“The Mother” -- Luke 1:26-38

Kim and I hadn’t been married long, maybe a year. Her birthday was coming up, and I decided I wanted to do something special for her. I planned a surprise party for her, inviting my parents and her parents, her sister and her husband and my brother and his wife. I think I left a key with someone, then took Kim to dinner while they gathered at our apartment.

My signal that we were coming was to honk my horn, which I managed to pull off without arousing suspicion. As we entered our apartment, everyone was hiding in our bedroom. We entered the apartment, and Kim said she thought she saw someone in our bedroom. I dismissed her fears, and told her her present was in the bedroom. She wasn’t sure she wanted to go there, but I gave her a push and everyone yelled, “Surprise!” I had successfully pulled it off.

When it comes to the birth of Jesus, there were a lot of surprises. Zechariah was surprised to learn he and Elizabeth were to be parents. Even more surprised must have been Mary when Gabriel came to her. Both had questions, and both received answers.

The announcement to Mary, though, must have been the greatest surprise.

Central Truth: God chose Mary because she had found favor with Him.

The proclamation (26-33)

After Zechariah returned home from his temple duties, he and Elizabeth conceived their son. Six months after John’s conception through normal means, Gabriel appeared to Mary with good news that was at the same time startling news.

We know a little bit about Mary. Luke tells us simply that she was engaged to marry Joseph, and that she was a virgin. Gabriel’s greeting to her was simple, but it was also profound. “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you” (v.28). The simplicity of the greeting is found in that the angel gets right to the chase. He describes her as highly favored and assures her that God is with her.

The profundity of the greeting is found in the terms “highly favored” and “the Lord is with you.” Both terms convey an idea to Mary that God favored her, that God had been and continued to be with her. By telling Mary this, Gabriel is trying to put her at ease. He is trying to let her know that she is seen in a positive light by God.

These terms are ones we find in our relationship with God, as well. Through His Holy Spirit, the Lord is with us, and because of Christ’s redemptive work, we are highly favored. The ideas conveyed to Jesus’ mother are extended to the rest of His family through the work He did on earth.

Regardless of the words, we read that Mary was “greatly troubled” at the words and was confused by the greeting. Personally, I would think that being spoken to by an angel would be troubling and confusing, but not with Mary. It’s almost as if this isn’t a first time for her, but she’s never heard an angle use such words. I take the phrase “greatly troubled at the words and confused with the greeting” to mean that Mary was confused about the entire event that was taking place in her life. An angel was standing in front of her, talking to her, and she was understandably troubled by what was taking place.

So Gabriel expands on his initial greeting. He reassures her that she has nothing to fear and reaffirms God’s favor is with her. He then proceeds to proclaim what is about to happen to her and why.

She is to become the mother of a son who is to be named Jesus. He then describes 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 the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end” (vs. 32-33).

Everyone things their children are special. Everyone has the highest hopes for their offspring. But how many of us have an angel tell us what Mary was told by Gabriel? Her son will be great. His greatness will come from the fact that He is first of all God’s Son. Secondly, the greatness comes because of His claiming of the throne of David and His position as king for all time.

The reality is that Mary is not a rich person, nor does she come from a family of wealth. When she and Joseph take Jesus to the Temple for His circumcision, they purchased two doves as the sacrifice. The doves were what those who could not afford a lamb would provide. The idea of her son becoming a king could not have ever been one of her wildest dreams. And yet, that is exactly what was being proclaimed.

Jesus was coming to our world in order to re-establish not David’s reign, but God’s kingdom. This kingdom would not be a worldly one made of earthly things, but a spiritual kingdom built around a new-found relationship between God and those He saved through His Son. The significance of Christ is that He is the fulfillment of God’s promises from the earliest times to the present. Jesus is the coming of God into our world, and, because of His intervention in our world, the world will never be the same. The son whom Mary would bear was to bring a radical change in the way we relate to God and the way we relate to one another.

This is Gabriel’s proclamation to Mary.

The explanation (34-37)

If Gabriel had come to me and told he all he had said to Mary about Jesus’ greatness, I would have a lot of questions. Mary had one question, and hers was focused on the possibility of the event relating to her. “How will this be since I am a virgin?”

If Gabriel had told me that my wife and I were to be the parents of Jesus, I would assume that, like Zechariah and Elizabeth, the conception would take place after we were married. But Mary didn’t understand Gabriel’s words to convey that. Apparently, his words conveyed to her that this conception would be immediate, not after her engagement to Joseph resulted in their marriage. So Mary asks her question. She wasn’t unnerved by the proclamation, only at the immediate possibility of her having a child.

Gabriel gave her the explanation that would raise other questions. “The Holy Spirit will come upon 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” (vs. 35). Gabriel explains that God, the Creator of all things, would work in her to bring about this miraculous event. Because of this, Jesus was to be the Son of God, not just the Son of Man. He would be fully human and fully God.

When President Obama took office, there was comic strip that was topical in its themes. The strip after Obama’s inauguration asked the question, “Is Barak Obama a black man with a white mother, or a white man with a black father?” The accurate answer is, he’s both. In our society, we see him as a black man, but he also had the genetic makeup of a white person.

Jesus, the child placed inside the womb of a human being by the Spirit of God, made Jesus both God and Man. He was unique in that aspect. No one has ever had the privilege to proclaim Himself as such. The explanation expanded on the proclamation. Not only is Jesus to be great because He would re-establish the throne of David, but He is also God made flesh, God with us.

The faith response (38)

Mary has received a lot of information from Gabriel in just a few moments. She has been given information that will take a lifetime to process. Everything she hears from the angel will stay with her throughout her life as she watches this promised child grow from a baby to a man. There are several passages in the Gospels that let us know Mary was constantly having to reconsider and think about what she heard in this room on this day.

And yet, with all that must have been swirling in her head, her only response to Gabriel’s proclamation and explanation is, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be as you have said” (v. 38).

There are a lot of times God comes to us and begins to work in us. He begins to prepare us for an event or a new direction. We may not be clear on His instructions at the time, and we may be filled with questions. We may wish He could be more clear and concise. Yet, God’s way is to let us know He has a plan for us and that He is preparing us for His task.

All we can say to Him in those times is what Mary said,” I am the Lord’s servant. May it be as He wills.” You see, God doesn’t want people with great accomplishments or great acclaim or great intelligence. What God wants is willing servants. The willing servant is the one who hears God’s call and surrenders to that calling. The servant of the Lord is the one who gives himself or herself to God to let Him work through us.

Look at the examples of the people in the Bible. Abraham went where God sent him, trusting God to fulfill His promise in His due time. Abraham never lived to see his descendants as numerous as the sands in the desert, but he never doubted God. Joseph went through horrible circumstances, but his faith never wavered. He saw beyond the circumstances to see God at work, and gave God the praise. Moses, Samuel, David, the prophets, the apostles—all of them went where God led them, allowing God to work through them to achieve His will and His glory.

Mary had every reason to question everything Gabriel told her. Like Zechariah, she could have asked for proof of what was being said. But there was a reason Mary had found favor with God, there was a reason God was with her.

Mary had faith, and it was a faith that would trust God even when it all seemed unbelievable.

Conclusion

There are times when we are surprised. Sometimes, the surprise is pleasant; sometimes, it’s not. How we deal with the unexpected goes a long way to define us as people.

When God moves in our lives, it’s often a surprise, often unexpected. We can resist His calling, or we can learn to be like Mary and respond with faith and submission.

God wants to use us. Are we willing to let Him?