bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

Luke 1:26–28 ESV

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from 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. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

Matthew 13:31–33 ESV

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

Preaching the Word: Luke, Vol. 1—That You May Know the Truth Chapter 3: The Annunciation of Christ

From all indicators, her life would not be extraordinary. She would marry humbly, give birth to numerous poor children, never travel farther than a few miles from home, and one day die like thousands of others before her—a nobody in a nothing town in the middle of nowhere.

Luke 1:26-

GABRIEL (ANGEL) [Heb gabrı̂ʾēl (גַּבְרִיאֵל)]. Gabriel (whose name means “God is my warrior”) is one of two angels named in the Hebrew Bible (; ), the other being Michael (, ; ).

Luke 1

Humility is fertile ground for divine activity.

Nazareth - was the wrong side of the tracks. It was not a place of prestige and piety.

You expect God to show up in Jersualem. No ONE! NO ONE expected NAZARETH!

Nazareth doesn’t even appear in the Old Testament.

Preaching the Word: Luke, Vol. 1—That You May Know the Truth Chapter 3: The Annunciation of Christ

Nazareth, a shoddy, corrupt halfway stop between the port cities of Tyre and Sidon

Kent Hughes

Nazareth, a shoddy, corrupt halfway stop between the port cities of Tyre and Sidon.

Remember what Nathanael said when he found out Jesus was from Nazareth?

John 1:45–46 ESV

45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Mary was a peasant teenage girl who was almost certainly illiterate. Girls didn’t attend school so the only knowledge she had of the scriptures was what she might have picked up here and there.

Scholars estimate that she was between the ages of 12 to 14.

Kent Hughes

From all indicators, her life would not be extraordinary. She would marry humbly, give birth to numerous poor children, never travel farther than a few miles from home, and one day die like thousands of others before her—a nobody in a nothing town in the middle of nowhere.

God often favors those the world forgets.

James 4:6 ESV

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Look what happens in the story plot. Look what hands to this nobody when you add Jesus to the story!

Notice how Mary reacts - You don’t understand - I have college, and a career. I have to think about my retirement.

Luke 1:31–38 ESV

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 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, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 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. 36 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. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:31–37 ESV

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 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, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 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. 36 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. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Luke 1:31–33 ESV

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 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, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

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Luke 1:31-

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We had a point of controversy at our wedding! One of the things that they wanted played was the song “Ava Maria”.

This song extols Mary!

What makes her so special this nobody from nowhere?

Jesus transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Luther said,

He might have gone to Jerusalem and picked out Caiaphas’s daughter, who was fair, rich, clad in gold embroidered raiment and attended by a retinue of maids in waiting. But God preferred a lowly maid from a mean town.

The Christmas story is not about how great Mary is but how great Jesus is.

Who is Jesus

The Son of the Most High (v. 32)

He is the rightful Air of the Davidic rule (v. 32)

He is the eternal king who will never be part of the kingly succession.

Holy

The Son of God

Mary is a nobody who becomes a somebody because of her connection to Jesus.

John 1:12 ESV

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

John 1

Remember with God the impossible becomes actual.

Verse 37 literally translates - “For not impossible will be everything with God”.

Notice how Mary reacts - You don’t understand - I have colage, and a career. I have to think about my retirement.

Remember Christ has every right to reprioritize your life.