He Said..She Said!
Notes
Transcript
That’s what she said!
That’s what she said!
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”
Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?”
The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
“See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
He Said What?
He Said What?
The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
See, the virgin will become pregnant
and give birth to a son,
and they will name him Immanuel,
which is translated “God is with us.”
When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.
Perspective Matters
Perspective Matters
Mary:
It’s important to note a few things here about Mary and the preservative she had as opposed to the perspective that her cousin Zachariah had.
But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.
Zachariah:
When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified and overcome with fear.
Joseph:
But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
I wanted to talk about the perspective of these three people that the angel came to visit.
Mary and Zachariah were both physically visited by and Angel, Joseph was visited in a dream by and angel of the Lord.
Zachariah was terrified and skeptical . We know what that got him we talked about it last night
Mary was perplexed because of what Gabriel said the CSB says deeply troubled…
And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”
There is a reason she would have been troubled. Historians place Mary's probable age at between 15 or 16 though she could have been as young as 12 her trip to visit her cousin would have needed some maturity leading more towards the older age. But more than that we have to remember. Mary was a Jewish woman who was just 5 very specific words by an angel...”The Lord is with you.” Mary was very likely feeling the weight of those words as they were the words spoken to prophets and kings throughout her peoples history. That weight would have been real and she wanted to know what came next, because historically those words preceded a big ask. Mary now has a lot to think about and to work through she is troubled by what’s to come but she doesn’t run, she doesn’t question or throw up doubts she listens and her response is amazing.
Blueprints
Blueprints
Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”
Gabriel proceeds to explain whats next. He tells Mary likely all of 16 years old at the most that she is going to have a son..that he’s going to be great…that he’s going to have the throne of David…Gabriel explains to this young girl from Galilee…not the richest of places that she is going to be the one that births the Messiah, make no mistake Mary would have known what the Angel was saying when he used the language he was using. Mary knew those words were reserved for the Messiah. She’s not sure about all of this but i love that she doesn't back away…she doesn’t freak out…she asks a quiestion similar to Zacheriahs but there is a major difference.
Zacharias question of How can this be is full of doubt. He hears what the angel says and says yeah but we’re old so this isn’t really possible.
Mary’s how can this be stems from her very real understanding of what it takes to have a baby.
Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?”
She knows that having a baby is possible but there are some things that just have to be there. Zachariah knows that having a baby is possible but only if you’re a certain age. He doubts God where as Mary truly needs to know how she is going to have a baby when she and Joseph hadn’t been together yet. Gabriel answers her question...
The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
He tells her about her cousin as futher proof that God can do whatever God pleases.
For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Meanwhile Joseph is having some issues of his own.
She’s not that kind of Girl..Is she?
She’s not that kind of Girl..Is she?
The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
Joseph hears about the fact that Mary is pregnant, and just like Mary he understands what it takes to become pregnant.
We learn in these few verses so much about Jospeh’s character. We don’t hear much from or about Joseph. After this and the trip taken to Bethlehem we only have Mary telling a 12 year old Jesus that She and Joseph were worried about him, the only other mention is when the People in his home town question who Jesus is when he’s teaching in the synagogue.
What we find is a man who loves the woman he’s supposed to be married to. When he finds out about her pregnancy the emotions that went through him were probably the ones we wold all have, anger, hurt, feeling betrayed, confusion and through all of it, he decides he’s just going to quietly divorce her. She can go off and have the Baby and no one needs to know about it, and she can be safe that way…remember the whole woman caught in the act thing. Joseph didn’t want to disgrace her, her family or himself so he was going to just quietly slip off. God tells him otherwise.
Remember what we read in Matthew 1:20 lets look at a few more verses along with that.
But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
The Angel is clear. He again tells Joseph exactly who Jesus is going to be. Joseph would have known just as Mary who the Angel was saying the son wold be. Joseph is told what to name the baby and everything, just as Mary was, his response is so amazing.
When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.
Joseph does it all exactly as he’s told…He and Mary were so faithful they both placed themselves in the Lords hands and had a very simple response.
Okay. (expound on what that Okay from both Mary and Joseph meant)
This Week’s Challenge
This Week’s Challenge