Mary Did You Know
Notes
Transcript
Ever hear the song, “Mary, did you know?”
Always liked it because I’m a story person
Have you ever stopped to think about what Mary thought after the Angel visited her?
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee,
27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
Who would Elizabeth’s son grow up to be?
Gabriel:
Appears 3 times
Daniel
Zechariah
Mary
One of only 2 angels named in Bible
Ever have a big speech or meeting someone important for the first time and struggle over what to say?
Gabriel opens with “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
We see Mary’s natural response to an angelic being popping up in her house and greeting her that way:
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.
Confused and disturbed...
Felt like that recently???
Felt guilty for feeling like that recently?
If your advice starts with “You just need to...”
You’re probably not listening
Gabriel has to do his normal calming:
30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God!
Notice Gabriel doesn’t REBUKE Mary for being confused and disturbed
He encourages her
31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.
32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.
33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
This is heavy
We look at this news as a blessing, but try seeing it from Mary’s perspective...
How would you respond to the weight of this news?
It’s intense....
Mary isn’t left in awesome wonder at the privilege....
She’s CONFUSED again
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
Mary asks a very logical question here!!!
Frustrates me when people ask logical questions and Christians respond with “you just need faith”
Again, Gabriel doesn’t rebuke her for not understanding God’s plan or asking a rational question
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.
The answer Gabriel gives Mary here is the same answer to most of our questions of inadequacy
The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you
36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.
37 For the word of God will never fail.”
Mary would have known her relative Elizabeth was barren
What encouraging news to hear her relatives’s shame was being removed
Can you imagine the mix of emotions Mary must be feeling?
Yet, look at her response to all this:
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
The BEST answer possible...
the Lord’s will be done
MARY DIDN’T KNOW
MARY DIDN’T KNOW
All the questions asked in the song about if Mary knew
the answer to most is “NO”
Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?
NO
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
NO
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will calm the storm with his hand?
NO
God didn’t lay out His whole plan for Mary
She didn’t get all the facts
Yet....
MARY TRUSTED GOD
MARY TRUSTED GOD
Her response to all Gabriel told her is a testimony to her character:
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
“you know that quiet life you were expecting with Joseph?”
“yeah, we’re going to change all that”
“You’re going to give birth to the most important human of all time....well i guess he’s not JUST human, he’s actually God also”
“Oh and it’s not going to happen naturally like you understand pregnancy, this will happen in such a way nobody is going to believe you”
AND LOOK AT MARY’S RESPONSE!!!!
And because she said yes, the rest of her life was sunshine and rainbows…right?!
MARY WASN’T REWARDED WITH A LIFE OF EASE
MARY WASN’T REWARDED WITH A LIFE OF EASE
Elizabeth and Mary were given very similar news
You who shouldn’t be able to have a baby are going to and he’s going to be an incredibly important person
This news would remove Elizabeth’s lifetime of shame
This news would create a lifetime of shame for Mary
There would be many who always saw Mary & Joseph as the couple who couldn’t wait for marriage and got pregnant before their wedding
Mary & Joseph would have been social pariah’s in their hometown
Joseph almost ends the marriage before it starts
Mary has to travel about 65 miles walking and on a luxurious donkey 9 months pregnant
Gives birth in an animal stall
Most likely has to bury her husband Joseph before Jesus ministry starts
Has to watch her own son murdered in the most brutal way Romans were capable KNOWING He’s innocent of any crime
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
Sometimes the Enemy will try to convince us if God loved us more our life would be easier
or
Hardship means God is angry with us
Sometimes....hardship means we live in a broken world and God isn’t going to fix every problem for us
Sometimes....it’s the struggle through the tough times which creates the character God wants for us
You might be confused
You might be disturbed
You might be feeling all the emotions possible to humans every hour
IT’S OKAY NOT TO BE OKAY, BUT IT’S NOT OKAY TO STAY THAT WAY
Fight the enemy by putting the Merry back in Merry Christmas
The unknown can be scary
Have faith God has everything under control