Mary Did You Know?

The song Mary did yoou know was written in 1984 when Mark Lowry wrote the song in

the form of a questions that took place in 1984 and it was some 30 years later that he was

able to put the music with this song that is song now by many people. It was Buddy Greene

that in 1991 took those lyrics and made music for the song. Turn with me to Luke 1:35 My

Topic is Mary did you know when it

comes to Mary people go to two extremes they either magnify her so much until Jesus ended

up taking second place or they ignore her all together Elizabeth call

Mary the mother of my Lord and that's the reason we hornor her Luke 1:43 the amazing thing

about Mary is that was nothing amazing about her she was very ordinary and average in fact

only extraordinary thing about Mary it's the way she responded to God's submission Mary's

goodness Play No role whatsoever and her selection to be the mother of the Messiah like all of

us she did not Merit God's grace and she did not Merit God's mercy or his goodness the angel

said to Mary Hail you are highly favored the word hail or lieva in our language only means

hello sadly man has taken the greeting that Gabriel said unto her into a language and use it as

an act of worship even a prayer to Mary the angel Gabriel refers to Mary as being highly

favored but that is referring to God blessing her not referring to Mary being able to bless

anybody else in ancient time they believe that the word highly favor ment full of grace the

church in the Dark Age began to teach that this grace was in Mary when all the time it was

unmerited favor that came from God to Mary so now they says Hail Mary full of Grace it is

also in Christmas songs it has even been turned into a prayer that thousands of sincere

people pray everyday but unfortunately that prayer is nowhere in your Bible furthermore it is

very

obvious throughout the entirety of the New Testament the Apostolic Church never prayed

to Mary in fact she is only mantion one time after the Gospels in Act 1:14 Mary was certainly

treated with respect and hornor she was certaintly care for but she was just another disciple

who was apart the church in the first century she did not possess any special Grace she did

not have any special power or authority to give blessings to anyone and neither do anyone

else other than the Lord Jesus Christ the bible never tells us to pray in Mary's name it never

Tells us to pray in of a preacher or a church or a denomination but it often tells us to pray

in the name of Jesus Gabriel never said to Mary blessed are you above women but he did say

blesses are you among women Mary was not special in fact she was a poor peasant girl and

that's the beauty of this Christmas Story none of us has to be special or particularly gifted

either God gives His Grace to us not because we deserve it but simply because he loves us

and he wonts us to spend eternity in heaven with Him so Gabriel Majestic announcement

that Mary was to become the mother of the Messiah in God's instructions to both her

and Joseph and a separate appearance Gabriel gave the exact same instructions you are to

names this child Jesus the name Jesus means Jehovah is salvation short story the God of the

Old testament who formed the mountains and Trace the rivers with his fingertips and

unfolded the heavens with the movement of His hand and He created everything you can

see or enjoy. God put Himself in flesh and becomes salvation that's why the

angle said to Joseph thou shall call His name Jesus for he shall save His people from their

sins and nobody else could do that they have tried for thousands of years in all kinds of

religions Pagan and Jewish they tried to reach God with good works and observance of His

Commandments but that wasn't working so God reversed it so the king of all ages said if you

can't come to me i'll come to you if you can't reach me i'll reach you if you can't tuch me i'll

touch you and we'll still here two thousand years later being touched and changed by the

hand of the almighty God all because of God's initiative toward us notice exactly what Gabriel

says and what he do not say as the son of Mary Jesus would be human but when he called

Him the Son of the Highest Gabriel was also telling her that He would be divine and He shall be

grate not you Mary but He shall be grate He shall be called He shall be given a throne He shell

reign and of His kingdom there be no end the emphasis there everywhere in the gospels and

everywhere in the Bible it is on the greatness of Jesus and not of His mother Gabriel is not

alone in this Proclamation about Jesus because 600 years before God ever became flesh the

prophet Isaiah he told us specifically that Jesus is the center of all scripture Isaiah says unto

us a child is born unto us a son is given that's the humanity part but the government shall be

upon His shoulders and His name Shall be Called wonderful counselor the Mighty God the

everlasting father the Prince of Peace Jesus was fully human that's why he can identify with

you when you are tired and weak and lowly and sick and hurting and pain and dissolution and

Angry and temped and felling forsaken thats why Jesus feels your pain because His is

somebody who can identify with you but He was also fully God manifest in the flesh so that

means He can acknowledge your hurt but He can heal your hurt He can acknowledge your

sickness but He can heal your body He can acknowledge your weakness but he will give you

strength this is the Jesus that we worship and this is the beauty of this Christmas message

God took on a human nature that he had never had before so that some day Humanity could

Take on a spiritual nature that we had never had before they have written this in many forms

so I just pick one as a man He was born laid in a Manger But as God the wise men the angels

and the shepherd's all worship Him as a man He was subject to his parent But as God He

could command Legions of angels to do his bidding as a man the bible says He increased in

wisdom and stature But as God the bible says is where all the treasures and knowledge and

wisdom as a man He conversed with an anonymous woman at a well but as God He can read

her mind and tell her everything that she had ever done as a man He got hungry after 40 days

of fasting But as God He fed 5000 with two fish and five loaves of bread as a man thirst in

agony hanging on the cross But as God He was a Fountain of Living Water to all His people as

a man He grew weary and had to rest but as God He has all power in heaven as a man He had

No place to lay His head But as God He owns the cattle on a thousand hills as a man He slept

on the ship during the storm but as a God He spoke and rebuke the storm and the wind and

the waves obey His command as a man he wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus But as God

he said Lazarus come forth as a man he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane by a ban

of strong soldiers and when asked are you Jesus He said I am and they all fail backwards

As a man He hung in Agony On A Old Rugged Cross But as God when he cried out from the Old

Rugged Cross the sky turned Grey and the Sun refused to shine in accordance with His word

as

a man he was buried in a borrowed tomb as God three days later Jesus Concord death

hell and the grave when He got up no wonder angel said to Mary the Holy Ghost is going to

come up on you in the power of the most High is going to over overshadow you and the son of

the Living God will be born that's why

Gabriel explain to mary that this is going to be a absolute miracle whih the work of the Holy

Spirit of God Joseph would not be the father of this child and Mary is the one person on Earth

that know this was true this is a Holy thing and would not share the sin for nature of man

In 2nd Corinthians 5:21 Jesus knew no sin the Bible says in 1st Peter 2:22 that Jesus did no

sin 1st John 3:5 says Jesus had no sin and He did no sin and He had no sins that is why He is

exactly the one who could save us from our sins his body was prepared for Him by the spirit of

God According to Hebrew 10:5 same expression that was used to over Shadow Mary also

Used in the holy of holy in the Tabernacle in Ex. 40:35 He is the ALL Mighty God in human flesh

As if it was a human Tabernacle put together but God presents Dewell in the Holiness of holy

This was the plan of God before the foundation of the world it is amazing how the world has

painted a picture about the birth of Jesus it is not even close to what the Bible describes Him

example the world has Jesus born in a manger and animals laying all around Him

The bible only says that He was laid in a manger His birth in Luke 2:7 we picture the shepherds

the wise man standing around looking at Jesus in the manger but by the time to wise men

came to Jesus to worship him he was about 2 years of age and living in a house Matthews

chapter 2 verse 11 and verse 16 and we picture everybody following a star to Manger but that

just didn't happen the shepherds in the field near Bethlehem what's the only ones who came

to see Jusus on the night of His birth they follow some very strange instructions from

an angel these structures and seems very vague to us and the angle said unto them fear not

for behold i bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people today in the town of

David a savior has been born to you he is Christ the lord it would be a sign to you you will find

a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes laying in the manger now that is an incredible vague

sign what kind of sign is that really laying in a Manger it's kind of like someone telling you go

to

Grady hospital to the maternity ward and there you will see the baby lying in a crib wrapped in

swaddling clothes there are hundreds of mangers in every burn in Bethlehem used to feed

animals with that is hardly a sign unless we overlook what is say it in the Bible this

Christmas Story those instructions was not very vague at all they was very very specific

instructions remember it was the prophet Micah that told us that Jesus would be born in

Bethlehem and Micha 5:2 and it reads but thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little

among the thousands of Judah yet out of thee shall come forth unto me that is to be ruler of

Israel whose going forth have been from of old from Everlasting. Bethlehem which mean the

house of

bread and Ephratah is a root word means blood so the place where Jesus was born at was a

place of house and blood and when Jesus do what he did at the table of the Last Supper it was

already prophesized 33 1/2 years ago everything in your bible it what's not put there by

accident the first place we see Bethlehem Ephratah it's not in the Book of Micah but it's more

than a thousand years before Micah When Rachel dies bringing her son Benjamin into the

world in the Book of Genesis chapter 35:19 so Rachel died and was buried on the way to

Ephrath ( that is Bethlehem) Jacob set up a stone monument over Rachel's grave and it can be

seen there to this day. then Jacob traveled on and camped beyound Migdal-eder now Migdal

mean tower of the flock the Tower of the flock was a watchtower the Shepherds used to

watch over the flocks as they grazed in the fields the shepherd's had many Towers but this

particular Tower have special meanings because Rachel's toomb was near by and as

time

went migdal-eder became even more important because the unclean nature of shepherding

and the only place where a person could Shepherd A Flock was in the wilderness far away

from everyone else lived because they did not want to make the village or the town's or the

cities unclean you did not keep a flock of sheep near a city it was in the wilderness always

with only one exception because of hundreds a sheep needed to be used for sacrifices and

these flocks needed to be kept in close proximity to Jerusalem thankfully just five miles away

from Jerusalem what's a little village as we know is Bethlehem

Ephratah was hills and valleys it was perfect for grazing sheep so Bethlehem became the

one place of all of Israel where sacrificial Lambs were raised it was close to Jerusalem so

those lambs was raised for sacrifice and on the edge Bethlehem was a tower called

Migdal-eder the tower of the flock it was told that these animals the cows the lambs and all

the animals at this tower could be used of the purpose of sacrifice and they had to be without

blemish in other word they to be perfact Bethlehem was five miles the way from Jerusalem

and this

towel was 4 miles away from Bethlehem so that the sheep could be raised and examine that

had to be perfect if they didn't have no spot or blemish all of these Shepherds had to be

specific

Shepherds would deliver the Sheep to the temple in Jerusalem 5 miles away to be sacrificed it

was in the lower level of the tower where newborn sheep were born and if it was spotless and

they had no deformity no injuries and no markings it will be brought to the lower-level of

towel to be wrapped in Long strips of cloth no wonder when Gabriel gave them the sign that

they were find Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes they understood exactly what the birth

was all about because that was custom for having a lamb without blemish without spot

or injuries they wrapped him in swaddling clothes to be used for the purpose of sacrifice so

when Gabriel told them to go find him laying in the manger they knew exactly where to go and

find Him and they knew his only purpose for being born into this world was to be sacrificed so

that we could live so MARY DID YOU KNOW