A Child Is Coming

Israel was under the reign of Herod, King of Judea. He was also known as Herod the Great. He ruled Palestine through the influence of the Caesar Augustus, Roman Emperor. He ruled under the Romans from 41 BC to 4 BC. It was during his reign that our story takes place this morning. The angel Gabriel has already come to Mary’s cousin Elizabeth in the previous verses to proclaim to her that in her old age God will give her and her husband Zechariah. He was a priest. The Bible calls him and Elizabeth righteous and ones who walked blamelessly before God. This son they were to have would come and proclaim the future coming of the Messiah and prepare Israel for His coming.

Jumping ahead a few months to our main story this morning, we find the same angel, Gabriel, appearing to Mary who lived in Nazareth. [Now the setting for the Annunciation drew amazement from first-century Jewish readers because Gabriel ignored Judea, the heartland of God’s work through the centuries, and came to Galilee, a land that was the subject of abiding Jewish contempt because of its mongrelized population. Even more, the angel not only bypassed Judea for Galilee, but the city of Jerusalem for the village of Nazareth. Nazareth was a “non-place.” It was not even mentioned in the Old Testament or in Josephus’ writings or in the rabbinical writings (either Talmudic or midrashic). It wasn’t until 1962 that a pre-Christian mention of Nazareth was found at Caesarea Maritima. The later prominence of the town is a result of the Christian gospel. Nazareth, a shoddy, corrupt halfway stop between the port cities of Tyre and Sidon, was overrun by Gentiles and Roman soldiers. When guileless, straight-talking Nathaniel mentioned Nazareth, he said, “ ‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ ” (John 1:46), implying that it was miserably corrupt. By consensus, Nazareth was not much. (R. Kent Hughes, Luke: That You May Know the Truth, Preaching the Word, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998), 28–29.)]

Our story, Gabriel’s coming to Mary took place in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Mary, was Elizabeth’s cousin and much younger. She was a virgin and engaged or betrothed to a man by the name of Joseph. Joseph was a carpenter in Nazareth. He worked with not just wood but stone and possibly other metals. He was a hard working man. During this engagement Mary was busy about her day when an angel appeared to her. He begins to speak to her by saying, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” This was a fairly common type of greeting. He greeted her by telling her she was favored by God. God has shed His grace on her and is choosing her to be apart of the biggest, life-altering event in the history of the World that will reverberate both the past, the present, and the future! Yet he was to differ from all humanity in that he did not have a human father. His conception occurred by the power of the Holy Spirit. This was a miracle in the strictest sense of all: it was an act that only God could bring to pass. God alone can bring something out of nothing; life out of death; fertility from a barren woman; a virgin birth (R. C. Sproul, A Walk with God: An Exposition of Luke, (Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1999), 20.)

Mary was nothing special and lived in a town that was looked down on by most. She lived a very ordinary life and would through her life raise a family with Joseph that was just a normal family with family problems. This story though is not about Mary but about the child that Gabriel was about to tell Mary that would be coming and that the child would be coming from her.

After Gabriel greets her and tells her God’s grace was on her, Mary responded in a very understandable human response, perplexed and thought through with thoroughness. Gabriel could see this and offered up some encouragement to not be afraid again because God had found favor with her. God’s grace was with her! Gabriel then tells Mary the truth of the fact that she would conceive and give birth to a son. He even told her what to name Him, Jesus. He begins to describe to Mary what this baby boy would be like. It is here we see a wonderful description of Jesus Christ. Gabriel describes Jesus with multiple descriptions. Two of the descriptions could be taken as synonymously. I can only imagine Mary’s mind as Gabriel was describing this child of which she would give birth. This baby would be great, the Son of the Most High/Son of God, King, reign for eternity, and holy.

Mary responded to Gabriel with a very valid question, “How can this happen? I am a virgin.” Mary’s right living can be seen in her question. Gabriel responded with an answer. He tells Mary that the conception of this child would be miraculously done by the Holy Spirit. It is for this reason Jesus was to be called the holy Child. He follows this by again giving Mary some words of encouragement. He tells Mary about Elizabeth and the miracle that God was doing with Elizabeth. He tells her that nothing is impossible with God. Mary then responds with a beautiful response, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” (New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update, (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Lk 1:38.)

II. The Applying of the Child’s Coming

A. The Truth of the Deity of Christ—the fundamental truth of Christmas!

Luke in his telling of this story uses multiple descriptions of this child coming to earth. Let’s look at each of these descriptions and see the beautiful truth of this unique, one of a kind, child whose sole mission was to be the Savior of the World (Matthew 1:21).

The Child will be man’s savior! She was told to call his name Jesus which means savior! What a truth! The child coming was going to be the one to save people from being lost without hope and dead in sin. Mary most likely at this time did not grasp the full impact of the child being called Jesus. One day she would and oh, what a wonderful thought that men and women, boys and girls, have a way to escape the punishment for our sin. Jesus this child is coming to seek and save the lost and dead in sin!

The Child will be great!

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter One: Hear the Good News! (Luke 1)

The emphasis is on the greatness of the Son (cf. Luke 1:15), not the greatness of the mother.

The word great speaks of status and importance. Jesus will be great. We now look and see that He IS great! He is at the right hand of the throne of God making intercession for every believer! Though not mentioned here in this text Jesus is great in being our High Priest (Hebrews 4:15).

The Child is Son of the Most High.

This phrase points to the equality of Jesus with God the Father, with YAHWEH! Jesus is God. Without Jesus being God we have no Christmas and more importaantly we have no salvation from an eternity of damnation in hell for all eternity because of our sin. Jesus, mankind’s savior, was 100% God! He is God (John 1:1). In order for salvation to be valid their needed to be a unblemished sacrifice, this sacrifice would be God incarnate, Jesus, the Son of the Most High!

The Child is the Divine King—He will be given the throne of David.

This was the announcement of the coming of the Messiah. The prophecy that has been told to the nation of Israel for hundreds of years was now about to come to pass. The phrase “the throne of His father David” shows Jesus’ humanity. Just as Jesus was completely God, he was completely human. Jesus had a human father in Joseph who was in the line of David fulfilling yet another prophecy. It not only shows His humanity but also His Kingship! If you put these descriptions together and you end up having a divine savior and king that will save people from sin and rule for eternity! Luke throughout his book emphasizes Jesus’ humanity. He in Luke 2:52 states how Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man.

Israel had been waiting for their King! They have been waiting for the Messiah to come and overthrow the Roman oppression! His kingdom has not yet come and Israel as a nation has rejected Christ altogether. “Jesus, as David’s descendant, will sit on David’s throne when He reigns in the Millennium” (2 Sam. 7:16; Ps. 89:3–4, 28–29; John A. Martin, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1985, 2, 205 ). Many are still looking and waiting! One day Christ will return and set up His physical kingdom and rule from the throne of David! “Jesus’ reign over the nation Israel as her King will begin in the Millennium and continue on into the eternal state.” (John A. Martin, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1985, 2, 205.) The Davidic Covenant God made with David is begun to be put into accomplishment.

For the believer today we rejoice that Jesus is in control and providentially rules over the affairs of men. The kingdom is not here but certain benefits of the kingdom God has graciously given us. We know He is in control! We must as Christians claim Him as king of our hearts! He is God and King. Let us look toward the 2nd Coming of Christ!

The Child is the Son of God— He is Holy!

This description and name of Jesus reveals more than Him being the Messiah. It reveals more than His office. It speaks to His nature and conception! He is from God—He is God! It shows the divine origin of Jesus. Son of God speaks to the very nature of Jesus.

The adjective HOLY that Luke uses to describe the child has significance. It speaks to prior existence of Jesus. It speaks of Jesus nature being holy before He comes to earth. It speaks to His deity! Jesus was separate from His creation until this moment where He would set aside the independent use (Philippians 2:1-11) of divine ability and humble Himself to the will of God the Father. What a beautiful and selfless Jesus did. He left heaven to come to earth and be beaten and rejected by people and eventually killed all so you and I could have eternal life. Why was this possible? Because He was/is God! He is the holy, Son of God.

B. The Demands of the Deity of Christ

i. Believe in God’s Power

Power of God's Grace - what is grace? God showing favor and divine enablement! God independently chose to use Mary as He found favor with her. This text does not tell us why He favored her. God's grace in the lives of men is not dependent on the acts of man. God shows His grace in multiple ways to both believer and unbeliever alike. The unbeliever experiences the truth of God's common grace seen in not wiping the earth out nad allowing them to prosper in life. To some God endues special grace that is enacted in the life of those who believe in God, repent of sin, and ask God on the basis of His grace to receive you into His family and adopt him or her.

Power of God's Spirit - miraculous conception; this is not about Mary's righteous deportment but about God's divine choosing. There were other righteous women in Israel and that may have checked all the prophetic promises that Christ would come from the line of David. He simply chose Mary because because He found favor with her not because she was more special than any other woman in Israel. We ought to stand in the wonderful truth that God's power is what made this happen not a single woman’s relationship with God. Sometimes God chooses people to accomplish his plans but often it is not in comparison with others but rather He finds favor with them and chose of His own independent will.

ii. Believe in God’s Word

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter One: Hear the Good News! (Luke 1)

God accomplishes His purposes through the power of His Word (Ps. 33:9).

Have a meditative and contemplative mind and will open to the Word of God, Psalm 1:2, James 1:22.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Psalm 1

But his adelight is bin the law of the LORD,

And in His law he meditates cday and dnight.

Believe and act on what God tells you from His Word!

James 1:22–25 NASB95

22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

Preaching the Word: Luke, Vol. 1—That You May Know the Truth Gabriel’s Approach (vv. 26–29)

Mary’s example has a practical relevance for our frenetic, uncontemplative age. Those who experience the birth of the Savior in their lives are those who take the time to ponder God’s Word to them. “I will meditate on your precepts” (Psalm 119:78). We need such hearts today.

When the poet Southey was telling an old Quaker lady how he learned Portuguese grammar while he washed, and something else while he dressed, and how he gleaned in another field while he breakfasted and so on, filling his day utterly, she said quietly, “And when does thee think?”13 That is the perfect question for us. When do we contemplate the condition of our lives, meditate on God’s Word, and focus upon the course and destiny of where we are headed in light of God’s revelation? At Christmastime, when we most consider the opening chapters of Luke, and at all other times too, we need to “center-down,” to use the old Quaker term, and ponder the things that really count—perhaps even to be “greatly troubled,” as was the blessed virgin, to be serious before God and devote ourselves again and again fully to his will.

Let all mortal flesh keep silent,

And with fear and trembling stand;

Ponder nothing earthly minded,

For with blessing in His hand

Christ our God to earth descendeth,

Our full homage to demand.

—LITURGY OF ST. JAMES (FIFTH CENTURY)

iii. Humble Surrender to the Will of God

We need to have a humble heart to God’s plans, Matthew 5:3-6.

Matthew 5:3 NASB95

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

We need to have submissive hearts, Luke 1:38.

“I am the Lord’s Servant.”

Luke 1:38 NASB95

38 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.

Conclusion:

So what? What impact does or should this narrative have in my life, in your life? Mary, who did not have the amount of divine revelation as we do placed her faith in God and what God said He was going to do. It must have sounded so odd to her even despite the knowledge she would have had of the OT prophets. She was a young girl who was concerned with perception and do right. God told her what to do and gave her the promise of being with her. He places the exclamation with the statement that nothing is impossible with God.

Have you ever had anything that does not make sense happen to you? It could be something trivial to something life-changing. We have all had something happen to us that made us ponder or question what God was doing? We are human and no different than Mary. She was a little startled at first with what Gabriel was saying to her. I am sure you and I have been startled at what God asks of us at times and wishing we had more of the details. God through Gabriel gave Mary all the information she needed. See this is our problem, we all too often want more than God reveals to us because we want control of our lives rather then ceding control to God.

So in putting everything together this morning into a nice pretty package, Mary received a message from God about the Child, God’s Holy Son, who would reign from the throne of David forever was going to miraculously would come to earth as a baby and she would be the one to conceive the Child and call His name Jesus. See this whole passage the focus is on the Child. The Child who IS the Son of God, He is Holy and divine, He is King and Savior! It is this truth that ought to move our hearts this morning. It is pondering and meditating on this that will change our lives. It is the telling of this that will be an act of obedience and a message of hope to the lost, sinful world in which we live.

See, Mary is a great case study for us this morning in how to respond to God speaking to us. She is a case study how each of us need to deal with the glorious truth of who Jesus IS!

Therefore, our main point this morning is:

The deity of Jesus Christ demands we believe in the power of God, believe God's Word, and humbly respond in willing surrender to God in accomplishing His will.

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