Good News Comes to Nazareth

Introduction

<<PRAY>>

Last week

Angel Gabriel shows up while the priest Zechariah serving God in the Temple, announcing that he and his wife Elizabeth will have a son.

Tells them to name him John, and that he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from the womb, to prepare the way for the Messiah, the Christ.

When Zechariah disbelieved Gabriel’s message from God, he was disciplined with 9 months of muteness, but God didn’t change His mind. & Elizabeth conceived in her old age, miraculously, just as the angel had said.

But God had an even more incredible miracle, and an even more incredible gift to give.

Major Advent themes

God’s sovereign plan to save

Blessing

Grace - undeserved favor & unmerited love

Humanity & divinity of Jesus

Awe & humility by those on whom God showers His blessings, especially seen in God’s mercy for the humble (Elizabeth, Mary, Zechariah, shepherds, Simeon, Anna), many of whom are called servants

The Holy Spirit at work (1:15, 35, 41, 67, 2:25-27)

Glory of God shining in the least expected places

This is one of the best-known parts of the Christmas story. Six months have passed since Elizabeth conceived, and Gabriel is sent from God on another mission.

But things are different this time. Before, Gabriel was sent to the epicenter of Israelite life and piety, the only Temple in the entire world where God permitted humans to approach Him, in the singular city, Jerusalem. And Zechariah walked out of the Temple a changed man, literally dumbfounded. Like Abraham and Sarah, he and Elizabeth were repeating a pattern God had used before to demonstrate His love and might - a barren woman conceives in answer to prayer.

But in verse 26, Gabriel is sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth… 65 miles to the north, by the normal roads of the day, out past Samaria, to a hick town in the sticks. Like Palestine, Texas (spelled like Palestine), or Moxie, Arkansas (that’s Moxie with an “i e”), or Ely (with a Y) Minnesota, Luke’s mostly Gentile audience didn’t know what a Nazareth was, so he had to specify - it’s a town in Galilee, but it’s not that one town you’ve heard of. You’d have to zoom way in on Google Maps to see it.

That’s where God sends Gabriel. And this unexpected visitor shows up in the most unexpected place, to speak to a most unexpected audience.

I. An Unexpected Audience (1:26-30)

Verse 27 says that God sent Gabriel: <<READ 27>>

At the time, it was common to have a two-stage wedding process. Step one, the two families agree to the marriage, a covenant is signed, and then they’re betrothed - it’s not just engagement, they’re legally married - but the bride then stays with her family for about a year. Then, step two: The husband comes to his bride’s family and takes his bride home with him. So Mary was in that betrothal period. She has never lived with Joseph, they haven’t consummated the marriage sexually, but she’s not single or engaged.

Girls could be betrothed as early as age 12, but the Bible doesn’t tell us how old she is. But consider this: She’s in-between in every sense of the word. God’s Good News of salvation comes to the world by an angel sent to hillbilly country, to someone with no voice in her community, no might or power, because she was God’s choice.

When Gabriel opens his mouth, he says, <<READ 28>>

Now, Zechariah was troubled back in verse 12, but

Mary is greatly troubled, and her brain starts working on the problem - what sort of greeting is this?

Do you know what kind of greeting it was? Look at verse 28 again. Are you perplexed by Gabriel’s opening words?

If there’s no wonder in those words for you, then stop for a second and ask yourself, “Why was she greatly troubled?” Was it just because she was unaccustomed to seeing angels? Well, I’m sure she was. But it’s not the angel she’s trying to figure out. It’s his words. And this is the most tame part of his message. “Greetings, O favored one. The Lord is with you.”

A wee lass of no apparent significance, in the least important part of a vassal state of a contintents-spanning empire is told,

O favored one - that’s how God talked about Noah. And Abraham. It means “O recipient of God’s grace.” Herod doesn’t know Mary, Caesar doesn’t know her, no important person on earth knew her name. But she was chosen by God for this task.

The Lord is with you - That’s the kind of thing Moses gets to hear. But Mary?

Gabriel says to her in verse 30, <<READ 30>>

No one finds favor by building it, or earning it. Everyone who ever found favor with God discovered it like a treasure buried in a field. Favor with God is an unmerited blessing, a gift, a grace.

See here how God has taken every expectation and turned it on its head. And this is meant to prepare you for God’s grace and mercy.

Because what if you are no more significant to the grinding, impersonal machinery of this broken world than a teen in marital limbo in the Moxie, Arkansas of first-century Palestine?

If I asked you if you’re as important as the Virgin Mary, you’d think I was nuts to even pose the question. But that’s just it - she was nobody except for the fact that God loved her. And the same grace that He poured out on her is held out to you in the angel’s next words.

II. A Surprising Messiah (1:31-35)

<<READ 31>>

Similarities to Gabriel’s message to Zechariah, except every piece of it is greater. He tells her she will conceive and bear a son, but this is an even more miraculous conception. He told Zechariah what to name John, and now Mary is told to name her son Jesus.

The identity of this son is made absolutely clear by Gabriel. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. He is the Son of God and the Son of Man. YHWH Himself come to us. Fully God and fully man. See how Gabriel alternates between His divinity and humanity: YOU will bear a son - there’s humanity - and you shall call his name Jesus.

<<READ 32a>>

There’s Divinity.

John was to be great before the Lord, but Jesus will be great in Himself.

Deuteronomy 10:17 ESV

17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.

And <<READ 32b>> Do you notice this? The Son of the Most High will also have David as his father. Fully God and fully man.

But unlike David, who died, He is the promised, everlasting KING on David’s throne <<READ v33>>

This surprising Messiah is the One spoken of in

Isaiah 9:6–7 ESV

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

This Good News come to Nazareth is for you.

He brings the Kingdom of God with Him, and everyone who believes in Him is blessed - “Blessed - favored by God, protected by Him, rescued, and promised His saving presence.”

O favored one, the son Mary bore was born to us.

But Mary’s response in verse 34 highlights another aspect of this surprising Messiah.

<<READ vv34-35a>>

Mary understood that the angel’s message wasn’t for next year when Joseph came and took her home. This was imminent. Just like the cloud overshadowed the Tabernacle when Moses met with God in Exod 40:35, and Numbers 9:18, and just like the Mount of Transfiguration, we read in

Luke 9:34–35 ESV

34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”

The Messiah was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, and born of a virgin, just as

Isaiah 7:14 ESV

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The Hebrew word אלמה in Isaiah 7:14 implies virginity when the context demands it, and the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament used a word that even more strongly implied virginity. And the LORD of all history, who not only breathed out the Scriptures but also directed the course of human events to this moment ensured that here, there would be no question. The child Immanuel, God with us, would be born of a virgin, a young woman who had never known a man, so that every generation thereafter would learn the ultimate fulfillment of the pattern of the barren woman miraculously conceiving.

For Elizabeth to have a child was a blessing of exceeding rarity; for the virgin to have a son was absolutely singular.

And why must our Savior be conceived by the Holy Spirit? Gabriel tells us:

<<READ 35b>>

What if I told you that Jesus Christ was the very first child ever born of a woman who was holy?

Scripture tells us that Adam and Eve were formed of the dust by God, and fell from innocence into sin, and their children, and every child born thereafter, was born into Adam’s sinful nature. Every one. You were not holy when you were born. You were just waiting till you had enough muscle control to pull the dog’s tail, poke your sister, throw your food on the floor, throw a tantrum. Sin is the reason that two of the first words you ever learned were “no” and “mine.”

And parents, your kids are just like you. Like me and you, they were born into spiritual death, in desperate need of God’s undeserved favor. And if you’re thinking to yourself, “Not my little bundle of joy,” just. wait. They’ll show you.

But Jesus was not born into sin. He is the singular Holy Son of God, and he is the singular “offspring of the woman” from the very first proclamation of the Gospel in all of Scripture. The LORD pronounced Satan’s downfall immediately after Adam and Eve fell into sin, in

Genesis 3:15 ESV

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Because of His great love for Mary, and because of His great love for all of His people in every generation, God became man, so that, by His death and resurrection, you could share in the same promise spoken to Mary, if you believe in Him: “The Lord is with you.”

Hebrews 2:14–15 ESV

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Consider the surprising nature of the Savior, and the glorious gift that He is for you.

Conclusion: a Glorious Gift of Grace

God stepped down into this. <<point down>>

And He did it for you. Before any of us even existed. God knew every thought you’ll ever have, every word, every deed, everything you'll ever choose not to do even though you know you should. And He knew how you’d feel about yourself. Even the internal contradiction of feeling like you’re a failure, and thinking you’re better than everybody else.

And He said, “I will bring my Kingdom to that one.” To the nobodies in Nazareth and this one right here (hand on chest).

You don’t have to make something of yourself to be valuable to the God who made you. He doesn’t look around the earth, searching among sinners, hoping to find one or two good people worth rescuing.

No, Jesus is clear about that. No one can enter the kingdom on their own merit. When He told the disciples that, he said,

Mark 10:24–27 ESV

24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

The wonder of the Good News that Gabriel brought to Nazareth is that God gives favor through the Holy One, the Son. And every sinner who believes in Jesus finds favor with God, and a place in that kingdom that has no end.

And the believer’s life is not characterized by getting saved by grace and then working really hard to keep up with Jesus. Mary was first favored by God, and then she said in verse 38, <<READ 38>>

This is not the language of self-effort. This is simply a young woman captivated by her Lord. Saved by grace, she continues in grace by the Spirit.

Hear the way Jesus talks about salvation and the Christian life:

John 7:37–38 ESV

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

This is the glorious gift of grace. Unmerited favor from beginning to end.

Does that seem impossible? That the King of kings would love you that much?

Verse 37: <<READ>>