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Luke 1:26-30 O’ Favored ones
Before Mary heard she would conceive a child from the Holy Spirit.
She first was troubled and tried to discern the “greeting” of favor that had been revealed to her through the angel Gabriels message about Jesus her Son to come.
We left off reading two Sundays ago the foretelling of John the Baptist by the angel Gabriel, making Elizabeth and Zechariah parents, God keeping His Word.
John being “good news” to both Zechariah and Elizabeth and to many...
“and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.”
But not all the people of the world…
See today we will start reading of “The Birth Of Jesus Foretold.”
And while Jesus will be mentioned and brought to light in verse 31, we will stop today at verse 30 and ponder, discern and engage in what Mary just went through in our text with the angel Gabriel.
(This ultimately pointing us to Christ)
So we will discern, weigh in, and engage deeply in the saying of the angel of the Lord to Mary.
Which we know the messenger who stands in the presence of God, is not delivering “the angels message“ but God’s message.
Let us read our text this morning:
Please stand for the reading of God’s Word
Read Passage
Luke 1:26-30 “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.
And the virgin’s name was Mary.
And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Luke 1:26 “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,”
Context being important us needing to know...
This being the same year and timeframe when John was announced to Zechariah and Elizabeth (no year passed, it was the same year)
So now 6 months into Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John, we read the “angel Gabriel was sent from God...” again
So Gabriel in the 6th month, same year and we know this because Of Lukes orderly account that he sought to write influenced and led by the Holy Spirit to write this accurate narrative of Jesus life.
“The angel Gabriel…was sent” - was sent in greek means to be dispatched or to become sent towards a designated goal to send someone a message
And we know from reading the story of Zechariah about John’s birth announcement that this is nothing new for the angel of the Lord to do, to deliver messages from God
This message however being the most anticipated message, in the history of the world.
Yes John was lower case “good news” but now the angel Gabriel has been sent out again...
But to where? to a city of Galilee to a small village named Nazareth
Not to a Temple where he met Zechariah, mind you where the tabernacle was
But the angle it’s as if left the Temple and returned to heaven and then 6 months later entered into the small village named Nazareth; in the city of Galilee
Remember Context - It is dark times for the people of God.
Where king Herod ruled; issuing worship of others god’s
And the people of God needing a reminder of hope quickly as it’s been 400 years of silence from God.
So God sends Gabriel to Nazareth
Real quick facts about Nazareth:
The city of Nazareth is not mentioned in literature prior to the NT
Nazareth which is lower Galilee that was Jesus’ childhood home; situated on a ridge 500 meters above sea level
So who was the angel Gabriel sent to this time?
Luke 1:27 “to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.
And the virgin’s name was Mary.”
So Gabriel was sent to a virgin, meaning she was saving herself for marriage to have children
“Virgin” - in greek can also mean an unmarried person
So Mary has not had sex and she has no children
But we read that this “virgin” is “betrothed to a man.”
Pause here for a min: Listen in.
We see it throughout all Scripture God made man and he made woman.
- Children and Students listen in God made man for woman.
So here even in the Gospel of Luke through Mary and Joesph being “betrothed” to one another
We can know that God created man to be with woman
There is knowhere in Scripture that speaks of a man being with a man it being ok; or a woman being with another woman and this being ok.
No.
It speaks of the same sex living in this lifestyle as an “abomination before the Lord”
And any other way (except for Man with a Woman) is sinful and disobedient to His order and ways.
So we read that Mary was “betrothed” to a man...
What does the word “betrothed”?
We know it as an engagement “He proposed to her.”
But Betrothed - in greek means to be or become legally promised in marriage to the opposite sex.
So Mary and Joesph have promised (legally) to one another, that they want to be together in marriage
Mary being a woman and Joseph being a man
In Jewish culture:
A man and woman were betrothed or pledged to each other for a period of time before the actual consummation of their marriage.
This betrothal was much stronger than an engagement period of today, for the two were considered husband and wife; except that they did not live together till after the wedding.
It was a promise with weight; and without sharing in intimacy with one another until the day of the wedding
See in our culture today this thought seems absurd, because we look at engagement as a means of a promise to come
In our culture now, Engagement is leading to a day where the marriage will become legal.
But in Mary and Josephs day they looked at it “legally” without the blessings and benefits of living together before marriage.
Which living together as man and woman under the same roof; not married provides great amounts of shame and tension to build in your relationship
As with living together comes the temptation to be sexually active with that person
Mary had not been with a man, for Luke called her a virgin and noted that she was pledged, promised to be with Joesph and bound legally in our context to him.
In this looking forward to the blessings marriage offers in the covenant of marriage.
So who was this virgin engaged too or betrothed too?
Luke 1:27 “to a virgin betrothed...to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.
And the virgin’s name was Mary.”
So Introduce the virgin Mary, soon to be husband to “Joseph”
And we can see here that Joesph is from the “house of David And the virgin’s name was Mary.”
Next Sunday we will dive more into what this means as it’s also mentioned in Luke 1:32
So we know in our text so far we have the angel Gabriel, the virgin Mary and Joesph her soon to be husband
Luke 1:28 “And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!””
So now in the little village of Nazareth which is in the city of Galilee
The angle of the Lord, Gabriel speaks “Greetings” to Mary
When we hear someone start off a welcome by the word “greetings” what might come to mind is that they come in peace and with good intentions (Anne Of Green Gables)
“Greetings...” in greek means to “rejoice” or “be glad”
So when someone would say, “greetings” this was a sign “to greet with a wish of health and happiness”
So Mary can hopefully begin to see this is a good greeting
But it doesn't mean it wasn’t still a shock to her and brought fear to her
“Greetings...O favored one, the Lord is with you!”…
Luke 1:29 “But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.”
Now as we know from Zechariah’s experience and encounter with the angel of the Lord in the Temple of the Lord from...
Luke 1:11-12 “And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.”
So we know Zechariah was troubled and “fear fell upon him.”
But here we can see Mary had already heard the greeting of the angel of the Lord
And in this greeting she heard these words first that… “O Favored one the Lord was with you!” - What words to hear?
Right?
Now Zechariah did not hear what Mary heard, which was ”greetings“ No the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah standing, but the angle didn’t say “greetings” to him, but he did say ”do not be afraid”
So their is similarities in the encounters.
Mary’s encounter is more of a gentle approach, no that either one lacked compassion and love
But in the word “greeting” so Mary would of found rejoicing before Zechariah who didn’t first hear the word “greeting”
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