(Luke
1:26-56 NIV) In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a
town in Galilee, {27} to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named
Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. {28} The
angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The
Lord is with you." {29} Mary was greatly troubled at his words and
wondered what kind of greeting this might be. {30} But the angel said to
her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. {31} You
will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name
Jesus. {32} He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most
High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, {33} and
he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never
end." {34} "How will this be," Mary asked the angel,
"since I am a virgin?" {35} The angel answered, "The Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. {36} Even
Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who
was said to be barren is in her sixth month. {37} For nothing is
impossible with God." {38} "I am the Lord's servant,"
Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel
left her. {39} At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the
hill country of Judea, {40} where she entered Zechariah's home and
greeted Elizabeth. {41} When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby
leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. {42} In
a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is
the child you will bear! {43} But why am I so favored, that the mother
of my Lord should come to me? {44} As soon as the sound of your greeting
reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. {45} Blessed is she
who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
{46} And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord {47} and my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior, {48} for he has been mindful of the
humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
{49} for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name.
{50} His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to
generation. {51} He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has
scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. {52} He has
brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. {53} He
has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
{54} He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful {55} to
Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."
{56} Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned
home.
Preliminary:
Mary’s Reputation
One
key fact stands out about Mary: her reputation within the Roman Catholic
church. Her stature there is such that one author called her “the fourth
person of the Trinity.” It is not my purpose to exalt creature to creator
status; nor to conduct an attack on the Roman Catholic church. Rather, I will
propose three questions:
·
Why
was it necessary for God to use anyone for this purpose?
·
What
caused Him to select Mary?
·
What
lessons can we learn from this?
The
Necessity of Mary
Why
did God need to use a “Mary?” The question may be broken down into two parts:
·
Why
was it necessary for Christ to come in the flesh?
·
How,
then, was this to be accomplished?
The
Incarnation
Why
was it necessary for Christ to come in the flesh? Why not some supernatural,
ghostly visitation, a glowing saucer in the sky with a loudspeaker?
The
legal answer
The
answer is found in the Old Testament. A reading of (for example) of Leviticus
chapter 16 will show that, over and over, God associates the shedding of blood
with the forgiveness of sin. It is a curious feature of the Old Testament Law:
·
The
Law is a code of conduct which will stand for no deviation.
·
But
God knows you will deviate from it, sinners that we are.
·
Therefore,
some atonement must be made to cover for this.
Atonement
is always made in blood. Indeed, as the author of Hebrews has it,
(Heb
9:22 NIV) In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with
blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
So,
if the Law is to be satisfied once and for all -- if the word “final” is to be
written on the payment slip -- there must be a sacrifice. In the Old
Testament, a sacrifice must be unblemished. In some cases, it must be first
born. Therefore, the ultimate - “final” sacrifice is the first born of God,
the purest possible person. Indeed, the Bible expressly declares that it was
for this purpose that Christ came:
(Gal
4:4-5 NIV) But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a
woman, born under law, {5} to redeem those under law, that we might
receive the full rights of sons.
To
“redeem the law” -- that is the purpose of the Incarnation.
The
moral answer
But
what of those who do not recognize the Law? It was given to us as example, but
only to the Jews as Law. The sense of the Atonement can be generalized to that
of a “ransom:”
(1
Tim 2:5-6 NIV) For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the
man Christ Jesus, {6} who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the
testimony given in its proper time.
Indeed,
it can be seen as the reason He came:
(Mat
20:28 NIV) just as the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Why?
In the moral sense, we can see it this way.
Only
the person sinned against can forgive, but anyone can atone. If I owe a debt,
you can pay it for me -- but only to the person to whom I owe it. If I injure
someone, the court (in any country, under any law -- i.e., in general good
morality) will make me pay recompense to the victim of my errors. I know this
might happen, so I buy insurance against it -- like auto insurance. I line up
someone else to make the payment for me -- just in case.
Now,
when I sin, I have offended God. In some sense, I “owe” God. But I can’t pay
-- what do I have that He would want? How could I meet His divine standard of
perfection? I’m held hostage by my sin. But (praise God!) I have a Friend who
can pay the debt -- and has. (Ephesians chapters one and two).
The
picture
There
is one overriding picture we need to put in our minds: the Passover lamb. The
Israelites did not understand (probably) why God was doing what He was doing.
They knew, however, that the way to avoid the death of their first born
children was to put the blood of the Passover lamb on the door posts. Thus,
the Destroying Angel would “pass over” that house.
If
you want to get the feeling of it, think of being pulled over for speeding.
The officer approaches the car, sees your “UCLA Alumni” sticker on the car, and
comments that “at least you went to the right school.” Then he gives you a
warning and lets you go. How do you feel about the Alumni Association dues
now?
That’s
Jesus Christ, our Passover lamb:
(1
Cor 5:7 NIV) Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without
yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
Why
a Woman?
OK,
so the Christ must come in the flesh to be a sacrifice. Why not have Him just
appear, or come down out of heaven, or ..... Why a natural birth?
First,
it was prophesied -- as a nemesis of Satan:
(Gen
3:15 NIV) And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his
heel."
But
this is no ordinary birth, as was foretold to Isaiah:
(Isa
7:14 NIV) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be
with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Here
we see that the virgin birth is a “sign.” That means a way we can recognize
the real Christ. But the main reason is that without a birth there is no real
incarnation; no way for God to become Man. It is a mystery, to be sure, but
it is the faith:
(John
1:14 NIV) The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen
his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of
grace and truth.
The
Character of Mary
So
then, a birth is required, and that means a virgin of Israel, of the house of
David, to give birth in Bethlehem, .... the list goes on. What kind of person
is this Mary? We have in this passage most of the clues to her character.
She
is submissive in obedience. “Behold the handmaiden of the Lord” (verse 38) in the
old King James. Her response to what must be an overwhelming message is one of
submission and obedience.
She
is a woman of purity.
She explicitly asks how this can happen -- she understands sex well enough for
that! (The question is “how”, not “whether.”) In asking the question -- of an
angel of the Lord, Gabriel himself, not one you would want to “fake out” -- she
shows what she is. She is a pure virgin, and not at all self conscious about
it.
She
is one who has a deep relationship with God. Poetry is a window on
the soul, and in the Magnificat (verses 46-55) we have a beautiful picture of
Mary’s relationship with God:
·
She
is one who “rejoices in the Lord.”
·
She
thanks God for His blessings, both on her and on her people.
·
She
knows God’s character, knowing Him to be
·
merciful
·
knowing
the thoughts of all, and opposing the proud
·
faithful
(verse 55)
Christ’s
view of Mary
It’s
interesting to see our Lord’s own view of His mother. It’s recorded in two
places:
(John
2:1-10 NIV) On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus'
mother was there, {2} and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited
to the wedding. {3} When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him,
"They have no more wine." {4} "Dear
woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus
replied. "My time has not yet come."
{5} His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
{6} Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for
ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. {7} Jesus
said to the servants, "Fill the jars with
water"; so they filled them to the brim. {8} Then he told
them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master
of the banquet." They did so, {9} and the master of the
banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize
where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then
he called the bridegroom aside {10} and said, "Everyone brings out
the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too
much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."
(John
19:25-27 NIV) Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. {26} When Jesus saw his
mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his
mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," {27} and to the
disciple, "Here is your mother." From
that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
(It’s
no accident that John, the closest friend Jesus had, is the one to record
these). The adjective “dear” is used only twice by Jesus -- and only of His
mother.
Henry
Halley, a Bible commentator of the 1920s, described the Papacy this way:
“It
arose on the ruins of the Roman Empire, in the name of Christ occupying the
throne of the Caesars; a Revival of the Image of the Roman Empire inheriting
the Spirit thereof; ‘the Ghost of the Roman Empire come to life in the garb of
Christianity’ ... It brought itself to power through the prestige of Rome, and
the Name of Christ, and by shrewd political alliances, and by deception, and by
armed force; and by Armed Force and Bloodshed has maintained itself in power“
(flaming capitals in the original) -- from which you can see how he felt about
the Catholic church. Yet see how he views Mary:
“Mary
was a quiet, meditative, devoted, wise woman, most honored of women, queen of
mothers, sharing the cares common to motherhood. We admire her, we honor her,
and we love her because she was the mother of our Savior.”
Lessons
to be learned
Mary
stands not, as misstated, the source of grace, but rather as example to us.
Some key points:
The
example to women
Women
today feel the desire to be “liberated.” The word means many things to many
people. Several of them are the denial of the woman of the Scriptures. The
one most particularly offensive is the role of motherhood. Today, motherhood
is supposed to be an afterthought (certainly not to be ranked with career and
prestige) -- something of the thought of “I’m superwoman, I can do that too.”
Consider,
however, that the honor due to Mary is for one thing: motherhood. She was
counted worthy to be the mother of our Lord.
The
example to all of us
Much
of what I have to say here applies to motherhood in particular. Please
consider, however, that we, the church, are the bride of Christ -- female to
Him who is male to us all. There are three keys of her character I would give
you:
The
key to submission: knowing God. How many women would tell you something
like “Submit to some guy? Not me sister!” God doesn’t ask you to submit
yourself to “some guy” -- He asks you to submit to the husband you know, the
one you know who loves you to the point of giving his life for you. Submission
is so much easier to one you know; one who loves you.
So
it is with us, the church. We are to be submissive to our Lord, and this
starts with our knowing Him.
·
Do
you know His mercy?
·
Do
you understand that He knows your thoughts, and opposes the proud?
·
Have
you seen His faithfulness?
All
these things Mary saw.
The
key to service: Purity. I had to repair my wife’s glasses yesterday. A tiny
screw had popped out and been lost. I found an old pair of glasses to obtain a
replacement screw, and then went to select a screwdriver. I picked one of
those tiny “jeweler’s” screwdrivers -- because that was the tool that would do
the job. I have a lot of screwdrivers, but only that one would do. God’s
toolbox likewise has different tools (us) for different tasks.
But
suppose I came and found the tip of that screwdriver rusted and corroded. I’d
have to throw it away and get a new one. So it is that purity makes us a tool
fit for the Master’s hand, to be used at His tasks. Do you ever feel that God
does not make sufficient use of you, that your life needs some greater task?
Perhaps it is not the shape of the tool, but the shape the tool is in!
The
key to obedience: faith and trust. As the angel told Mary, nothing is
impossible with God. He will not work beyond our trust, however.
You
know this from married life. Your relationship depends upon trust; that trust
must be nourished. Can you tell where serving each other stops and trust
begins?
So
it is with God. If you wish to be His obedient and submissive servant, you
cannot do it with a Missouri attitude. Compare the attitudes:
“Lord,
I want you to work great things through me. But you understand that until I
see great and miraculous things, I’m going to go on doubting that you can or
ever will work through me. So I’m just going to sit back and wait for you to
do a miracle in my life -- then you’ll see just how hot and on fire I can be.”
“Behold
the handmaiden of the Lord.” “May it be to me as you have said.”
Which
of these is pleasing to God? And through which of these people will He do
great things?