Mary’s Song
Notes
Transcript
Have you ever received exciting news but you couldn’t tell no one?
I hate it when someone comes up to me and says, “I’m going to tell you something but you can tell no one.” I’m not talking about pertaining to my job. As a Pastor people tell me stuff all the time that I can’t tell anyone about. I keep that stuff secret. But what about if there is some really good news that everyone is eventually going to know about and you can’t tell anyone about it until it is revealed.
Mary’s situation was very similar to this. She had some exciting news to tell but couldn’t tell anyone because of how most would take the news. They wouldn’t understand.
If you have your Bibles go with me to the book of Luke chapter 1. I will begin reading at verse 26. Today we are going to read several verses because we will finish up chapter 1. I won’t spend a lot of time on all of the passages but I do want to bring out some highlights. Let’s begin.
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, 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 conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants 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 on 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 unable to conceive is in her sixth month.
37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this part. We talked about it last month during Christmas, but I do want to remind you of a few things.
First of all, remember that Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph. The actual word is betrothed. Betrothal was a legal agreement to marry. This was much stronger than an engagement. It was actually a binding contract like the actual marriage, and it could only be dissolved by divorce. The couple would not sleep together during this time. Unfaithfulness during this time was considered adultery and punishable by death according to the law God gave the Israelites through Moses.
So, when Mary became pregnant, Joseph, being a good and gentle man, considered a private divorce. But the Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream about what was taking place. So, you can understand why this was kept as hush hush as they could.
Also, in verse 28, the angel tells Mary that she is highly favored. In a way she is highly favored above all women in being chosen as the mother of Jesus. However, no where in scripture does the writers suggest that she is to be worshiped, prayed to, or given special titles. She deserves our respect but only her son is worthy of our worship.
Mary fit all the qualifications of someone that could be the mother of Jesus. She was between the age of 13 and 17. She is humble. She grew up in Nazareth. She was a spiritual person. She come from the tribe of Judah. She came from the lineage of King David. And she is a virgin.
Both Luke and Matthew state clearly that Jesus was born of a virgin. Never in history has there ever been a virgin birth. This is the only time in recorded history that this has happened. Think about it. The Holy Spirit would work a miracle within Mary’s body, and the child would be conceived only by a supernatural act of God.
God humbled himself and became a single cell, became a zygote, became an embryo, a fetus, in the womb of a young virgin.
Jesus would be completely “holy”; in His case, this meant that He came into the world unstained by sin, unlike all others born into the human race, and free from spiritual corruption.
In this moment Mary submitted herself completely to God’s will and trusted His message. She willingly accepted the honor and criticism that being Jesus’ mother would bring. Part of the criticism and rejection would likely come right away as her body showed signs of being pregnant before marriage through a miracle of the Holy Spirit. In essence, Mary was All In.
Look at verse 39.
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 the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Why do you think that Mary would first go to Elizabeth after her encounter with the angel Gabriel?
If anyone could possibly understand just a little bit of what Mary was going through it was Elizabeth. She was unable to have children and now she is an old women and six months pregnant. It was a miracle conception. Elizabeth was carrying the child that would lead the way for Mary’s baby that would be the savior of the world.
Look at Mary’s song at verse 46. This is known as the “Magnificat,” the first word in the Latin translation of this passage. She says…
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, just as he promised our ancestors.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
It is in this song that we recognize Mary’s need for a savior in her own life. Just as anyone who needed Christ as “Savior.” The idea that Mary was immaculately conceived, the notion that her soul was free from original sin and separation from God, which has been passed down to all humans since Adam and Eve first defied God, and lived faultlessly is nowhere taught in God’s word.
9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Mary understood this. And just as Mary was used by God, we too can be used by God to do things that we never could imagine.
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.
58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah,
60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.
63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”
64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.
65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things.
66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.
So, for the past nine months Zechariah has not spoken a word. Remember last week I told you that he was fulfilling his priestly duties when the angel Gabriel came to him in the temple and told him that Elizabeth was going to have a baby. Zechariah didn’t believe it and because of his unbelief he was silenced for 9 months. And then when he is finally able to speak verse 67 says…
67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
In my mind I am imagining what it might have felt like to not be able to speak and then your first child is born. and the Holy Spirit comes upon him. When I read Zechariah’s song I imagine it was something like this.
68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—
72 to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
I truly believe this was a joyous time for these families and those that were associated with them.
Also, did you notice that the presence of the trinity was present here in scripture. We know that God is present always. Jesus is present in Mary as a baby going through each stage of growth in pregnancy and the Holy Spirit comes upon Elizabeth at Mary’s presence and Zechariah after his son is born.
We are starting to see some amazing new beginnings that are taking place in the new testament. We are seeing things move into order to prepare the way for the savior of the world, Jesus that will soon be born.
And then verse 80 says.
80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
This is the last we hear of John the Baptizer until we pick up his story again in Luke chapter 3.
So, if you don’t get anything else from me today, get this.
It is so important that you make room for Jesus in your life.
Gabriel approaches Mary and asks her to disrupt her normal life and make room for Jesus. And it wasn’t just a time set aside each week to have a one hour service for Jesus. God wanted Mary to become the mother of Jesus. God wanted Mary to raise Him just like you and I raise our children. God wanted Mary to let Jesus consume her life and you know what, she did.
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
This wasn’t just a short time commitment, it was a lifetime commitment. Mary made room for Jesus.
She was willing to be inconvenienced and create room in her life. And did you notice that the angel told her that the work in her would be from the Holy Spirit. If we make room for Jesus in our life the Holy Spirit will fill the space we create and will empower us for the work.
Following Jesus isn’t just about creating space in our schedule by going to church, it’s about creating space in your life for the Holy Spirit to work. The work that Jesus does in our lives begins with the internal and personal transformation. We move from being just a consumer to being a contributor.
As a church, each week we want to give a service that will entertain you in a way that you desire more of God but it can’t stay there. If you are just growing then you will only be a consumer. At some point you need to have grown to a point that you become a contributor. We don’t want to stay at a stage that all we think about is “What’s in it for me?” Mary, became a contributor. She gave her life to give Jesus life. God’s not asking us to birth a Savior of the world. But He is calling on us to make room in our lives to bring Jesus to our world.
Jesus the savior of the world has come. As believers it is our job to take his message to the world. It starts by making room in your life for Him.