Lessons From the Mother of Jesus

LESSONS FROM THE MOTHER OF JESUS Spring Valley Mennonite; December 1, 2019; Luke 1:26-38 One of the best-known daily devotionals is a volume entitled “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers. In introduction to our Advent Series, I quote from this resource: “Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of—He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit for at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate—God coming into human flesh from outside it. His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors. Our Lord’s birth was an advent—the appearance of God in human form. This is what is made so profoundly possible for you and for me through the redemption of man by Jesus Christ.” “Advent” means “arrival”. Jesus Christ arrived on earth, born of the virgin Mary; God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity, took on human flesh; He is the only begotten of the Father. We are anticipating the Second Advent, when Christ returns. It’s that wonderful time of the year! Christmas offers wonderful opportunities to share the love of the Lord Jesus. It is entirely possible to keep Christ central in all our minds and activities, although the temptations are great to become distracted from the One whose birthday we celebrate. This year I will attempt to guide our thoughts during the next four Sundays through some of the main characters in the Biblical Christmas story, looking at the events of the Incarnation through their eyes and attempting to learn some lessons from them. Today, I’d like to turn your attention to the one who had a closer relationship with Jesus that anyone in His early years. This person is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary has often been neglected by the Protestant Church, perhaps in reaction to the traditions which have grown up within the Catholic Church. We would agree that many of those beliefs come from traditions, and traditions do not stand on equal ground with the Biblical record. However, there is much we can learn from this assumedly young Jewish girl, the one whom God chose above all other Jewish women to be the mother of His Son. What an awesome honor God bestowed upon Mary! From such a privileged and special person we should learn. Who was this one whom God chose for such an awesome task? I. THE ONE GOD CHOOSES FOR A GREAT TASK Mary was a simple Jewish girl, living in a small town far from the religious center of God’s chosen people. Her life became much more complicated when something extraordinary happened in her life. Read with me the account of Mary’s visit by the angel Gabriel; We find this account in Luke chapter 1, beginning in verse 26 (read through v. 28). We can recall the particular mind-set that Luke brings to the Gospels: He is writing to the Gentiles and is the only Gentile writer of all the scriptures, having written this gospel and the Book of Acts. He was a historian, providing details and background omitted by the other gospel writers. He stresses that Jesus is the Savior, not only for the Jews, but for the Gentile also. Only Luke gives us the full record of the events surrounding the birth of Christ. Matthew only mentions the birth in context of the visit of the Magi. We are left with very little information about Mary other than the facts that she was unmarried, although engaged; she was from Nazareth, and she was of the tribe of Judah, and of the family of King David. We must piece together information about her from studying the culture of the time, but still much is left to speculation. Young Jewish girls could become betrothed—engaged—when they were as young as 12 years old, yet we don’t know for sure how old Mary was. This we do know—she was strong, for she was able to endure a several-day-long donkey ride when 9 months pregnant, and she gave birth without any assistance except for Joseph, as far as scripture would tell. Mary had two relatives mentioned in Scripture: Elizabeth, who became the mother of John the Baptist and a sister who married a man named Zebedee who was the father of Jesus’ disciples James and John. This probably meant that Jesus and James and John were cousins, and most likely grew up together. Elizabeth was most likely Mary’s aunt. The genealogy in Luke 3 tells us that Mary’s father was named Eli. Other than these bits of information, few facts are known about Mary’s family. Yet I ask again: What was there about this girl that moved the Heavenly Father to choose Mary? We know that Mary was from a religious home and was well versed in the Holy writings of the Old Testament. In the Magnificat, the words of Mary to Elizabeth recorded in the first chapter of Luke, we find 15 discernable quotations from the Old Testament. While it is wonderful how God can take sinful human beings at any time in their lives and transform them into His choice servants, it has been my observation that those who have been brought up in the Christian faith have much greater likelihood of being chosen as the ones to take on great roles in the Kingdom of God. Note that I am speaking in generalities, to which exceptions abound, but children who become believers early in life and are surrounded by Christian love, example and biblical teaching are at the head of the pack when it comes to God’s choice of leaders. Good training and modeling are essential, but we all know that is not enough. God has no grandchildren; each child and individual must choose to follow God on his or her own. Mary had done that for she had found “favor with God.” Literally, “favored one” means “full of grace. Mary had personal integrity as a teenager. While life as a teenager is much different today, the challenges faced are much the same. There is the increased responsibility, the challenge of continual obedience to parents, and of dealing with the new emotions which come with a maturing body. Yet Mary weathered these storms without losing God’s favor. There is encouragement here for parents of preteens who worry about the challenges to come: with God’s grace, both you and your teen can survive it, and they have a great chance to come through it as did Mary. II. MARY’S CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT Knowing something about Nazareth also gives us understanding of how God’s choice of Mary made sense. Jesus was to be the Savior of the whole world, not only of the Jews, so God selected places where Jesus could grow up and be exposed to the predominant culture of the time. Three miles from Nazareth, which was a village estimated to have a population of about 400, was a much larger Greco-Roman city known as Sepphoris. The 30,000 residents of Sepphoris enjoyed colonnaded streets, a forum, an imposing theater of 4000 seats, a gymnasium, baths and ornate villas and palaces of limestone and marble. This city was undergoing an expansion during the period when Jesus was growing up, and laborers were conscripted from the neighboring villages by Herod Antipas, Herod the Great’s son. I have little doubt that Joseph and Jesus spent time laboring in Sepphoris. What does this have to do with Mary? Simply this: God did not pick some sheltered, out of the way place for His Son to be raised; instead He picked a couple who would live near, yet not be a part of the predominant culture of the day. Mary would not have been unaware of this cultural influence. Isolation from temptation is not always God’s plan. We parents have the responsibility to guide our children and model a godly lifestyle in the midst of a wicked and perverse culture. Let’s read a bit further in Luke, verses 29 and 30 (READ) III. A VIRGIN WOULD CONCEIVE We have heard these words so often that they don’t shock us, but let me assure you, the news to Mary that she as a virgin was to become pregnant was a shock! Try to put yourself in Mary’s place: she had entered into the first of two parts of a marriage contract with Joseph. The first part, known as the kiddushin, was normally 12 months long. The purpose of this “engagement period” was to prove the faithfulness of both husband and wife. They were in every sense legally married except they had no physical relationship whatsoever. If either party were to be found unchaste, a formal divorce had to take place to nullify the marriage contract. It was during this trial period that Gabriel appeared to Mary with the news that she was to become pregnant with God’s Son. The implications would have flooded her mind: what was she to tell Joseph? What about her parents and friends? The truth?—“It was an angel, right?” So, is it important to believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ? IV. THE IMPORTANCE IN BELIEVING IN THE VIRGIN BIRTH There are numerous reasons why believing in the Virgin Birth is essential for our faith: A. First, where the Holy Scriptures are concerned, it is an “all or nothing” proposition. If I choose to disbelieve something as clearly stated as the fact of the Virgin Birth, I then may choose to disbelieve anything else in the Bible. The Bible thus becomes to me anything I want it to be. If a passage, or even a whole doctrine troubles me, then I simply dump it. If I don’t like the doctrine of the depravity of man, I dump it. If I don’t prefer to see myself as a sinner, out it goes. If the Bible condemns my particular lifestyle, I have the freedom to ignore such verses that condemn me, or even form my own church where depravity is practiced. And, sadly, this is happening today. For most people, disbelief in the Bible is not an intellectual issue, but rather a moral issue. People want to continue in their sin, which the Bible condemns. So, they choose to disregard the truth. It is a moral choice, not based on fact. B. Next, the Virgin Birth is essential because it substantiates the Deity of Christ, that Jesus is the Son of God. The Virgin Birth is the foundation upon which all that the Bible says about Jesus Christ. No issue is more important than the Virgin Birth to understanding who Jesus claimed to be. To deny the Virgin Birth is to deny that Jesus Christ is God, for the Virgin Birth is the method by which God the Son took on humanity. For Jesus to be God, He must be born of God. Joseph the man and Mary the woman could not produce God. With Mary as His mother and God as His father, Jesus was the God/Man. Because He was God in the flesh, He was able to live a sinless life, and yet be subject to all the frailties and temptations of humanity. And most importantly, unless Jesus was Virgin born, He could not have been the sacrifice for our sins, our Redeemer. Because God cannot die, the Son of God had to become man to be subject to death. If Jesus was not born of a Virgin, He was only a man, and could not have died for our sins as the perfect sacrifice. C. Thirdly, The Messiah had to be born of a Virgin, for that was what Scripture foretold. In Genesis 3:15, as God curses Satan He says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel.” This is the promise of a redeemer Who would crush Satan’s head. This Redeemer would be the seed of woman (note the word is “seed,” not “seeds,” and is singular). Jesus, because He was the son of Mary, but not of Joseph or any man, was the seed of woman. He fulfilled Isaiah 7:14, which records the Prophet Isaiah’s prophesy that “…a Virgin will be with child, and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel”. It is not only important to believe in the Virgin birth, it is essential to believing Jesus is God. When given the news that she as a virgin would bear God’s Son, Mary responded, recorded in Verse 38: “And Mary said, ‘Behold, the bond-slave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.’” I belong to God, I’m His servant; He can do whatever with my life. V. MARY’S GREATEST SINGLE QUALIFICATION Mary had many good qualities: she was from the tribe of Judah; she was a virgin as prophesied; she lived in a place where her son could observe the various cultures of the times —Roman, Greek and Jewish; Mary was a virtuous person, coming from a religious family that gave her a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament; but the greatest qualification was that Mary was available and yielded to God. She placed her trust in an Omnipotent God who would take care of all the details of a very uncertain future. I wonder how often God has placed opportunities before you and me which have seemed too difficult: “Oh, I couldn’t possibly do that God; I’m too young.” Or “I’m too old.” Or “I don’t have the education, or experience or resources to do anything special.” To Mary, the only question was, “Is this God’s will for me?” Somewhere in Mary’s upbringing, she had learned that following God’s will leads to God’s greatest blessing. God is more interested in our availability than our ability. Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Mary was entrusted with the greatest responsibility any woman has ever carried: she was to love, nurture, teach, protect, and guide the tiny helpless Son of God. Yet she carried this greatest honor with humility. I would end with one last glimpse of Mary. The record is found in Luke 2:34 as the elderly Simeon describes the Infant Messiah: “And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His Mother, ‘Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed—and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.’” This was a prediction of the agony Mary would have to bear because of the opposition of the religious rulers to her Son, ending in His execution. Mary was present when Jesus was crucified, and she was present at His tomb. Mary lived with the whispers of the illegitimacy of Jesus’ birth. She endured the snubbing of those who misunderstood. She worried like any mother when her Son was misunderstood; her very townspeople tried to stone him! There was the price to be paid for obedience, yet God chose a young girl with fire in her soul, with holiness as her goal for an example for us to follow in her willingness to do whatever God told her to do. Can we ever grasp the magnitude of responsibility she carried? Of course, God chose a couple, and next week we will examine Joseph and the lessons to be learned from him.