unexpected | Mary

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 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, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 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. 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. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Inside out and outside in

Luke begins his gospel with two birth announcements from the angel Gabriel. We only read one of them. But it will help understand what is happening if we do just a little bit of comparing. In the opening verses of chapter one, Gabriel visits the priest Zechariah to deliver the news that Elizabeth will give birth to John the Baptist. And then we immediately jump to the story of Gabriel visiting Mary to announce the birth of Jesus. While these two announcements are both important and remarkable, they also show a contrast in the way God is unfolding his plan of redemption.

Zechariah is a priest who receives the announcement from Gabriel while he is serving inside the temple in Jerusalem. John the Baptist is the one who comes before Jesus to prepare the way. John is not the savior, but the one who preaches repentance in preparation for the savior. John is the messenger. And it is John’s birth which is foretold in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the capitol city. The temple is the center of Jewish religion. This is the place in which we would expect the announcement of kings, not the announcement of a messenger.

As John would grow up and enter his ministry of preparation for Jesus, he moves away from the city and baptizes people out in the wilderness by the Jordan River. What begins at the center of activity in Jerusalem moves outward to the wilderness.

Consider how this is a contrast to the next announcement. The angel Gabriel visits Mary informs her of the birth of Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus is the promised one from God who would save his people. Luke makes sure to mention in his writing that Joseph is a descendant in the line of David. But everything else seems out of place. The town of Nazareth in the region of Galilee was out in the middle of nowhere. This is the kind of place where nothing remarkable happens. Nazareth is the last place anyone would ever peg as the origin for a king. Nothing notable or important ever comes from this area. Galilee is just plain ordinary.

Joseph takes Mary to Bethlehem for the Roman census. And even though Jesus is born in Bethlehem to fulfil the prophet Micah, eventually Mary and Joseph settle back down in Galilee. And this is where Jesus begins his earthly ministry. He calls his first disciples from this region to be his followers. And from there the ministry of Jesus moves towards Jerusalem. He begins in the most unlikely of outside wilderness places, and then moves in towards the center at Jerusalem; exactly the opposite of what John the Baptist does.

Unexpected credentials

When it comes to the example of Mary, the story of Jesus becomes just plain unexpected. As we have been tracing this advent series following the five women in the family tree of Jesus, we have seen how they all represent something unexpected. Perhaps the most unexpected feature of Mary in this lineup is her credentials. An ordinary girl from an ordinary town. Mary does not posses an impressive resume in the least. There is nothing special about her at all. What on earth would ever motivate God to choose someone like Mary? I mean, if God wanted to make a big splash with the announcement of his Messiah, he should have done absolutely everything differently. It should not be from an ordinary town. And it should not be from an ordinary girl. Mary just plain does not have the credentials for this kind of project.

But then again, maybe that is the whole point. God chooses the most ordinary of people for his plan of redemption in the world to show us that God till chooses the most ordinary of people for his plan of redemption in the world. Jesus does not come just for the high and mighty. Jesus does not come simply for the ultra-elite. Jesus does not hold an exclusive A-list members only roster. Jesus comes for ordinary people like you and me.

When we think of the power of Christmas, when we remember all that it means for Jesus to redeem and restore a lost a broken world, it feels a bit overwhelming. This whole mission of the church to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world today is a bit of a monumental task. When I think about how broken our world still is today, it feels quite overwhelming to think that Jesus has commissioned his church to be out there bringing this message of hope into such a messed-up world.

Until—that is—I remember the way God chose to first bring about his plan using an ordinary girl from an ordinary town in the middle of nowhere.

Mary’s credentials are unexpected. She is not nobility. She is not any kind of religious scholar. She does not possess extraordinary wealth. What Mary simply has is a heart willing to be used by God, no matter what that may bring. She does not respond to Gabriel with a list of conditions. She does not make a counteroffer. She does not prepare a contract of mutual obligations. Mary simply tells Gabriel, I am the LORD’s servant, may your word to me be fulfilled.

Mary reminds us that the family of God is for everyone. His family is for you. And the only thing God is looking for are people who simply respond, “I am the LORD’s servant.” That’s the only credential you need to be a part of God’s redemption story.

Related Media

Related Sermons