let it be: Luke 1: 26-38

Today in our study of Luke we come to a very familiar story.  One of the most familiar stories in the history of the world.  It is the beginning of the story of the birth of Jesus Christ.  Sometimes, I am afraid that familiarity can work against you when it comes to studying and understanding Scripture.  Because you have heard it so often, you assume you know all that it has to offer.   And so I want to try to present to you today this familiar story, but at the same time to show you it’s spiritual significance, and perhaps help you to understand some things that were in plain view all along, and yet obscured by the traditional Christmas story we have been familiar with since childhood.

But for starters, it is critical that you understand that the virgin birth of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the Christian faith.  If Jesus was not born of a virgin, then He was not born of God, and therefore He had no power to forgive sins, nor could He atone for sins, and therefore could not accomplish salvation for mankind.  The virgin birth confirms the deity of Jesus Christ, without which there is no gospel.  Because the gospel is nothing less than the good news that God has come down to man and redeemed him from his sinful state which condemned him to eternal death, and provided a way for man to be reconciled to God.

I remind you that Luke starts out writing that he is providing a careful analysis, a complete accounting of the story of the gospel.  He is bridging the gap between the record of the Old Testament, and the epistles, by recording the words of the Holy Spirit as testified to by eye witnesses.  He is laying the groundwork of Scripture for our faith to be founded upon.  Luke and the other gospels provide an essential link in the continuity of  the scriptural record concerning Jesus Christ.  In the Old Testament, we see Christ predicted.  In the gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we see Christ revealed.  In the Acts, we see Christ preached.  In the Epistles, we see Christ explained.  And in Revelation, we see Christ expected.  But in all the scriptures, we see Jesus promised as the Son of God, God incarnate.  Our faith is not founded on supposition or cleverly devised tales, but our faith is founded upon the written promises of God.

So as we look at this familiar passage today which is recounting the beginning of the gospel, I want to show you three promises of God to man, three promises of God regarding Christ, and the  necessary response of three promises from man to God.  So first, lets look at the three promises of God to man.

But first, a little historical background. Starting in verse 26, we see Gabriel, the angel of God, who was introduced earlier in the chapter in regards to the birth of John the Baptist, coming 6 months later to another woman, actually a very young woman, possibly only 13 or 14 years old.  Elizabeth was an old woman who was supernaturally endowed by God with the ability to give birth, and now Gabriel comes to a young woman who wasn’t even married, still a virgin, to announce that she was going to have a child by God.  She lived in a small village called Nazareth, some 70 miles northeast of Jerusalem.  Nazareth had a reputation as a rough town, a place known for it’s low morals and bad reputation.  Yet in this village with a bad reputation lived a young woman barely old enough to be married.  Her name was Mary, and she was a virgin.  Furthermore, she was engaged.  But engaged in that day had three stages to it. There were three stages to a Jewish wedding in that culture: engagement (a formal agreement made by the fathers), betrothal (the ceremony where mutual promises are made), and marriage (approximately one year later when the bridegroom comes at an unexpected time for his bride after preparing his home for her).  And Luke says that Mary was betrothed to Joseph, meaning that she was under the obligation of marriage, and that the only way to break this engagement was by divorce.  The law specified that if she was found to be unfaithful, found not to be a virgin on her wedding day, she could be divorced, which would be a catastrophe in Jewish culture.  She would become an outcast from society, and would lose all hope for being provided for, and would bring shame to her family as well as great financial loss.  So it’s important to understand the context in which this message from Gabriel is made to this young woman.

Now while this supernatural, miraculous event of a virgin being with child will never be duplicated, I want you to see that Mary is a type of all those that God has chosen to bring to salvation.  This is the purpose of Jesus coming to earth, as I stated earlier.  Just as God chose a common village girl from nowhere to be the vessel through whom the Savior would come, so God reaches down from heaven in an act of supreme grace to supernaturally bring about salvation for his chosen people.

So the first promise of God to man is exemplified by the predestination of Mary for God’s blessing.  Note that Gabriel addresses Mary as one specially chosen for favor with God. Luke 1:28  And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."  29. But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.  30 The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.”

We need to understand first of all that while Mary was the vessel by which the Savior was born, she was not the means of salvation.  Unfortunately, certain false teachings have misconstrued these statements and given attributes to Mary that the Bible does not give.  It does not state, as the Catholic mantra asserts, that Mary is full of grace.  That misinterpretation gives rise to the false doctrine that Mary is the means of grace. That’s not what the Bible teaches.  Yet that is why Catholics pray to Mary.  That is why they devised the false doctrine of the assumption of Mary, whereby they say that Mary never died, she rose up to heaven in bodily form even as Christ.  Because if she can impart grace then she would have to have never sinned.  Furthermore they say that Mary remained a virgin forever, in spite of Luke 8:20 which says “And it was reported to Christ, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You."

No, the truth of the matter is that Mary was a nobody from no where, without merit, that God providentially chose to be the earthly recipient of His grace.  A girl from the wrong side of the tracks.  All she had to offer the world was that she was a virgin, which was to be expected and even demanded by her society.  She was chosen by the sovereign grace of God to receive the kindness and favor of God.  She had no inherent grace.  She received grace, just as all men must receive grace. Eph 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

God chooses those to whom He would reveal Himself to, even as Mary was chosen, not according to their merit, but according to His grace and His purposes. Eph 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” God’s grace is the means of our righteousness, even as it was for Mary.

Notice Mary was perplexed at Gabriel’s statement.  She couldn’t understand why she had been chosen for this great favor from God.  She doesn’t understand why, or how it will come about as stated in verse 34: "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"  And there is a difference between her question and the question earlier in the passage by Zacharias.  Zacharias was questioning the veracity of  the Word of God.  Whereas Mary accepts the Word of God, but she is asking for understanding.  And that is the difference between a submissive heart to the Word of God and an heart that is rebellious.  One accepts it and seeks understanding.  The other examines it according to human intellect and rejects the Word of God.

The second promise of God to man is shown in the statement of Gabriel to Mary that the Lord is with her.  This is a fulfillment of the prophecy found in Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”  This prophecy is quoted in Matt. 1:23 which explains that Immanuel means “God with us.”  This is the promise of salvation for mankind.  That we cannot reach God, we cannot grasp God, we cannot attain to the standard of righteousness that God requires, and so God provides salvation by his own hand.  God comes to man, since man cannot come to Him.  “God with us” is a title of Jesus Christ; Immanuel. John 1 says “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

The third promise of God to man is that he will be blessed because of God becoming flesh.  Man who was cursed because of his sin, now is blessed because He became sin for us.  Gabriel says to Mary in verse 28, that she was most blessed.  In the NASB it says favored one.  But it means blessed one.  And Mary was most blessed among women because she had been chosen to bear in her body the Son of God, the very offspring of God.  A tremendous privilege.

And yet this promise and this privilege is for us today as well that have been saved.  Jesus Christ is the blessing that was promised all the way back to Abraham when  God said in Gen 22:18 "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

So the promise is to us as well. Gal 3:29 says, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.”  We that belong to Christ have received the blessings of Christ, fellow sharers in the inheritance of Christ.  Eph. 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

So three promises of God to man, that we would be chosen for salvation not on the basis of merit, but on the basis of grace.  That the Lord would be with us, become one of us so that He might be the perfect substitute for our sins.  And that we that were cursed would be blessed because we belong to Christ, receiving an inheritance in heaven with Christ.

Then Gabriel gives us three promises of God regarding Christ. Gabriel tells Mary of the child she will give birth to starting in verse 31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;  33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."

The first promise regarding Jesus is that “He will be great.”  Contrast this statement of Gabriel to that concerning John earlier in the chapter.  Of John he said, “he will be great in the eyes of the Lord.”  He doesn’t quantify Christ’s greatness that way.  Christ is great because He is the Lord.  John the Baptist said in John 1:27 “He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."  Jesus is great because He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  By Him all things are created and have their being. Phil. 2:9 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The second promise that Gabriel gives concerning Jesus is that “He will be called the Son of the Most High.”  Notice that the emphasis is not on Jesus being the son of Mary, but on Jesus being the Son of God. Hebrews 1:2 “in these last days [God] has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.” He has inherited the name God, because He is the Son of God.

The third promise of Jesus that Gabriel gives is that  “the Lord God will give 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." Hebrews 1:8 “But of the Son [God] says, "YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM. "YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS." And, "YOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU REMAIN; AND THEY ALL WILL BECOME OLD LIKE A GARMENT, AND LIKE A MANTLE YOU WILL ROLL THEM UP; LIKE A GARMENT THEY WILL ALSO BE CHANGED. BUT YOU ARE THE SAME, AND YOUR YEARS WILL NOT COME TO AN END."

Gabriel presents Jesus as no less than the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He is the King of the kingdom of heaven.  John went forth preaching, “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”  He said get your hearts right before the coming of the Lord.  And so we need to understand that Jesus is not just a carpenter who was a nice guy, a kind of Gandhi type of individual, who proposed a pacifistic life style of doing nice things for people and was wrongfully executed for his troubles.  No, Gabriel presents Jesus as no less than the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Sovereign of the Universe, who came unto his own and his own received him not,  who will judge the world and rule the world, and to whom you must yield your life to His rule voluntarily or eventually involuntarily.  But to whom one day every knee will bow.

I saw on the news yesterday that Justin Beiber’s pastor has written a book on Jesus, called “Jesus is blank.”  And the fact that this pastor is famous for being Justin Beiber’s pastor should be enough of an oxymoron to give you a clue about the book.  But anyhow, unregenerate people seem to love that sort of celebrity Christian-eze.  So he says he has written this book to dialogue with people from all sorts of faiths, all sorts of backgrounds to open up a discussion about Jesus.  And of course, questions and discussions and dialogue about who Jesus is sounds so open minded.  He said that it was proving to be very popular in Seattle, and Justin Beiber was a big fan of the book.  Well, that settles it then.  

However, I got news for them.  There is only one book that matters when it comes to deciding who Jesus is.  And that book is the Word of God.  We call it the Bible. It’s not open to discussion, by the way.  Jesus will not be defined by your dialogue, He is defined by what God has written concerning Him.  And you are going to be judged, not by what you think, but by what you did in response to what God has revealed in His Word.

Now finally, let’s look at the promises man needs to make in response to this message from God given through Gabriel.  Three promises of Mary are an example of what our response should be as well. Notice first that Mary responds in humility and subjection.  And I would remind you that Mary is this young woman from a town with a bad reputation as being of low moral character, and the only future for her in her world was to find a husband that would offer her marriage and take care of her.  That agreement was dependent upon the validation of her virginity on the day of their consummation.  And so as she contemplates this message from God she has to weigh the potential consequences.  She has to consider that her husband might divorce her. She’s going to have to  protest her faithfulness and plead her virginity and yet be carrying a baby she can’t explain through human understanding.  She is going to have to suffer the reproach of a village small enough that everyone would know that she was pregnant and yet not married.  She would sacrifice her reputation.  She might be sacrificing her marriage.  She would be slandered for the rest of her life for infidelity.  Her future children would bear her reproach as well as her husband.  She had to weigh the costs of obeying God’s Word.  And folks, don’t mistake it, there will be ramifications and sacrifices involved in being obedient to the Word of God.  But let’s see three responses of Mary.

The first promise is found in Vs. 38. And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord.” The KJV says handmaiden.  But a more accurate rendition is found in the NASB, which is bondslave.  A bondslave, you will remember, was a slave that was offered freedom, and yet refused to go free because of their love for their master.  They promise themselves to him in perpetual service until death.  And what a picture of salvation this is for us.  We are called to give ourselves wholly and completely to live for God offering up our bodies as a living sacrifice to God.

 Salvation is not just naming the name of Jesus.  It’s not just getting a get out of hell card so we can get on with our life.  But it’s about becoming a servant of the Kingdom of God.  Doing God’s will.  We promise to God to become a servant for life because of our love for our Master.  Salvation promises servant hood.

The second promise of Mary was “Let it be to me according to your word.”  And in this response Mary is an example of those who are saved in obedience to the Word of God.  Think about how this is phrased.  Let it be to me, according to your word.  She is saying, “Not my will but your will be done Lord.”  And isn’t that what our response is to be to the Lord?  Lord, let it be.  Whatever your Word says, let it be.  Whatever your will is, Lord let it be.  Whatever you require of me, let it be.  Mary is saying, whatever you want to use me for, if it means suffering, if it means separation, if it means bearing your reproach, if it means being counted among sinners, if it means offering my body as a servant, as a sacrifice, as a vessel for you, then let it be Lord.  And that should be our response as well to the offer of God’s grace.

And then finally, Mary’s promise is not just lip service, but total submission to the Holy Spirit.  Vs.35 “The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”  She promises to yield her body completely to the working of the Holy Spirit within her.

Jesus said in John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”  You see how that works?  Mary answers affirmatively to the call of God, and submits to the authority of  the Word of God, and then yields to the working of the Holy Spirit working through that Word to produce life.  We too by answering in faith the call of God, submitting to the authority of the Word of God, are given righteousness through the grace of God, and then we are given the power of a righteous life through the Spirit of God.  That is the purpose of God.  We are saved to do good works by walking in the Spirit.  We can not saved by our good works without the Spirit who gives life.  But having submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, having submitted to becoming a servant of Christ, then we receive by faith in Christ His righteousness in exchange for our sins.  Then we receive new life in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us.

We can’t do that through mere religious ceremony.  We can’t do that in our own strength or by our merit or inherent goodness or by our good works.  It is impossible to reach up to God.  Without faith, it is impossible to please God.  But though it may be impossible for us,  note what Gabriel said in vs. 37 "For nothing will be impossible with God."  God knows it is impossible for us to have spiritual life that is required for fellowship with Him.  So He has provided it himself.  He has made it possible for man to be reconciled with God.  To be restored to the original intention of creation, which was to create an offspring of God.  God formed man to be children of God, sons and daughters of God.  To become fellow heirs with Christ. Sin had kept us from God’s purpose.  But now we see God’s plan realized by the Holy Spirit enabling us to become sons of God.  We that have accepted Him as our Savior, our Lord, our Sovereign, our Master, and according to 2 Cor. 1:22 have been given the Holy Spirit as a deposit for that day when, according to 1Cor. 15:53, “this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What is your response to the gospel?  This is the most important question of your life in response to the greatest story ever told.  That God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)  I hope you will promise to the Lord as Mary did, “behold, the bondslave of the Lord, let it be according to your Word.”  May you give yourself unreservedly to the Lord, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, conformed to His Word, no longer living according to the desires of the flesh, that you might be called a child of God and have eternal life in His name.