SON OF MARY (Various Scriptures)
INTRODUCTION:
Merry Christmas! This morning is the fourth and final Sunday of advent, and during this advent season as we remember the incarnation of our Savior Jesus Christ and have looked forward to His second advent when He will return and set up His kingdom as the Son of David and reign forever from David’s throne. What a past we have to remember and what a future we have to look forward to. Over this advent season we have been looking at the instances when Jesus was called the Son of someone. We began by looking at Jesus Christ as the son of Adam, which focused on His humanity. Then we looked at Him as the Son of Abraham and the Son of David and this really focused on the fact that He fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant and the Davidic covenant by being their descendant.
This morning and this evening we are really going to focus in on the incarnation of Jesus Christ in that He is the Son of Mary and the Son of God. He was not part human and part Deity, He was fully man and fully God, do we understand this? No and probably will not this side of heaven, but Jesus Christ was and is God and He was and is man. Neither His deity, nor His humanity can be isolated from the other because the two are in perfect union forever. This morning we will look at the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of Mary. Without Mary, without the virgin birth, there would be no incarnation, without the incarnation there would be no salvation, there would be no future kingdom, and there would be no eternal king descended from David to sit on his throne and reign forever. Let’s pray.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Our jumping off point this morning will be Luke 1:30-35. Please turn there in your Bibles, again we will be looking at many Scriptures this morning. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Luke 1:30-35,
“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.’ (Luke 1:30–35, NASB95)[1]
PROPHECIES OF THE INCARNATION (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6-7)
The earliest prophecy of the incarnation is found in the curse that God pronounced upon the serpent after Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which God had forbidden them to eat from. God said to the serpent in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NASB95)[2] Remember the serpent personified Satan, because Satan had used the serpent to deceive Eve. Here God tells the serpent that there will be enmity between the serpent’s seed and the woman’s seed. The seed in both cases is singular and this verse is teaching us that an epic battle was coming between the serpent’s seed, Satan who is personified by the serpent, and the seed of the woman, which refers to Jesus Christ. This is a strange construction here in Hebrew because seed always refers to the man’s seed in Hebrew, but here God referred it to the woman foreshadowing the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. The significance in this verse is that Mary is a daughter of Eve, and she would bear in her womb the second Adam, the seed of the woman, who was coming to reverse the curse ushered on the human race and the cosmos by the disobedience of the first Adam.
This verse only foreshadows the virgin birth, the prophet Isaiah was even more specific with His prophecy in Isaiah 7:14. The prophet wrote what he had spoken to king Ahaz, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14, NASB95)[3] In this verse we have two predictions that are quite explicit in what they are saying. First, it states that One will be born of a woman, a virgin, which under no circumstances could imply, as to origin, more than that which is human. But second, this One which is to be born is Immanuel, which, we know from our Scripture reading from Matthew this morning that Immanuel being translated is “God with us”—but with us in the deeper sense of these words, which is, that He became one of us.
Then turning over just a couple of pages to Isaiah 9:6-7 we read another prophecy concerning the incarnation. Listen as I read Isaiah’s words, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6–7, NASB95)[4] Again we see in this verse the incarnation, as again the complex, twofold Person is explained. He is a Child born and a Son given. The Child that is born will be a descendant of David and will sit on David’s throne, but the Son that is given bears the titles of Deity and carries all the government and authority of the universe upon His shoulders.
This is just three of the prophecies concerning the incarnation and why the seed of the woman, the virgin birth is essential to the incarnation being a reality. We must believe in the incarnation, it is of upmost importance to our salvation, only God could reverse the curse brought upon the human race and the cosmos by the sin of Adam, but God could only remove the penalty of death by becoming one of us and bearing our sins on our behalf. Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 2:24 that, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24, ESV)[5]
THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE INCARNATION (Luke 1:26-31, 34-35, 38)
As we begin to look at Jesus Christ as the Son of Mary, we must ask ourselves who is this virgin that God chose to bear Jesus Christ. We do not know a whole lot about Mary, she was a poor unimportant Jewish girl living in the unimportant town of Nazareth. Mary was the least likely person to be at the center of this historic event. Mary was not looking for prominence. She was, like every other Jewish peasant girl in Nazareth, simply living out an ordinary life in an ordinary town with unassuming dreams. Listen to Kent Hughes description of Mary’s likely future had she not been visited by an angel. He writes, “From all indicators, her life would not be extraordinary. She would marry humbly, give birth to numerous poor children, never travel farther than a few miles from home, and one day die like thousands of others before her—a nobody in a nothing town in the middle of nowhere.”[6]
Yet it is Mary who not only receives the first announcement of the Christ child but is the one who is chosen by God to bear the Son of God. This tells us something about Mary, it speaks of her faith, and her willingness to say yes to God, but it tells more about Mary’s God. He chooses whom He will work through, and it may be an unknown in a little unknown town, or a somebody in a big city. Nobody knew who Mary was, but God did.
As we think about Christmas, you have to look and think about the setting and events given to us by Luke. The visit of Gabriel to Mary was so improbable, so unexpected. Remember this is the second appearance of Gabriel in the Christmas narrative. Months earlier he had appeared to an aged priest named Zechariah to announce to him that his aged wife Elizabeth would conceive and give birth to a son, this son was John the Baptist, the one who would prepare the way for Jesus.
We read of this visit to Mary in Luke 1:26-38. Let’s begin by reading verses 26-31, “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.’ ” (Luke 1:26–31, NASB95)[7] Luke tells us that Mary was perplexed by the angel’s greeting, how was she favored? Mary, remember is a young, unknown teenager in a small town. It is very possible that she was devout and followed the Law, but she certainly didn’t think she was anything special or worthy of an angelic visit. But Gabriel reassured her, telling her not to be afraid, and again repeated that she had found favor with God. What was this favor, that God had chosen her to be a part of His plan of redemption. There was nothing in Mary that warranted this special favor, she was a sinner just like the rest of the human race, yet she was chosen by God to bear the Christ child. I am sure when Gabriel told her that she was to conceive in her womb and bear a son, she was shocked especially since Joseph was still her betrothed and she still lived with her parents. In verses 34-35 we read the dialog between Mary and Gabriel, “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.’ ” (Luke 1:34–35, NASB95)[8] Mary’s question is not doubt, but curiosity as to how this would happen, how could she conceive a child having not had sexual relations with her betrothed husband Joseph? Gabriel answers her and we learn that she will conceive when the Holy Spirit comes upon her and the power of the Most High overshadows her, and the child she will conceive in her womb will be holy, sinless, pure and will be called the Son of God. So, we learn that Christmas is a miracle. Fleming Rutledge wrote, “Natural processes could not have brought the Son of God . . . . It is beyond the capacity of human parents to produce a child who is God. Humankind can not bring forth a Jesus, any more than it can bring forth true and lasting peace. Only God can do it. Only God will do it. Mary was just as helpless as Joseph to make this happen. The human impossibility is overcome by the irresistible power of God.”[9] And when Mary heard Gabriel’s response to her question, she responded to him with a simple, “Yes, I will do it.” Her actual words are recorded in verse 38 of Luke 1, “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.” (Luke 1:38, NASB95)[10] Mary was willing to suffer the humiliation and shame that came with an unwed pregnancy. What would her friends and family say, would they believe her that this child was conceived by the Holy Spirit? What would Joseph say and do? The Law allowed Him to have her stoned, or would He just divorce her? She did not know what this simple “yes, I will do it” would mean for her. Jesus Christ was the Son of Mary because she surrendered herself to God’s plan for her life no matter what it meant for the rest of her life.
THE BIRTH OF THE SON OF MARY (Matthew 1:24-25; Luke 2:1-7)
Our Scripture reading this morning from Matthew 1 told us how God dealt with Joseph, Mary’s betrothed husband, when he found out that she was with child before they were married. God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream to tell him that Mary had not been unfaithful to him, but that the child who was conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit. The angel told Joseph to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife and that he was to name the child Jesus when He was born. In the last two verses of that chapter, we read Joseph’s response to his dream. Matthew 1:24-25 says, “And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:24–25, NASB95)[11] Matthew does not go into details except to make clear to us that Joseph had no sexual relations with Mary until Jesus was born. Matthew wants us to know that this is nothing short of a miracle, it was completely a work of God and Joseph named the baby Jesus thus legally adopting Him as his own Son.
Luke goes into a little more detail giving us a time frame and where the birth took place. Joseph had taken Mary as his wife and moved her into his home. After this took place Luke tells us in Luke 2:1-7, “Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:1–7, NASB95)[12] Luke tells us that this all took place during the reign of Caesar Augustus, while a man named Quirinius was governor of Syria which would have been approximately 5 B.C. The birth took place in Bethlehem, the city of David, because of the census. This fulfilled the prophecy of Micah that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. More importantly, we read that it is Mary who gave birth to her first-born son, the incarnate Son of God, the Son of Mary.
CONCLUSION:
Both Matthew and Luke make it clear for us that Jesus Christ is the Son of Mary. Being the Son of Mary makes Jesus a true descendant of David and being the legal Son of Joseph makes Jesus Christ heir to the throne of David. Because Jesus is the Son of God His reign on His father David’s throne will be eternal. Because Jesus Christ is a Son of David makes Him also a Son of Abraham which make it possible to become a merciful and faithful high priest for His people in things pertaining to God, so that He might make propitiation for the sins of the people. Because Jesus Christ was a Son of Adam made Him the perfect, sinless Son of Man, the only One who could die for our sins, and satisfy God’s wrath against sin, and make it possible for us to approach a holy God and ask for forgiveness and salvation and to be justified before God through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Take time to ponder the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of your celebration of Christmas. As you think of the wonder of the miracle of the virgin birth, thank God for the miracle of your own new birth. As awesome and wonderful that the miracle of the virgin birth is, remember that just as that was a work that only God could do, our salvation is the same, it is only a work that God can do. Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, spoke of salvation in terms of God creating life out of death. The only way to salvation is that the same Spirit that overshadowed Mary regenerates us, makes us alive, makes us a new creation when we put our faith in Christ. Where are you this morning? Have you already experienced the miracle of God in your life and your spirit has been revived by the Spirit of God. If this is you, rejoice in the wonder of Christmas that the incarnate Son of God became the Son of Mary. If this is not you, you can change that this morning by agreeing with God that you are a sinner, that you have sinned against Him and there is nothing you can do to make yourself right with God. But you believe that Jesus Christ died for you, that His death paid the penalty for your sin and that His resurrection proved that God’s wrath against sin was satisfied, and you will be saved, you will be forgiven and the Holy Spirit will make you alive in Christ and you will enter into a relationship with God that will last an eternity. You too can rejoice in the wonder of Christmas that the incarnate Son of God became the Son of Mary so that He might go to the cross and die for us.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
[6]R. Kent Hughes, “Christmas Is for the Poor and Humble,” Crossway, December 16, 2015, https://crossway.org/articles/chirstmas-is-for-poor-and-humble/.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]Fleming Rutledge, Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ. Grand Rapids, MI : Eerdmans, 2018.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.