Angel & Mary
Notes
Transcript
What Child Is This?
What Child Is This?
The second in the four part series of what child is this will focus upon two figures.
Both figures stories have been told countless times throughout our lives. The figures are Mary and the Angel.
Let’s look first at the Angel.
Angel
Angel
Have you every thought what it would be like to meet a real angel?
Ponder that for a moment.
I remember growing up in the christian community that often told stories of people picking up hitchhikers only for them to leave abruptly
These stories would tell of the visitors speaking words of comfort one moment then gone the next.
I believe we continued to tell these stories to help us understand that Angels are real. They were stories that got you thinking about angels.
Angels are real, God created them and uses them to bring messages to people as we can read throughout the scriptures.
So let me ask you again, would you want to meet up with a real angel?
If you look through scriptures, time and time again, you will see Angels appear on the scene,
If you have read about angels in the bible, do you notice that they often begin with fear not.
As I pondered about angels this week, I thought of this.
I’m not sure about you but if I came face to face with an angel, I would most likely have a small amount of fear.
You see Angels bring news.
They are messengers from God.
God Almighty has sent an angel to give you a message.
As you read through scripture, it could be good news or bad, they are God’s messengers.
Let’s take a moment and think about the Angel that came to Mary.
If you think of it for a moment, this angel brings good news, yet the news would bring a life of pondering for her.
Good news,
she will be the mother of a messiah. The long awaited messiah that would come to redeem the world.
This will be her son, She is being told, chosen to be the mother of the messiah.
Let’s look at the message brought to Mary
Look at the dialogue between Mary and the Angel
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.
Notice that Mary’s focus was on the message, not the messenger.
As I got you thinking of what you would do if I came face to face with an Angel,
I think the real question should be
What is so important that need to be said to us that An angel is dispatched.
God’s written Word is His message for us today, yet if He sent an angel to speak, I believe I would do more than pondering, the message would be of up most importance.
Keep this in mind as we look at our second character this morning, Mary,
We watched earlier the skit about Mary, the character was a portrayal of Mary the mother of a Messiah who is about to enter into His public ministry.
As we what been looking at what Child is this, a production from the Skit guys, I found it most interesting that the perspective they chose was Mary’s possible perspective from her When Jesus was in ministry, and not that of a child.
19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
Pondering.... How long did she ponder.
From the moment of the Angel speaker to her,
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.
Let it be so...
To the moment the Christ Child was born....
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
To the first miracle upon the insistent of His mother at a wedding,
4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Mary pondered what it meant to be the mother of Jesus.
Mary
Mary
Let’s take a few moments to look at Mary
The opening lines to William Chatterton Dix's famous Christmas carol ask a poignant question. "What child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary's lap is sleeping?"
Dix goes on to answer this question in part during the last line of the repeated chorus. This child is "the babe, the son of Mary." Luke's gospel tells how Mary's son would be conceived and that his name would be Jesus. Mary learns of this news in a unique and unforgettable way as recorded in Luke 1:26-35.
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.
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.
Luke clearly states the son of Mary was to be named Jesus. Once she gave birth to her son, this is the name he was given just as the angel of the Lord had foretold.
As with any child, attributes and characteristics of both a child's mother and father can be recognized and on display. The angel told the virgin Mary in the passage above, what was conceived in her was not from man, but rather, from The Holy Spirit of God.
John's gospel says, "God is spirit…" (John 4:24) And Hebrews 1:3 states the following about who this child is that was born in the manger in Bethlehem.
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
What Child is This?
Thus, the child referenced in the Christmas carol is God in the flesh that embodies the exact representation of God the Father who conceived Jesus in the womb of Mary by way of the Holy Spirit.
Thus, Jesus is fully God. That is who this child is that is sung about in the Christmas carol.
However, Jesus also is fully human because as both the Scriptures and the Christmas carol state, he is "the son of Mary." The Apostle Paul speaks to this phenomenon and unique characteristic of Jesus, son of God and son of Mary, in Philippians 2.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Thus, while there certainly are reflections and attributes in Jesus' life that display God the Father, likewise, there are reflections from Mary's life that are seen in her son's being that help answer the question:
What child is this?
A son having attributes and characteristics of his mother does not make him any less male. Rather, it simply completes the design of who God created this son to be that includes imprints or reflections of his mother as one of her son's parents.
We see in the Gospel accounts the way Jesus deals with people, especially children, with compassion, patience, and tenderness. Over and over again Jesus takes the time to value children and people in the margins of life by giving them dignity and reaching out to embrace and bless them with appropriate, meaningful touch.
Mary, being described by the angel of the Lord as one who has found favor with God, must have displayed similar compassion, patience, and tenderness in her own life as a woman and mother.
This child mentioned in the carol is the one who lay sleeping on Mary's lap as a babe, but one day would grow to exhibit care and compassion to others just as his mother displayed to him.
As mentioned above from Hebrews 1:3, Jesus is the exact imprint of God. It is interesting to see how some of the descriptions of God in the Bible include motherly language and imagery.
In Isaiah 66:13 we see God comforting his people like a mother comforts her child.
13 As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
What Child is this?
In Isaiah 49:15 we see God compared to a nursing mother who would never forget his child.
"Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have not compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you." Isaiah 49:15
In Deuteronomy 32:11-12 we see God being compared to a mother eagle hovering over her young.
11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, 12 the Lord alone guided him, no foreign god was with him.
The psalms describe God as one caring for his people like a midwife cares for the child just delivered.
"Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God." Psalm 22:9-10
"Upon you have I leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you." Psalm 71:6
God in his fury is depicted as a mother bear robbed of her cubs from the Old Testament prophet Hosea.
"I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs…" Hosea 13:8
In the gospel of Luke, when Jesus longs for the people of Jerusalem, he compares himself as a mother hen longing to gather her chicks under her wings.
34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Mary once again reminds us of this motherly imagery stated in the Bible as descriptions of the nature and character of God.
Because the Scripture states that Jesus is the exact representation of God, these characteristics are true of Jesus as well. Therefore, these characteristics that would be true of Mary, also are true of the son of Mary who also was the son of God.
Additionally, both Mary and Jesus display strong lives that are willing to receive a mission that includes great faith, hope, and trust in their Heavenly Father. When Mary received the mission from the angel of the Lord to conceive and carry the Son of God in her womb, her response in Luke 1:38 was:
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.
What Child will this grow up to be?
When Jesus grew to adulthood and was in the Garden of Gethsemane praying about the mission he had been given to go to the cross to die for the sins of all humanity, he, like his mother, prayed a prayer of humble submission to his Heavenly Father. Again, Luke's gospel records the prayerful and submissive interaction.
41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
It's interesting to observe that while both Mary and Jesus were interacting in prayerful postures concerning the call and purpose of their lives that were sent from Heaven, both encountered angels in these recorded moments. The angel departed from Mary in her scene while an angel arrived to minister to Jesus in his.
Angels bring news to us, but were used to minister to God.
A continued comparison reveals both Mary and Jesus lived lives of great consequence that included deep pain. The scene above described a glimpse into the difficulty Jesus endured in those moments before his arrest that would lead to the cross.
A brief scene after the birth of Jesus in Luke's gospel shows a prophetic word for Mary that likewise, included pain and sorrow.
Mary continued to Ponder even when they brought the Christ Child to the temple and a prophecy was spoken about their child.
33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
This prophecy concerning ramifications surrounding her child also is echoed in the lyrics of the Christmas carol we are examining. Notice these lines from the second stanza.
"Nails, spears shall pierce him through, the cross he bore for me, for you. Hail, hail the Word made flesh, the Babe, the Son of Mary."
These lyrics speak to the reason Jesus was in such agony emotionally, mentally, spiritually and soon would be physically when praying in the Garden about the mission he was called to complete.
The allusion in the time of dedication in the Temple from Simeon refers to this heart piercing moment on the horizon when Mary, too, would be in great pain as she watched her son finish what he was born to do. Both his heart and hers would be pierced from the cross experience. This is part of the answer to…
What child is this?
Regardless of the pain that Mary knew she would experience in watching her son suffer on the cross, she was present in both his pain and hers. John's gospel account notes that it was Mary, Jesus's mother, who was standing by the cross on that fateful day.
"…but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother…" John 19:25
Never would Jesus' mother leave him nor forsake him, especially in his hour of need. Likewise, one of the characteristics of Jesus is the one that reminds us of his continual presence with us as his followers.
In fact, one of his names is Emmanuel: The God who is with us. Jesus, like his mother, Mary, is with us in our darkest hour and deepest pain. Jesus told his followers that no matter what, he would be with them always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)
One of the most powerful scenes of compassion and care that we mutually see displayed in the lives of Mary and Jesus toward one another is this scene referenced above where Mary is near Jesus when he is on the cross. While Mary seeks to be near, comforting and supporting her son, likewise, we see the compassion and care of the son of Mary back to his mother in this same moment.
26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
What an incredible picture of love and compassion Jesus displayed toward his mother. While he hung there dying, he had the capacity to make sure she was taken care of in his absence.
This helps complete one's understanding to the question of what child this is and would grow to be. He would be the one who loved others and loved his family to the very end.
He was selfless and sacrificing beyond measure.
He was kind and considerate even when experiencing his worst day in the worst way. He was the one who came willingly to go through the worst so that we, too, might be made family and have provision through his death and because of his life.
For not only was this child the one who was born in the manger in Bethlehem, but also, he would be the first born from the dead. And his re-birth gives all people the opportunity to be born again and saved from our sins, just as Mary came to understand.
What Child is this?
What Child is this?
It is no wonder why Mary had to ponder when she heard the words from the angel.
What about you? Are you pondering that this Advent Season.
This child came to Mary during a time and she was faithful to God in being the mother of The Son of God.
She would have handled the ridicule and questions from many in her hometown as they see her pregnant. She would have to raise a perfect child.
I can well image that Jesus’ step brothers and sisters where tired of hearing, why can’t you be like your brother Jesus.
Mary heard the message from an Angel.
Lived her life being the mother of the Emmanuel,
Let she continued to ponder.
As so clearly displayed in the video she continued to ponder or search for answers.
What about us.
What do you ponder?
Has the Christ Child made a way into your life?
Has His life , death, and Resurrection impacted your life today.
May I encourage you with this?
Why not this Christmas season, during Advent, come to Him.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
What struggles are you bearing today. Bring them to Jesus and ponder no more.
Christ,
What child is this
came to this world for you and for me.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
What child is this,
He is the savior of the world.
Why not this Christmas season, if you haven’t already, come to this child, the one that grew in the presence of Mary, his mother,
Walked this early so that He died on a cross, and God Raised him from the dead to live eternally and his death and Resurrection has made a way for you and I to be with him.
Why not this Christmas season give your whole life to Christ. Accept his free gift of salvation, Believe that he has done this for you and confess with your mouth that he is your risen saviour.
What Child is this?
He is the saviour that left heaven to come for you and me,
The angel gave a message that drove Mary to ponder all of her life and to see the messiah, we too must ponder God’s Word for our lives and to be faithful in serving our risen lord and saviour.
Amen