THE PRINCE OF PEACE ANNOUNCED (Luke 1:26-45)
INTRODUCTION:
Last Sunday we saw hope renewed in the hearts of people because God stepped into history after 400 years of silence and renewed the hope in His promise to send a Savior, the Messiah by revealing to an old priest that his wife would have a son who would be the forerunner of the Messiah.
This morning we lit the candle of peace on our advent wreath, and we will continue to chronologically go through the events leading up to the birth of Christ, then the birth of Christ and the people that God used to bring about His purpose. This morning we will look at the announcement of the Prince of Peace and we will see the peace in Mary’s life brought about by her faith in God’s Word. One commentator said that “[t]his brief passage records one of the most astounding displays of confidence in God, absolute devotion to Him, and, simply, sheer bravery in the entire Bible.”[1] This morning we want to look on as the faith of a young lady is revealed to us. Before turning to Luke 1 let’s pray and ask God to speak to us this morning and to reveal His truth to us.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to the book of Luke, chapter 1, we will be looking at verses 26-45. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Luke 1:26-45,
“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall 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; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ And Mary said, ‘Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her. Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.’” (Luke 1:26–45, NASB95)[2]
MARY’S FAITH REVEALED (Luke 1:26-45)
Gabriel was not done delivering messages of good news from God. Gabriel is again on a mission with another birth announcement. This time it is not in the capital city of Jerusalem, it is not in the temple, and it is not to a godly priest while he is offering the incense; instead, it is in a small town in the northern region of Galilee, to a small family dwelling, to a poor teenage girl. We are told that Gabriel was not sent out again from the presence of God with this second announcement until the sixth month referring to Elizabeth’s pregnancy and that she was six months along. God sent Gabriel to Nazareth to a young teenage girl named Mary who was from the house of David and engaged to another descendant of David, a man by the name of Joseph. Mary’s life up to this point was living in the dream of her marriage to Joseph, her whole future lay ahead of her, and I am sure it was full of anticipation of her life with Joseph and the future they would build together. Then suddenly without warning an angel burst into her life that threatened to destroy all her dreams. She found herself being told that she would mother a child out of wedlock, a frightful stigma for a young girl to carry through life. At best it would ruin her chances of marrying Joseph; at worst it would end in a shameful, horrible death by stoning. To understand what was at stake her for Mary we must understand her engagement to Joseph. It is better translated as a betrothal because it was a legal contract that had the force of marriage. It is more closely related to our wedding ceremony and marriage license than to our engagement. If the betrothed husband died before the wedding, the bride would become a widow. If she was found to be unfaithful before the marriage was consummated the betrothal could only be dissolved through a divorce. To be betrothed meant that you had the full legal standing of a wife or a husband, but the marriage was only consummated after the actual wedding which usually took place a year after the betrothal. During this period leading up to the wedding the bride-to-be lived in her parents’ home, and the purpose of this betrothal period was to establish her virtue. Deuteronomy 22:20-21 states, “But if this charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you.” (Deuteronomy 22:20–21, NASB95)[3] This law helps us appreciate the seriousness of Mary’s dilemma and the gutsy bravery of the young lady’s sacrificial dedication to God’s purposes.
God’s Word is very clear that this young woman was a virgin, that she had never had sexual relations with a man. Luke states it for us twice in verses 27-28, and Mary confirms it in her response to Gabriel. All of this is recorded for us so that we know in no uncertain terms the miracle of the virgin birth. This child was to be the seed of the woman God had promised back in Genesis 3. Let’s look a little more closely at what Gabriel said to Mary.
MARY’S SURPRISE REVEALS HER FAITH (Luke 1:26-33)
When Gabriel appeared to Mary he said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” It is understandable why Mary was surprised and afraid when Gabriel greeted her. Did you notice that there is never any question that it is an angel that appears in this chapter? Zacharias knew it was an angel and it seems from Mary’s surprise, fear, and perplexity that she also immediately recognized this being as an angel. Why and how? As we learned last week, Gabriel is an angel who stands in the very presence of God so this is no mere angel, but one intimately connected to God as His personal messenger. Standing in God’s presence waiting to be dispatched with a message. I believe that he glowed with the glory of God. Remember Moses in the book of Exodus when he came down off of Mount Sinai that the skin of his face shined because of his speaking with God. If this happened to a man, consider an angel who stands in the presence of the glory of God. He must have shone with the glory of God when he appeared to Zacharias and when he appeared to Mary, causing their fear and surprise. I am sure that Mary wondered why an angel would come to her. This phrase “favored one” is literally, “you who is greatly graced.” How was Mary a recipient of God’s great grace? In what way was the Lord with her? It is no wonder that she was very perplexed at his greeting. Mary’s response shows her humility and honesty before God. She never expected an angel to appear to her. It was as surprising for her as it had been to Zacharias. Gabriel assures her that she does not need to be afraid and then goes on to explain the great grace of God and why the Lord was with her. Even though we know very little about Mary and nothing about her family she must have come from a very godly home with parents who had faithfully taught their children the Scriptures and who remembered and were waiting for God’s promised deliverer, their Messiah. But never in their wildest dreams did they imagine that Mary would be the woman through whom the Messiah would come. Because of Mary’s faith in the promises of God, God had chosen her for an incredibly special purpose that would be exceedingly difficult for anyone to bear, but God who knows all things knew that Mary had the faith in Him to bear the questions, to bear the disgrace and the ridicule that would come from this task. Gabriel told this young virgin that she was going to have a baby and that she was to name this baby boy Jesus. Both Zacharias and Mary were told what to name their sons. Names revealed something about a person and people understood the meaning of names. John means “the Lord is gracious.” John would be the prophet preaching the forgiveness of sins because of God’s gracious provision in Jesus Christ. The name Jesus is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew name Joshua, and it means “the Lord saves.” Jesus was God’s provision for salvation. This name would have been enough to identify this child as the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of God’s promise. But God wanted Mary to know without doubt who this child would be and Gabriel went on to proclaim five truths about this Son that Mary would bear that clearly identify Him as the Messiah. Gabriel said to Mary:
First, “He will be great…” This Son that Mary was to bear was to be great; He would become the greatest person in all of history. This Son would also be great because of His willingness and faithfulness to God the Father and His obedience to the Father’s will by becoming the provision for sinful man to be reconciled to God.
Second, “He…will be called the Son of the Most High.” This Son that Mary would bear would be the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, God in the flesh, yet He possesses all of the qualities and characteristics of God. He would be truly God and truly man. Paul describes this equality with God in this way in Colossians 1:15 and 19, “He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God…For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…” (Colossians 1:15a, 19, ESV)[4]
Third, “…the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David…” Mary would have known from the Scriptures that God had promised her ancestor David a descendant, a Son to sit on his throne. Mary would have known that the final King of Israel from David’s line would be the Messiah. All of this information made it clear that the child that Gabriel was speaking of would be the Messiah. What Mary did not understand was that with this statement Gabriel was not only talking about the first advent of Jesus, but His second advent as well. The throne of His father David would be His, but He will not sit on it and rule until He returns in the Second Advent.
Gabriel goes on in his fourth statement about this Son speaking of the Second Advent when he says, “…and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever…” Jesus Christ’s reign over the house of Jacob referring to both Israel and Judah, not a divided kingdom, but a united one will begin in the Millennium and extend into all eternity. He is the last descendant of David to sit and rule on David’s throne because His reign will never end.
Finally, Gabriel says concerning this Son, “His kingdom will have no end.” Again, Gabriel speaks of the eternality of this Son and points to the fact that He is God having no beginning and no ending, with no power great enough to overthrow Him. Satan will try at the end of the Millennium, it will be the final battle and the Creator Jesus Christ will prevail over His creation and Satan and his followers will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, their final doom. Then Jesus will reign for all eternity, and it will be a reign of peace and prosperity.
With these five truths God through His messenger Gabriel made very clear to this young lady who this Son is that she was to bear.
MARY’S FAITH REVEALED IN HER SURRENDER (Luke 1:34-38)
Mary now responds to Gabriel not in unbelief like Zacharias. Not asking for assurance that God had the ability to keep His promise, not doubting God’s Word. Mary had complete faith in God’s Word and that it would happen just as the angel had said. Mary believed the promise, but she did not understand the performance. How could a virgin become pregnant and give birth to a child?
Gabriel explained to her that it would be a miraculous act of God. It would be the work of the Holy Spirit who would come upon her in the power of the Most High. This Son would not be the son of her betrothed Joseph; He would be the Son of God. This would be the pain and disgrace Mary would have to bear her whole life as people looked upon her as unfaithful to her betrothed husband and spoke of her as a fornicator and a prostitute. Gabriel goes on to point out that this Child will be holy. He could not be born of man and woman because he would inherit the sinful nature of mankind. To be holy and without sin he had to be the Son of God. This is the miracle of the virgin birth; a Son would be born who knew no sin, did not sin, and had no sin. Only then could he be the unblemished Lamb of God to be sacrificed for the sins of all mankind past, present and future. Mary’s womb would become the holy of holies as it held the holy one of God prepared by the Holy Spirit and placed there through the power of the Most High.
Even though Mary did not ask for assurance, Gabriel gives her some encouragement. He tells her that her relative Elizabeth, that old woman who was barren is in her sixth month of pregnancy. Nothing is impossible with God. If God can give an old barren woman a son, God can do what He has told you He will do. God’s Word will always be fulfilled, He will keep His promises and He will faithfully fulfill His Word.
Mary’s response to Gabriel reveals her deep faith in God, she responds in complete surrender, even with all the pain and disgrace that will surround her when it is discovered that she is pregnant. She declared that she was God’s willing slave, and she was entrusting herself to Him to do according to His word. The commentator M.S. Mills writes that often we “downplay Mary’s role, but in so doing we suppress a wonderful lesson of the self-sacrifice which she as a person, certainly not a goddess, was prepared to endure so that the world might have its Savior.”[5] Mary’s faith in God’s Word and His ability to fulfill it was extraordinary, her sacrificial dedication to God’s purposes was commendable, her humility remarkable. Such was the young woman of faith to whom God entrusted His Son. Her faith gave her the peace of God that she needed to carry the Prince of peace.
Then we are told the angel left her. The first thing that Mary did was get ready to go see Elizabeth. She had to share this amazing secret and joy with someone, and she knew Elizabeth would understand and believe her.
MARY’S FAITH IN HER SAVIOR (Luke 1:39-47)
Mary hurried off to the hill country of Judah to the town where Zacharias and Elizabeth lived. This trip from Nazareth to the hill country south of Jerusalem was about 120 miles on foot, so quite an undertaking for this young lady. She certainly didn’t go by herself, but traveled with groups of people who were making their way south. Gabriel had told Zacharias that his son John would be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. As soon as Mary entered the house of Zacharias and made her greeting, we are told that the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy. This baby knew from the Holy Spirit who this young lady was and the child that she carried. We are told that at the same instance Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak God’s words of encouragement to Mary. The words spoken by Elizabeth must have washed over Mary and comforted her soul, Elizabeth already knew the secret through the Holy Spirit and rejoiced over the blessing that had been given to Mary, but wondered at the honor of being visited by the mother of Elizabeth’s Lord. Elizabeth recognized who Mary was carrying in her womb, it was her Savior, her Lord. The world has gone to two extremes with Mary, she is either elevated to the status of a goddess, or we completely disregard her and do not give her the esteem she deserves. Elizabeth said it so plainly that Mary was blessed among women, not above women. Elizabeth’s focus was on Mary’s faith and that is where our focus should be when we consider and remember Mary, this young lady had incredible faith and she trusted God to fulfill His Word in her life. Mary also speaks after Elizabeth is done and declares in verses 46-47, “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” (Luke 1:46–47, NASB95)[6] She recognizes who her Savior is and rejoices and glorifies the Lord because of His salvation and the plan that He has for her life. She knows that she will be called blessed, but she also knows that it is only because of her willingness to be God’s servant and nothing more. Let’s not put Mary on a pedestal, but let’s not ignore the honor that was bestowed on this young lady because of her incredible faith in God and the peace of God that is seen because of her faith. Her life of faith and servanthood should be an example for us all.
CONCLUSION:
We are told that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months, probably until the time that John was born. You can read of John’s birth and the loosing of Zacharias’ tongue in Luke 1:57-80. God’s promise to Zacharias was carried to completion with the birth of his son. Gabriel delivered two birth announcements from God to two different people and got two vastly different responses. The one a priest who should have known that God’s Word can be trusted and believed, but doubted and asked for assurances that God would keep His word. Take the time to read the account and see that God’s Word was fulfilled just as He said. The second was a young lady who responded to God’s Word in faith as she surrendered herself to God as His willing and obedient slave. Mary experienced the grace of God and believed the Word of God, and therefore she could be used by the Spirit of God to accomplish the will of God.
As we look at these two different responses to God’s Word, we must ask ourselves how we will respond to God’s Word. Will we by faith accept it as truth and the full and final authority of our lives and surrender ourselves to God as His slaves to do His perfect will in our lives? This may cost us something, we may have to suffer disgrace and ridicule, but oh the peace we will have as we are in the center of God’s will. Or will we ask for assurances throwing some doubt on God’s Word and His ability to accomplish what He has said? What is your response?
Mary knew that God would fulfill His promise through her and with that came peace even though she knew hard days were ahead of her. What would Joseph say? Will he still marry me? Will he believe me? What will people say if he does marry me? What will people say if he doesn’t? All those questions must have passed through Mary’s mind, yet she had peace being in God’s will. Her faith in God and His promises would sustain her through these hard times and she had faith that God would take care of the details. We too can live by faith in God’s Word and let God take care of the details, and the peace of the Prince of peace will wash over us.
[1]Mills, M. S. (1999). The Life of Christ: A Study Guide to the Gospel Record (Lk 1:26–38). Dallas, TX: 3E Ministries.
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[4]The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[5]Mills, M. S. (1999). The Life of Christ: A Study Guide to the Gospel Record (Lk 1:26–38). Dallas, TX: 3E Ministries.
[6]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995