Luke 1:35-38: Mary, Our Lord’s Mother

INTRODUCTION

Mary’s assignment came like a bolt out of the blue.

The time had come for God to become incarnate and begin life on earth.

But God needed a woman to bring his precious gift into the earth.

So God looked around and he looked around and he chose the perfect girl.

She was very young, only a teen-ager, and she was engaged to a good man named Joseph.

This girl had the most common girl’s name in the land of Israel: “Maryam” in the Aramaic language of the Jews, or in English, “Mary.”

In the New Testament we read of 7 different women named “Mary.” All of them were important in the story of the gospel.

But this Mary is the one God chose to be Jesus’s mother, and she’s the one we see pictured on the Christmas cards and kneeling by the manger in the nativity sets.

The Bible says not one word about Mary’s appearance—whether she was tall or short or pretty or plain—but we always imagine her as a radiant young woman, her face lit up with a sort of holy glow. She certainly had a beautiful soul.

Let’s read the familiar story from the beginning, as recorded in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

And he came to her and said, “Rejoice, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

“He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High;

and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever;

and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no husband?”

And the angel said to her,

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (vv26-35).

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her (v38).

I. We are so charmed by the beauty of the story and the way it’s represented in the Christmas paintings and the Christmas pageants and in the Christmas music that we may forget what a huge thing God asked of Mary.

A. Mary was engaged, but not married. Right away, she had a tremendous problem. To be found pregnant before marriage would be to bear the heavy burden of shame. Who was going to believe her story about the angel?

In fact, all through the ages, doubters have questioned Jesus’s miraculous birth.

Even poor Joseph, much as he loved his dear fiancée, had decided, according to Matthew’s Gospel, to break off the engagement quietly.

So God sent the angel to Joseph too, and said, “Do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1.20-21).

When the child was only a few weeks old the Holy Family took the child to the Temple and there an old prophet named Simeon held the baby and predicted his future. Then he told Mary: “A sword will pierce through your own soul!”

Sometimes Mary is called “Our Lady of Sorrows.”

Mary would live to see her Son hang upon the cross. She would experience great grief.

B. But Mary was also granted a huge privilege. That is why the angel said, “Rejoice, O favored one, the Lord is with you.”

Mary rejoiced in God’s grace to her. She said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.

For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name” (Luke 1:46-49).

Mary was Jesus’s first teacher. Mary taught little Jesus what love means.

Jesus’s mother taught him right and wrong, how to share his toys, and how to care about others.

Mary was Jesus’s example of purity, and truthfulness, and courage, and generosity, and kindness.

Mary taught Jesus his first prayers.

Joseph was there too. When God chose Mary to be Jesus’s mother, he chose Joseph to be the earthly Father for Jesus. Together Mary and Joseph taught Jesus his Bible stories. They taught him to fear and love and obey God.

They took him to synagogue worship.

II. But what I love most about Mary—and the way she is an example for us—is in her response to the angel’s announcement: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

A. We can see in Mary’s response, why God chose her to be the mother of the Savior.

Mary was a young woman whose heart was open to God.

Her greatest desire was to please God.

The word translated “handmaid” could as be well translated “slave girl.”

The guiding principle of Mary’s life was obedience to God’s will.

God asked of her a hard assignment.

She would often be perplexed. Her life would be full of surprises. Over and over we read: “And Mary pondered these things in her heart” or “Mary treasured up these things in her heart.”

B. So Mary is our example of what it means to belong to God.

Only one person in all the earth could have the privilege Mary had—to be the mother of our Lord.

But God also calls us. He calls us to be his servants.

He calls us to bear Christ in our lives before the world.

I want to read you the story of a little incident that happened in the life of Jesus.

In Mark 3 we read an account of a time when Jesus was with a crowd sitting about him when someone came and said, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you.”

And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

It doesn’t take anything away from the honor due our Lord’s mother to hear Jesus telling us that those who do the will of God are in the closest relationship possible to him.

The blessing of our Lord’s mother can be ours as well if we take our place before him as his handmaids—his servants.

Notice, he doesn’t say, “Whoever has faith in me is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

He doesn’t say, “Whoever loves me is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Faith and love are wonderful—and they are essential—but it is obedience that proves both our faith and our love: “Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

CONCLUSION

Some people think that the strongest Christians are the people who have the strongest opinions and are always ready to argue for their faith.

Some people think they are strong believers because they feel their hearts to be full of love. They say, “If only Jesus were here I would throw my arms around him and hug him. I would wash his feet. Nothing would be too good for my Jesus.”

But the strong believer is the one who acts on her faith—who puts her faith to work in practical ways—who serves God by serving others.

If you want to know Jesus better and love him more—then set about to determine what he wants you to do and do it!

The best Christian isn’t the best talker—or even the best Bible reader.

The one who really loves Jesus is the one who knows how spend time in prayer … the one who confesses sins… who knows how to forgive…who has a kind word for everyone… who is willing to help—even if it costs something.

The one who really loves Jesus, who is close to him—the one Jesus calls his “mother,” his “sister,” his “brother”—is the one who is always looking for ways to please Jesus by doing his Word.

At Christmas time, people get all carried away by the music, and the lights, and the trees, and the food, and the cards coming in the mail, and the shopping and gift-giving—and sometimes Jesus gets left behind the tree somewhere.

Here’s the importance of Christmas—Jesus is Christ, the Lord!

Is he your Lord?