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Play video bumper of John 1:39-45
The last 18-24 months have seen an uptick in the amount of media portraying evangelicals as misogynists.
The charge is that if women are prohibited from being Pastors or Elders then women are perceived as 2nd class Christians.
The problem with this is that it creates a false platform.
I know several 1st class Christians who are not Pastors or Elders in their local churches.
Being called to this role does NOT move a person to a higher rank of discipleship.
And being outside of this role does not inherently attribute lower value to one’s service for Christ.
God’s kingdom does not separate into classes of officers and enlisted, neither are their ranks within the body.
Christ and his disciples routinely elevated women above the role that society attempted to limit them.
In today’s text we will see 2 examples of women who are blessed and exalted for their contribution to the Kingdom of God through their roles as mothers.
God uses women to make a contribution to the kingdom that NO man could ever make.
As a sidenote: Just as Elder does not automatically elevate one’s value in the family of God, being a mother does not intrinsically increase a woman’s worth.
In honoring these two women today, I do not wish to communicate in any way that childless adults who are listening right now are in ANY way loved or honored less by our God and His Church.
Transition: Today’s Gospel reading divides into 3 sections based upon the characters who are the subjects of the sentences.
The first section involves 5 characters: 2 women, their preborn sons and the Holy Spirit.
The next section is a short portion that emphasizes only 1 character, Mary.
The final, and longest section concentrates on the Lord.
A short outline of the sermon is We, She, and He.
WE Confess the Work of the Lord (Luke 1:39-45)
These words were read for us in the video a moment ago.
God’s work happens in Community (vv.39-45)
1. God’s work in Zechariah and Elizabeth is told to Mary (v.36) so that they could share the glory of God at work.
2. Mary hurries to share fellowship with Elizabeth.
3. When Mary appeared in Judea the Holy Spirit confirms through John and gave Elizabeth words that affirmed what God was doing.
4. Mary didn’t have to “toot her own horn” to Elizabeth.
Even though Elizabeth tried to suppress what was happening to her, the Angel spread the word to another God-fearing person.
5.
If God is prompting you to do something, He will confirm that through others in His Body.
Medical Opinions of 1st Century (v.41)
1.
While Mary & Elizabeth would not have had stethoscopes to monitor fetal heartbeats.
And the idea of peering into the womb via sonogram or ultrasound would have blown their imaginations.
They did have one advantage over modern science—They considered preborn life to be more than a “blob of cells”.
2. They considered pre-born babies to be able to comprehend and communicate truth.
3. Just hearing Mary’s voice caused John to respond within Elizabeth’s womb (1:41)
4.
This is reminiscent of Rebekah in Gen 25.
Who notices excessive activity in her womb and discerned that God was communicating through her pregnancy.
Elizabeth – Middle Age or Elderly?
(Luke 1:18)
1. Zechariah describes himself as “old” and Elizabeth as “advanced in years”.
2. Zechariah would have been no older than 49 years old (Numbers 8:24-25).
3. We can fairly estimate that Elizabeth would have been within 5 years either way of Zechariah, leaving her somewhere between 45-55.
4. If marrying age was around 14, and Elizabeth was at least 45, that means 30 years of opportunity for her to get pregnant with no results until John was conceived.
Elizabeth Introduces Trinitarian Truth (Luke 1:43, 45)
1.
Notice the two ways Elizabeth uses “Lord” in these verses.
a.
In v.43 she speaks of the baby in Mary’s Womb as “the Lord”
b.
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