Mid-Advent 2
Lk
1:26-38
12/12/18
We would like to think that we are
in control of our lives. We make plans
that have the purpose of accomplishing goals.
We do this in relation to marriage and family, job and career. Surely,
Mary had done this as well. From all
that we know about the culture of first century Judaism, Mary was most likely
in her early to mid teens. In her case,
plans had been made, but that’s not to say she had made them. She was betrothed to a man named Joseph. No doubt, her parents had arranged the
marriage. Now while that is certainly very
different from what we are used to and seems strange to us, it is worth
considering the fact that for several thousand years this method has produced
marriages that turn out to be lasting and loving; and it still does today in
other parts of the world.
Mary was betrothed – an engagement
which was in fact a legal transaction.
We know from the New Testament that Mary’s parents had chosen very
well. Joseph was from the lineage of
King David. We learn from Matthew’s
Gospel that he was faithful to God’s Word, and was a thoughtful and
compassionate man. Mary was looking forward to her marriage to Joseph; to
having children and a family.
Mary’s life was taking a clear
course, until the angel Gabriel appeared to her. He said,
“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” Understandably, Mary was greatly
troubled at the saying, and tried to understand what it meant.
The
angel went on to say, “Do
not be afraid, Mary, for you have 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 forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Now there are three things to note
here. First, Mary is described as
“favored” by God, and it is an angel who announces this to her. Second, she is
told that she is going to conceive and have a son who will be called
Jesus. And third, she is told that this
son is going to be the Davidic king whose reign will never end. She is told that she is going to give birth
to the Messiah.
Mary’s
response to this was to say, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” When hearing her response, it is impossible
not to the think back to last Wednesday when we heard Zechariah direct a
question to Gabriel. After hearing the
announcement that Elizabeth was going to have a son he said, “How shall I know
this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” We saw that
Zechariah was demanding a sign that would confirm the veracity of the angel’s
announcement. It was a question based in
unbelief.
Mary’s
question was very different. She perceived that Gabriel didn’t mean that this
would happen at some point down the road after she was married to Joseph. Instead, Gabriel was there to announce the
news because it was happening now. So Mary asked how this was going to happen because, after all, she was a
virgin. She didn’t ask for proof that
the angel’s word was true like Zechariah.
She believed God’s word delivered through Gabriel. Instead, hers was a question that asked how
God was going do this thing that seemed impossible.
Gabriel
answered, “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. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also
conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Gabriel
told Mary that the Holy Spirit would cause her to conceive. Though a virgin, she would be pregnant and
give birth to a son. Because of this amazing action by God, her son would be
holy. He would be called the Son of God.
This was a term that could refer to the kings descended from David. But in this
case it meant far more, because in fact it was the second person of the Holy
Trinity – the Son – who was taking on flesh in the womb of the virgin. The One conceived by the Holy Spirit and born
of the virgin Mary was – and still is
– true God and true man.
How was
Mary to respond to this news that no woman in the history of the world had ever
heard? She said, “Behold,
I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Mary received it in faith. She believed God’s word and expressed her
willingness to be God’s servant in this – to be his instrument.
In our text, Gabriel addresses Mary
as “favored one” and says that she has “found favor with God.” This favor is a matter of God’s grace - that
God had shown her the favor of using Mary in this way. As Mary would say to Elizabeth, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all
generations will call me blessed; for
he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
Mary had
been given a role that no other woman has ever had. She carried and gave birth
to the incarnate Son of God. She is not
just the mother of our Lord. The Church confesses she is the Mother of God –
the mother of the incarnate Son of God. And for that reason Elizabeth was
entirely correct when she said to her, “Blessed are you among women, and
blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the
mother of my Lord should come to me?”
But what
about Mary’s plans? Mary was planning on marrying Joseph. Only then would she become one flesh with
him, and no doubt she trusted that in the natural course of things they would
have children together. But now things
were not going to go according to her plan.
Instead, it was going to be God’s
plan. God’s plan meant that she
would now be a pregnant, unmarried girl.
It meant that she would have to try to explain her situation to
Joseph. It meant that should could never
be just a wife and mother like all of the other girls.
Like Mary,
we make plans for marriage and family, job and career. And then things
happen that we didn’t expect; things that we certainly don’t want. Our plans are dashed, or changed, and it
becomes clear that for the foreseeable future life is going to be different
than we expected.
These are things that prompt fear
and anxiety. They threaten our trust in God’s loving care. Yet as we face these things, our text provides
the model for our response. And it also
provides the reason we can have confidence in this response.
The model – the way we need to
respond, is faith. When Gabriel told
Mary that she would conceive through the work of the Holy Spirit and give birth
to the Messiah she said, “Behold, I am the servant of the
Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” She believed and trusted in this
word that came from God. As Elizabeth
said about her: “And blessed is she who believed
that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
We respond with faith in God’s love
and care; in his ability to guide our life and use circumstances in ways that
we do not expect. And the reason we can
do this with confidence is the baby whom the angel Gabriel announces to
Mary. God has revealed his saving love
in the birth, death, and resurrection of the incarnate Son of God. Through this amazing action of sacrifice and
love he has redeemed us from sin and the devil, and defeated death.
As we prepare to celebrate the birth
of our Lord, let us not forget that the story of Christmas is also the story of
how Mary’s life was sent on a course that she had never planned. Rather than objecting or complaining, she
responded in faith, “Behold, I am the
servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” We too are enabled to do this through the
work of the Holy Spirit because of what God had done for us through the One
conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary.
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