Luke 1:26-38
The Faith of Mary
Open your Bible to…
Heb. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Pray
Intro
√ The faith of Mary
Have you ever wondered what God esteemed in the life of Mary that He chose her to bear His Son!?
Ex. Choosing a wife
When I was young and looking for a wife I had some very specific and non-negotiable criteria that I was looking for in the future Mrs. Paul Lester!
She had to be a real Christian
She had to have heart for ministry
She had to be cute!
She had to have an inner beauty!
So, what did God look for when He went looking for the woman who would bear and raise His Son? What quality did God esteem in Mary’s life that He chose her?
Was it her beauty?
Was it her wealth
Was it her education and intellect?
I’d suggest that what God found so attractive in Mary’s life was her faith…
As we read just the first part of her story this morning we’ll discover that…
Mary Was A Young Believer
Mary Was An Honored Believer
Mary Was A Courageous Believer
Mary’s life teaches us that we too can be used by God to change the world as we respond to God in faith.
Ap. Faith
Mary’s life reminds us that…
Faith is not age-dependent.
Faith positions us to be part of the greatest work in all of human history ~ God’s plan to redeem Mankind!
Faith means that we do what God says regardless of the cost.
Faith is always attractive to God.
May we been men and woman who live a life of faith like Mary did!
Mary was a young believer (vs. 26-27)
Luke 1:26 Now in
the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of
Luke 1:27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
√ Mary was a young believer
That fact may not be evident to the casual reader but two words in our text tell us that Mary was very young…
“…to a virgin betrothed…” vs. 27
The word “virgin” is the Greek word, parthenos, which means…
“A maiden, an unmarried daughter, a virgin”
By implication parthenos means a young girl of marrying age.
How old did a girl have to be to get married?
Young ~ note our next word.
The next clue is the word “betrothed”, which is best understood in our day as the word “engaged.
In the 1st Century A.D., Jewish girls didn’t pick their husbands, rather, their parents did!
Traditionally a girl’s parents in that day would negotiate a marriage for their daughter to a man of their liking…
…at which point the couple would enter the “betrothal” which lasted about a year.
The average age for a girl to become betrothed was just after she entered puberty…
…so Mary was probably 13-15 years old!
Ex. My great grandmother Anna Lea Carter
She lived in
Back to our text, the point is that Mary was very young, just a teen…
…yet as we’ll see from our text she already had a mature faith!
1) Mary had a mature faith
As we read this story, one can’t help but to be impressed at how mature Mary’s faith was at such an early age!
The message that Gabriel brought would change her life in a radical way…
…but she responded with such strong faith that we have to conclude she had been cultivating it for quite some time.
Faith doesn’t just “happen” ~ it’s cultivated over time.
Ex. Many of the heroes of the faith in the Bible had a strong faith in God at an early age. Think of . . .
Daniel ~ was perhaps only 16 when he and his companions were taken into captivity. Yet, despite their youth, they had such a deep faith in the Lord they were willing to face death rather than worship false gods.
Samuel ~ God called him when he was but a young boy and he responded with childlike faith
David ~ as a teenager he attributed his success over
a lion and a bear to the Lord. He
defeated Goliath because rather than fixing his eyes on the giant he saw the
greater reality of the presence of the Lord of the Armies of heaven and
Faith is not age-dependent!
You don’t have to wait until you are old to become a hero of the faith. In fact, age will not guarantee anything at all.
Many young people are more mature spiritually than people decades older than them.
If you have kids at home look for ways to encourage their faith!
Ex. Their best example is you!
Your kids will follow your example…
…live your life in such a way that your kids will develop a mature faith from watching you!
2) Mary believed in a personal God!
The key is found in vs 28…
“The Lord is with you”
That is, Mary’s faith was not just a cultural faith, or a
faith built on the traditions of
Rather, she believed in, and had a relationship with, the God of Israel!
Sadly, as we’ve seen in our study of Matthew’s Gospel, most
of the religious leaders of
Rather, much like so many people in our community they had a relationship with their religion rather than a relationship with the Lord.
The reality is that it is a personal relationship with the Lord God that sets Biblical faith apart from the religions of the world.
And it is a personal relationship that God honors!
The author of Hebrews describes faith as…
Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
God is a Person (not a human) and He can be pleased!
The faith that pleases God begins when we believe that He exists and seek to have relationship with Him.
We see that theme expressed from cover to cover in the Bible…
From the Creation of humans ~ to have a relationship with God.
Through the Fall of Man ~ God initiated a plan to restore the broken relationship.
The Redemption ~ God provided the means to restore our relationship with Him.
His Return ~ to live with those who love Him forever!
I think it’s clear then from the Angel’s words…
“the Lord is with you” ~ not “the Lord will be with you”
…that Mary had already responded to His love and began cultivating a relationship with God.
Now, in order to appreciate the strength of her faith we must observe that Mary was a virgin when the angel visited her.
3) Mary was a virgin!
Note that the Bible doesn’t say…
“Vegan” or “Virgo”
…rather we’re told that Mary was a ”virgin”!
That is, Mary had not yet had sexual relations with anyone!
Some critics have suggested that the word “virgin” can also be translated (as we’ve already noted)…
“young maiden”
True enough! But note that Luke defines what the word “virgin” means in verse 34 by telling us that Mary’s confusion over this promised pregnancy was because…
…she had never been involved with a man!
Luke 1:34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” – NIV, NASB, NLT
The virgin birth is not an incidental fact about Jesus – it is central to the fact that He was at once both God and Man!
Only as God could Jesus reveal God to us (Hebrews 1)
Only as God could He take upon himself the sin of the world (Eze. 18:20)
Only as Man could he identify with our humanity, weakness and temptation (Hebrews 2:18)
Only as God and Man can He stand as our advocate (“Daysman” ~ Job 9:33 KJV) before the throne of the Father (Hebrews 4:14-5:3)
So, the fact that Mary was a virgin is significant theologically, but it also tells us something about Mary & her faith!
Specifically that she took God’s Word seriously on the subject of sexual purity!
And, that being a virgin was something that God esteemed in Mary’s life because it communicates that she was obedient and self-controlled.
In short, Mary honored God by practicing personal holiness in her life.
Ap. Sexual purity is important to God
If you’re a virgin this morning, stay that way until you’re married!
If you’ve already crossed that line as an unmarried person…
…start practicing self-control today and remain pure until you are married.
If you do you’ll discover that by honoring God’s design for sexual expression He will honor and bless you!
Mary was an honored believer (vs. 28)
Luke 1:28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
√ Mary was an honored believer
Note that the Angel Declared that Mary was…
“highly favored” ~ vs. 28
…by God!
Repeated in vs. 30 where Gabriel says…
“you have found favor with God.”
The word “favor” comes from the root word for Grace.
That is, Mary was not being rewarded for something she had done (how could anyone “earn” that honor!)…
…but was being selected by God for a special purpose and blessing.
The angel would explain that her supernatural pregnancy was the work of God’s grace.
Ap. It’s all by His Grace
In one sense the Virgin Birth is picture of how all of us receive Christ.
It’s not by our good works that Jesus comes to live within us.
Rather, like Mary we must surrender our heart to Him so that He might come and dwell within us.
So, while Mary did not earn the right to be selected for this honor…
…there can be no doubt that God selected Mary because of her great faith in Him and how that faith was expressed in her life.
√ Mary was not alone
We already noted Gabriel’s greeting…
“the Lord is with you” ~ vs. 28
…indicates that Mary had a relationship with God.
But it was also meant to be a source of encouragement and strength for Mary as she stepped out in faith.
His words were meant to reassure her that she would not be alone as she undertook the task ahead.
Ex. Reminds us that God never sends us alone!
All of the heroes of the faith have struggled with fear as they stepped out to obey God’s will and in each case God’s encouragement to them was…
“I will be with you”
Look at…
The angel of the Lord told Gideon was told that the Lord would be with him when he was
sent out to save
The same thing had been said about Joshua when God sent him to take the Promised Land.
As an unwed mother, Mary faced the possibility of rejection by Joseph, her own family and the community.
But she would never be alone, for the Lord would be with her.
In a similar way, all of us who follow Jesus are never alone. God will never send you to do something in service of Him without providing His Power and His Presence.
When He commissioned us to make disciples of the nations, Jesus reassured us that He would be with us to the very end of the age (Mathew 28:16-20).
Paul writes that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:31-39).
So, Mary could step out in faith with confidence knowing that regardless of what people might do…
…she could be sure that God would be with her every step of the way.
Ap. He’s with you!
Only one person was chosen to bear the child who would become King.
But everyone who believes in Jesus becomes part of God’s most amazing work in all human history…
…that of bringing the Great News of Jesus to all the people of the world.
We can do so with confidence because God has promised to be with you every step of the way!
Mary was a courageous believer (vs. 29-38)
Luke 1:29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
Luke 1:30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Luke 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.
Luke 1:32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
Luke 1:33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
√ Mary was a courageous believer
The third aspect of Mary’s faith was how courageous she was in the expression of her faith as she…
…surrendered herself to the Lord and to His Plan.
1) She surrendered herself to the Lord
If she chose to surrender herself to the Lord…
She would have to face her fiancé, her family and her neighbors with the news that she was pregnant – news which meant she could be stoned for adultery.
But when she tried to explain to them that God was the Father of the child, she could be stoned for blasphemy!
Not great options! We understand then Mary’s reaction to Gabriel’s news…
“But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.” ~ vs. 29
Mary was troubled by the angel’s words and was understandably afraid.
So, to surrender her will and her life to God and His Plan…
…would require great courage!
For most of us, it is a joyful moment when we hear that we are pregnant!
And today, we can find out fairly early in the process whether the baby is going to be a boy or a girl (sonogram)
But Mary found out she was to have a boy even before she got pregnant, and what His Name would be! (Son-o-gram).
Mary was to give her baby a name that was very common among the Jews.
“Jesus” is the Greek forum of the Hebrew, “Jeshua”, or “Joshua”.
The name is a contraction of two words “Yahweh” and “shua” and means “Yahweh saves,” or “Yahweh is savior.”
Later Joseph would be told the reason that the child was to be named Jesus…
“because he will save his people from their sins” Matthew 1:21
Next the Angel tells Mary that this baby would be unique because He would be divine!
“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest” ~ vs. 32
The “Highest” (or “most high”) is God, therefore Jesus would quite literally be the Son of God (as the Angel says in vs. 35)
Being the son of someone meant that he shared that person’s bloodline, or as we now know, their DNA.
While God, of course, has no bloodline, the statement meant that Jesus shared the same spiritual essence as God.
Jesus has Divine DNA!
Now, while all this would be really exciting to hear there was one point that Mary was confused about…
…how she could possibly get pregnant since she was a virgin!
2) She surrendered herself to His plan
Luke 1:34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
Luke 1:37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”
It’s important that we understand that Mary’s question was not one of unbelief!
She believed what she was told and didn’t even ask for some kind of confirmation, as Zechariah had.
She did not laugh, as Sarah had laughed when she was told she was going to bear a son.
She did not dismiss Gabriel’s words.
She simply didn’t understand how she could possibly become pregnant while still a virgin ~ after all it had never happened before!
She simply asked for clarification about something she believed was going to happen.
The angel answered Mary’s question by explaining that Mary would become pregnant through the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit!
While some critics today laugh at the notion of a virgin conceiving a child…
…I’d suggest that such a thing is completely reasonable in view of God’s power and what we know of human reproduction!
Ex. Even humans can create a child in the womb of a virgin!
So, even though what Mary heard seemed to be impossible, none the less, she accepted the Angel’s explanation and submitted herself to God’s will.
Luke 1:38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
So, in spite of the enormous price she was about to pay, Mary surrendered herself first to the Lord and then to His plan.
Notice also that while we have made much of the cost to Mary…
…she says not a word of it!
Rather, she simply said…
“Behold the maidservant of the Lord!” ~ vs. 38
There’s a wonderfully childlike aspect to her faith. With absolute trust Mary bows herself to the will of God and declares herself to be His servant.
Her words must have brought great joy to the heart of God. He has always longed for His people to give themselves so unreservedly to Him.
Mary also surrendered herself to the Lord’s plan for her life, as costly as it was going to be she said…
“Let it be to me according to your word.” ~ vs. 38
Mary’s words express the reality of her faith, a real faith whose substance is found in her perfect trust in the Lord and His plan for her life.
Close
√ The faith of Mary
In all of history there was only one woman chosen for the honor of giving birth to the King of kings.
While generations of women may have desired the honor, it was reserved for just one woman. That unique place in all of human history belongs solely to Mary.
But we can participate in the ongoing miracle of bearing
Jesus to all the world, remember Mary’s life reminds us that…
Faith is not
age-dependent.
Faith positions
us to be part of the greatest work in all of human history ~ God’s plan to
redeem Mankind!
Faith means that we
do what God says regardless of the cost.
Faith is always attractive
to God.
May we been men and woman who live a life of faith like Mary
did!