He Is The Lord

When we pick up the story here in verse 39, the narrative is hot on the heels of the Angel Gabriel announcing to young Mary that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and bear the Christ-child.

Luke 1:26–38 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. 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. 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 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. 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.” 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.

A brief imagining of this scene might cause us to think that there could be nothing more exciting than a visit from an angel. A miraculous announcement. A prophecy of a millenium-changing event. How amazing would that be? But imagine the weight that was just immediately put upon the mind of young Mary. Imagine how her mind was racing. How she would be perceived. How she would explain this miraculous child to her betrothed Joseph, to her parents, to the religious leaders. Yet she says, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Luke 1:

R.C. Sproul puts it this way here, “The beginning of Jesus life is marked by a mother who submits to the will of God.”

In that way, young Mary is an example for the believers today - in submitting to the will of God. It goes without saying that this is our calling, this is our duty, and this is the best possible way to carry out our days, by submitting to God’s will.

Solomon, at the end of his life, says to us:

Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 ESV

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Fear God, Keep his Commandments. This is the duty of man. The idea of God’s Lordship, of his ruling over the earth, of his kingship and power and worthiness to be feared, is quite evident in scripture.

Psalm 95:3 ESV

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

Psalm 99:1–3 ESV

The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples. Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he!

Hebrews 4:13 ESV

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

God is indeed the creator of the earth and all that is, God is overseeing every person and every being, but God is not just watching in a distant and uninterested way, rather, God is ruling over all the earth. He is above all powers, both physical and spiritual, and he is above all creation. He is King, and He is Lord.

And this title, Lord, is not just limited to God the Father, but this title, as we see in our passage and in many many new testament passages, is given to the Son, Jesus Christ.

We have Seen that Jesus is the I AM - He is very God of very Gods.

We have seen that Jesus is Emmanuel - God with us, bringing us union with God through his work of reconciliation.

We have seen that Jesus is Christ - Messiah - The anointed one of God who brings peace to His people.

We have seen that He is Jesus - The Salvation of God embodied, for he saves his people from their sins.

Finally, on this Christmas Eve, we have chosen to view Jesus Christ in His glorious title of Lord. In scripture our Savior is portrayed as all these things, he is God, he is with us, he is the messiah, and he is Savior, but He is none of these things unless He is Lord.

In the Psalms we read a minute ago, we notice that the word LORD is in all capital letters. This is not by mistake, and it is not a typographical error. The translators do this on purpose in the Old Testament to indicate when the special covenant name for God is used, Yahweh. This was a name so glorious and awe-inspiring that the Jewish people would not read it as written when they came upon it in a text, but rather they would replace it with another of God’s names, or simply refer to it as Hashem, “The name.”

When we come to the Septuagint, the Greek-translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, we find that the translators used the Greek word Kurios to translate the covenant name Yahweh. This is significant because that is the very usage we have here in our passage today, and also many places referring to Jesus Christ. Those who used this term of Jesus knew exactly the significance it had, and they used it purposefully. What they are saying is that Jesus as revealed in the New Testament is one in the same with Yahweh as revealed in the Old Testament. And this didn’t just come to be after he had lived a while and proven himself, but rather those who believed God’s promise knew that the Messiah was Yahweh Himself all along, including Elizabeth in our text today. We see in Scripture that Christ is Lord, He has always been Lord, and he will be Lord forever.

So come along as we view this short interaction and see what Elizabeth Saw, and as we have gathered on this Christmas Eve to do,

Let us worship our Savior, The Lord, for He shall reign forever.

1. An Unexpected Visit - 39-41

In Luke’s account here, we are not given any indication that there was much time between Gabriel’s announcement to Mary and her travelling to see Elizabeth. This quick response of Action by Mary has been seen by some as a possible cover-up of the pregnancy, but that is unlikely for she seems to have left before there would be any evidence of her pregnancy at all, and when she returned three months later, it became well known that she was with child. I believe rather her visit was evidence of her faith, for Gabriel had told her that her relative Elizabeth was 6 months pregnant though she had before been barren. Mary travelled to share in excitement and wonder of what God was doing.

The travel itself should not be overlooked. Although we do not have a specific location as in a city given, the reference here has been taken by many to refer to the region near Jerusalem. This would have been nearly a 4 day journey for anyone, let alone a young girl. It was unheard of for a situation like this to take place. Not only is a young girl traveling outside her home town alone, but a four day journey, and all the while knowing she was pregnant. But it seems as if Mary saw this as a matter of obedience and of great importance, for she went in a hurry and arrived safely by God’s good care.

When she entered into the house and greeted Elizabeth, Several things happened. Elizabeth heard the greeting, the baby in her womb leaped for joy, and Elizabeth began in great excitement and full of the Holy Spirit to rejoice and to exclaim.

We must remember a couple things here to get our minds in context.

First, there would have been no way to announce such a hasty visit beforehand. A young, poor girl such as Mary would have had no means to send ahead and announce of her travels. This would be reserved for the kings and the noble, not for mere commoners. It would not have been possible for Mary to make a brief phone call, or send a text, or shoot a facebook message, or even to send a telegram or a brief message via pony express. Rather, when we see Mary stepping inside the home and giving a greeting, this would have been a complete surprise visit.

The Greeting itself is not to be overlooked, either. This would not have been simply a “hello,” or a, “hey elizabeth, its mary from Nazareth.” or a “hi, how are you?” Rather, the Oriental Greeting was a formal greeting. It would include in it well-wishes for the one being greeted, the purpose of the visit, a backstory and a catching-up on what has transpired, and it could last several minutes. Mary would have had time over the 4 day journey to prepare exactly what she was going to say to Elizabeth about the angel, her pregnancy, her concerns, her joy, and what God was doing.

We must also not forget that Elizabeth’s being filled with the Spirit here is not to be taken for granted, but rather this is a special happening, a miraculous moment given as a gift by God in this situation to confirm what she had just heard from Mary.

Again, while we see Mary and Elizabeth appearing in the pages of the New Testament, they are not living in the New Testament. They are still living within the timeframe between the two testaments, and the operation of the Holy Spirit would have been as it was in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, we see the Holy Spirit coming upon people for short periods of time for specific, miraculous reasons - and this is no different. God’s presence was with his people constantly, but his spirit did not dwell in his people as it does today. Jesus explains this in

John 14:16–17 ESV

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

“He dwells with you and will be in you.” God has always been with His people, but in the New Covenant we are privileged to be indwelt with God’s Holy Spirit constantly. What a blessing, what a privilege, and may we not take for granted the indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit of God.

But with Elizabeth’s miraculous filling of the Holy Spirit comes her response, which was not scripted and planned like Mary’s greeting, but rather it was Spirit-inspired.

2. An Unrehearsed Blessing - 42-44

Immediately Elizabeth breaks out in spirit-inspired dual-eulogy. Now, when we think of Eulogy, we think of a funeral. This was not a funeral, however. Rather, it was quite the opposite! This was a eulogy of birth, not of death. The word used for “blessed” is the word from which we get our english word eulogy, and it simple means to speak well of, or in this case, that someone is well-spoken of. Perhaps it is a shame that we save our eulogies for the deceased, although it is more difficult for it to go to their head at that point!

In all seriousness, what we have here is a spirit-inspired exclamation coupled with the natural excitement and wonder at what Elizabeth had just heard. The word used for “exclaim” is the word for shouting! It was a shriek of excitement. We have all heard the excited shrieks when an older woman hears that a younger woman is pregnant. Perhaps it is a first grandchild, or a close friend, or someone who has been attempting to have children for some time. In any case, it is a cause for elation - but in this case, the cause is much greater! Not only is young Mary pregnant, but the child she is bearing is miraculous and blessed.

Elizabeth says first, “blessed are you among women.” In other words, how privileged and amazing is it that God has chosen to bestow this honor upon you. This is the first beatitude of the New Testament. Mary, no doubt, had thought over the significance of what was taking place over the last few days, but here Elizabeth’s spirit-inspired beatitude helps to drive the point home that this was, indeed, a great honor. Was there fear involved? Certainly. Was there unsurety and doubt? Absolutely. But whenever God chooses to bless us with great opportunity, the magnitude of his gift of grace always outweighs the threat of fear and doubt. We ought not sacrifice the blessing of obedience and faith for the temporary comforts of indifference.

Elizabeth quickly moves on to her second beatitude, and that is for the fruit of Mary’s womb. The high evaluation of Mary depends entirely upon the significance of her son, the fruit of her womb. And that is so critical to remember. Mary was not previously a significant and miraculous character, and as we go through the New Testament, we see also that any focus on Mary and her miraculous role in this story seem to fade away in light of her Son, and that is just as it ought to be. For just as John the Baptist said, “He must increase, and I must decrease,” so it was with Mary the Mother. She was Blessed and God’s grace was bestowed upon her for this moment in redemptive history, but her small spotlight is quickly and rightfully outshadowed by the blinding beam of glory that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

However, this logical view of Mary’s personhood has been distorted in several ways throughout church history. Things like her perpetual virginity, her own immaculate conception, her sinless perfection, and her bodily assumption without death, are taught as dogma in the Roman Catholic church. These are things which not only are not taught in scripture, but can almost certainly be directly contradicted by scripture. This idolatrous view has taken hold so much that now there is a large group of people who wish to have Mary established as co-mediatrix with Christ. That is, to place her on the very same plane, and to view the mediation of Christ as impossible without his mother Mary. And although many faithful Roman Catholics will tell you that their elevation of Mary is still below that of Christ, and that their prayers to Mary and the Saints are no different than asking another believer to pray for them, it is evident in the practical outplaying of their lives that these views have, in fact, become idolatrous and have indeed been added to and distort the purity of the Gospel.

In verse 43, Elizabeth asks, “Why is it granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Here is where we encounter our Title for the Savior, Lord, and here is where we begin to see the clarity of the significance of this visit. Elizabeth is not elated to be visited by Mary as this extraordinary blessed woman in general, but she is elated to be visited by her because the child in her womb is God in human flesh. How can this be? Well all the big theological words in the world don’t make it a whole lot clearer, but they do help to define terms.

What we have in this case has been defined as the Hypostatic Union. That is to say, the coexistence of the two distinct natures of Christ. Backing up a bit, we remember that we as Christians are Monotheistic. In the one being of God there are three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit. We have a hard time separating the difference between being and person, but they are not one in the same. That is why it is incorrect to say that Father, Son, and Spirit are three gods. They are one being, but they are three distinct persons. It is also important that we don’t view them as each comprising 33.3 percent of God, so that the Father has 33.3%, the Son has 33.3%, and the Spirit has 33.3%. The mystery is that each person of the godhead bears in his person the fulness of God, yet not one of the persons can be separated out.

When we come to the person of Christ, we have one person with two natures. The Divine, and the Human. That is why it is right to say that Jesus is Truly God and Truly Man. It is not really accurate to say that he is 100% God and 100% man, because any mathemetician will tell you that 200% of an object is in fact two of those objects. Clear as mud, right? Well this is important because when we get to this point, we can now define what is meant by “mother of my Lord.”

The historical term that has been used for Mary is Theotokos, which means God-bearer, or Mother of God. In the wrong frame of mind, this can be used to elevate the person of Mary. In fact, however, this term is meant rather to elevate the person of Christ. When we say that mary’s first son was God in the flesh, that is no compliment to Mary, but rather it is a glorification of the Son, Jesus Christ. It is correct to say that Mary is the mother of God the Son according to his human nature. Shortened to “Mary, mother of God” as we often hear, it is more confusing and less helpful.

So Elizabeth’s use of “Mother of my Lord” teaches us much more about the infant in Mary’s womb than it does about the mother of that baby. What Elizabeth was confessing, under the inspiration of the holy Spirit, was the The baby to be born of Mary was not just important, not just significant, and not just blessed, but that the baby was in fact Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel, the King above all Kings and the God above All Gods.

Isaiah prophesied it well, and Elizabet confirms this prophecy.

Isaiah 9:6 ESV

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6–7 ESV

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Isaiah 9:6-7

This baby is the Lord, not just a Lord, but the Lord. Any jewish listener to Elizabeth’s doxology here would have understood here reference to be to God himself. We need to look no further than the next passage, the Magnificat, the song of Mary, where she exclaims

Luke 1:46–47 ESV

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

Luke 1:46-

Here Mary uses the same word, Kurios, and compares it to “God My Savior.” In Hebrew poetry, that kind of parallelism was the way to say that two things were one in the same. Mary here also understands that the Lord in her womb is the Lord who made the heavens, the Lord who redeems his people, and the Lord who would reign forevermore.

Philippians 2:1–11 ESV

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5–11 ESV

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Luke 2:11 ESV

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Acts 2:36 ESV

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

In eternity that is what will be known and remembered about the baby that was in Mary’s womb for 9 months. Not that his mother was obedient and blessed, although she was, and not that the birth itself was miraculous and magnificent, although it was, but what will be confessed, sung, proclaimed, and lamented even, by many, is that Jesus Christ is Lord!

And in this great rejoicing, may we not zoom past the first declaration of John the Baptist. He was sent and miraculously called to be the one to prepare the way for the Lord, the one who would cry out in the deserts, the one who would preach beforehand the good news of Christ, and here he gets his first chance. Miraculously, and not just as coincidence, when the baby heard the story that Mary told, he leaped in Elizabeth’s womb to miraculously confirm the wonder of the message that had been heard. If that does not display God’s sovereignty even over our children, i don’t know what does.

3. An Unfinished Ending - 45

Well even in this glorious, Spirit-inspired declaration by Elizabeth, there is unfinished business involved. Not unfinished from God’s point of View, but unfinished, and incomplete from our point of View.

Verse 45 can be translated two different ways, both equally valid and helpful. It can be translated as it is in the ESV, (read), and it can also be translated as “Blessed is she who believed, for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken.”

Here we see the juxtaposition of the already and the not-yet. At this point, already had been fulfilled God’s promise to send the Messiah. Already had been fulfilled God’s promise to give Elizabeth a son. Already had been fulfilled the promise that Mary would conceive of the Holy Spirit. But there was the not yet, because the child had not been born yet, he had not lived his life yet, he had not fulfilled everything that had been prophesied of him.

Mary was blessed because she believed that God would fulfill those promises, even if they had not yet fully come to fruition. And here we find ourselves, also. For in our lives we too live in the juxtaposition of the Already and the Not Yet.

Already we have experienced the forgiveness of God, but not yet have we experienced the total eradication of sin.

Already have we been justified by faith, but not yet have we been glorified in the eternal sense.

Already we have been made heirs of the heavenly promises, the glorious inheritance that is waiting for us, but not yet have we recieved the fulness of that experience.

Already we have been given the blessing of gathering week after week to worship our Savior, but not yet have we been called up to be with him and to see him as we are seen, to know him a we are known.

You see, within the glory of the Gospel there are so many mysteries, so many unknowns, so many questions and wonders. To put it very lightly, it is comparable to a child who sees his wrapped up Christmas packages, and he knows there are treasures within for him, but he has not yet seen them or experienced them fully.

So it is with Christ as Lord. Already we see him ruling and reigning, but not yet have we seen him utterly destroy every foe. Remember what was promised to mary.

Luke 1:31–33 ESV

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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Mary was promised that of His kingdom there would be not end. Well, lets fast-forward a bit.

Revelation 11:15 ESV

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

You see, dear ones, one day, the not-yet will become the already. Already we see Jesus as Lord, but not yet do we see him destroying every foe, ruling on this world, making every enemy his footstool. It is not because he cannot, but rather it is because His glorious sovereign plan is still unfolding to reveal his splendor and might.

But there is one part that does not fit in the already and not yet dilemma. It is that last phrase, he shall reign forever and ever.

You see, we will never reach the moment where we say, “ok, it is done, Christ has reigned forever, so let us move on to something else.” Never will we say, “Well, the Lord has reached his alloted time of reigning, and now the next dimension can unfold.” Not once will we ever attain to a tim where we are bored with Christ reigning, where we are tired of his kingdom, where we are unsatisfied with his sovereign hand ruling over all. Christ will reign forever and ever, and that is a promise that we will never see the end of.

To bring this home, if we know and believe now that Christ is Lord and that he will reign forever, then may we live as if He is Lord now. Not just as the future Lord, not just as the coming king, but as the sovereign ruler over us, over the world, over everything.