1 00:00:06,450 --> 00:00:11,680 We have come into this place and we have gathered in His name to 2 00:00:11,690 --> 00:00:14,300 worship Him. Are we going to invite Sam up? 3 00:00:14,310 --> 00:00:18,510 Because Sam is going to speak very, very soon, and Sunday 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:20,410 school, you're going to be gaping it after this. 5 00:00:20,420 --> 00:00:23,330 So can I invite the Sunday school to come and join me? 6 00:00:23,340 --> 00:00:26,330 So Sam and I am by ourselves, just a bit lonely. 7 00:00:26,340 --> 00:00:28,220 So Sunday school, one to the front. 8 00:00:28,310 --> 00:00:31,010 I know it's not normal. Then from here you can fly out 9 00:00:31,020 --> 00:00:32,210 the door. Come on up. 10 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:35,600 That's a keep coming. Come on. 11 00:00:36,730 --> 00:00:49,460 Come on, Hayden, Let's go. Ohh, that is so. 12 00:00:49,470 --> 00:00:53,460 Cool, you're gonna be full. Ohh, just so should we pray 1st 13 00:00:53,470 --> 00:00:55,320 and then shall we get it? Come on. 14 00:00:55,330 --> 00:00:58,250 Come back here. This way here. 15 00:00:58,260 --> 00:01:02,010 Come on kitties, this has been well rehearsed and well 16 00:01:02,020 --> 00:01:05,390 organised. Let's pray, shall we? 17 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,440 As a family, our God and our Father. 18 00:01:08,450 --> 00:01:12,140 Thank you so much, Lord, for who you are and that we can gather 19 00:01:12,150 --> 00:01:15,200 together in this building together as brothers and sisters 20 00:01:15,210 --> 00:01:18,730 in Christ and Lord, just to be able to sing together, to sing 21 00:01:18,740 --> 00:01:22,720 of your praise and your worship. And as we now just go into our 22 00:01:22,730 --> 00:01:24,540 time of ministry, I just pray for Sam. 23 00:01:25,340 --> 00:01:28,060 May you be with them, may you guide them and direct him. 24 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:30,750 May he be. May you be his all and all, 25 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,700 Lord, and for our children as I give it to Sunday school today, 26 00:01:34,710 --> 00:01:36,860 Lord, may they just enjoy their Sunday school. 27 00:01:37,310 --> 00:01:40,340 May they just enjoy the drawings, the readings, and the 28 00:01:40,350 --> 00:01:42,140 stories that they will share together. 29 00:01:42,470 --> 00:01:45,160 And Lord, we just pray for the teachers as well out there that 30 00:01:45,170 --> 00:01:47,710 you'll just be with them. We thank you for their 31 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:49,660 encouragement. We thank you for their time and 32 00:01:49,670 --> 00:01:53,040 preparation that they do for such a time as this. 33 00:01:53,450 --> 00:01:55,860 As we have gathered this morning, Lord, we just say thank 34 00:01:55,870 --> 00:01:57,580 you. Lord, we give you thanks, the 35 00:01:57,590 --> 00:02:00,120 name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 36 00:02:00,980 --> 00:02:07,900 See you later, kids. When you're right, we are 37 00:02:07,910 --> 00:02:09,820 continuing our series on Luke this morning. 38 00:02:09,830 --> 00:02:12,360 So if you want to open up your Bibles, we're gonna be in Luke 39 00:02:12,370 --> 00:02:15,930 Chapter 1. And this morning we'll be 40 00:02:15,940 --> 00:02:18,840 looking at versus 26 through the 38. 41 00:02:19,950 --> 00:02:22,280 If you're unsure of the date this morning, it is still 42 00:02:22,290 --> 00:02:24,940 August. We are not in Christmas season 43 00:02:24,950 --> 00:02:28,240 yet in December, but we have a text before us which we 44 00:02:28,250 --> 00:02:29,760 associate very much with Christmas. 45 00:02:29,770 --> 00:02:32,060 It's the beginning of the Christmas story. 46 00:02:32,270 --> 00:02:34,620 Some of my friends think that's a little funny that I'm 47 00:02:34,630 --> 00:02:36,620 preaching a message related to Christmas. 48 00:02:36,630 --> 00:02:39,320 I'm known as the Grinch. For some people, that is not 49 00:02:39,330 --> 00:02:40,970 true. I love celebrating Christmas on 50 00:02:40,980 --> 00:02:46,640 Christmas Day. This takes we're looking at this 51 00:02:46,650 --> 00:02:49,380 morning and it's one of the most familiar in the Bible. 52 00:02:49,430 --> 00:02:52,480 I took a very thorough survey this week of maybe a dozen 53 00:02:52,490 --> 00:02:54,720 people and asked them what do you think the most well known? 54 00:02:54,910 --> 00:02:58,380 Sorry, and all the Bibles and after me prompting them, the 55 00:02:58,390 --> 00:03:00,240 consensus was definitely Christmas. 56 00:03:01,270 --> 00:03:04,140 And we're not looking at the entirety of the Christmas story 57 00:03:04,150 --> 00:03:05,920 this morning. We're just looking at this very 58 00:03:05,930 --> 00:03:08,880 first portion of it. But what I want to emphasise as 59 00:03:08,890 --> 00:03:12,500 we just come into it this morning is that this familiarity 60 00:03:12,510 --> 00:03:14,190 we have with the Christmas story, it's excellent. 61 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,540 It's great, but it very much has become the Christmas story. 62 00:03:17,750 --> 00:03:21,640 Now, in the case of the Bible, we actually have two stories 63 00:03:21,650 --> 00:03:23,640 that we get our Christmas story from, right? 64 00:03:23,650 --> 00:03:26,380 We have the account given in Matthew and we have the account 65 00:03:26,390 --> 00:03:29,760 given in Luke. And these are two individual and 66 00:03:29,770 --> 00:03:32,890 unique stories. And this morning, we're 67 00:03:32,900 --> 00:03:36,840 concerned with Luke and what Luke is writing, not necessarily 68 00:03:36,850 --> 00:03:39,280 with Christmas and the events that we know from it. 69 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,110 As Dan talked about in the intro, each gospel writer has a 70 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:47,170 unique purpose. They have a unique intent in 71 00:03:47,180 --> 00:03:49,890 what they're writing, and they choose to include different 72 00:03:50,020 --> 00:03:52,380 stories and teachings as a result of that. 73 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,050 And this story that we're looking at this morning where 74 00:03:55,060 --> 00:03:59,260 Gabriel comes and announces Mary's coming child, it's not 75 00:03:59,270 --> 00:04:01,090 even mentioned in the story of Matthew, right? 76 00:04:01,100 --> 00:04:05,290 Luke has a unique and individual intent for including it, and 77 00:04:05,300 --> 00:04:08,510 that is our concern for this morning. 78 00:04:09,290 --> 00:04:12,870 So with that in mind, let us read our texts. 79 00:04:13,820 --> 00:04:20,630 Luke chapter 1 from verse 26. Now in the six months the Angel 80 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,710 Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 81 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,410 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the 82 00:04:28,420 --> 00:04:31,760 House of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 83 00:04:31,830 --> 00:04:34,920 And having come in, the Angel said to her, Rejoice, highly 84 00:04:34,930 --> 00:04:39,080 favoured one, the Lord is with you, Blessed are you among 85 00:04:39,090 --> 00:04:41,460 women. But when she saw him, she was 86 00:04:41,470 --> 00:04:43,980 troubled at her saying, and considered what manner of 87 00:04:43,990 --> 00:04:47,180 greeting this was. Then the Angel said to her, Do 88 00:04:47,190 --> 00:04:50,510 not be afraid Mary, for you have found favour with God, and 89 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,890 behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a 90 00:04:53,900 --> 00:04:57,190 Son, and shall call his name Jesus. 91 00:04:58,020 --> 00:05:01,350 He will be great, and we record Son of the Highest, and the Lord 92 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,710 God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will 93 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,250 reign over the House of Jacob Forever, and of his Kingdom 94 00:05:08,260 --> 00:05:12,540 there will be no end. Then Mary said to the Angel, How 95 00:05:12,550 --> 00:05:14,500 can this be, since I do not know a man? 96 00:05:14,750 --> 00:05:18,290 And the Angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will 97 00:05:18,300 --> 00:05:21,470 come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. 98 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:27,330 Therefore also that holy One who is to be born will be called the 99 00:05:27,340 --> 00:05:29,890 Son of God. Now indeed Elizabeth your 100 00:05:29,900 --> 00:05:33,530 relative has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is 101 00:05:33,540 --> 00:05:36,330 now the 6th month for her who was called Baron. 102 00:05:36,580 --> 00:05:39,390 For with God nothing will be impossible. 103 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:43,670 Then Mary said, Behold the maid servant of the Lord, let it be 104 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,820 to me, according to your word. And the Angel departed from her. 105 00:05:50,350 --> 00:05:53,900 This is a narrative, and we're going to be looking at a lot of 106 00:05:53,910 --> 00:05:56,080 narrative as we go through the book of Luke. 107 00:05:56,270 --> 00:06:00,240 And a difficult part of reading a narrative is that the author 108 00:06:00,250 --> 00:06:03,360 doesn't necessarily write exactly what they want us to 109 00:06:03,370 --> 00:06:07,200 always pick up from this story. They write their story from a 110 00:06:07,210 --> 00:06:10,240 particular angle and with particular details with the 111 00:06:10,250 --> 00:06:13,120 intention that we'll pick up what they're putting down. 112 00:06:13,390 --> 00:06:16,110 Now, that's not really annoying of them, although it might seem 113 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:17,550 that way. When we read the Bible, it's 114 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,340 just the normal part of how we talk and how we communicate, 115 00:06:20,350 --> 00:06:22,020 right? We infer the details. 116 00:06:22,290 --> 00:06:24,020 We do this in everyday life, right? 117 00:06:24,030 --> 00:06:27,560 For example, if we read the sentence, he pushed his plate 118 00:06:27,570 --> 00:06:31,060 away with half the food still on it, we can infer a bunch of 119 00:06:31,070 --> 00:06:33,000 potential details. We don't have much context. 120 00:06:33,010 --> 00:06:36,220 So we could say that this person is pushing their food away 121 00:06:36,230 --> 00:06:40,680 because they were already full, or maybe they were upset and 122 00:06:40,690 --> 00:06:43,380 they didn't want to eat anymore, or something more interesting 123 00:06:43,390 --> 00:06:45,840 was happening and they decided to stop eating and do that. 124 00:06:46,020 --> 00:06:47,450 Right? And it's very normal for us to 125 00:06:47,460 --> 00:06:50,020 infer details. Happens in scripture as well. 126 00:06:50,180 --> 00:06:52,400 Here's an example from Genesis chapter 3. 127 00:06:53,530 --> 00:06:56,460 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that 128 00:06:56,470 --> 00:07:00,330 they were naked, and they sowed figleaves together and made 129 00:07:00,340 --> 00:07:03,400 themselves coverings. Now we talked about this, and we 130 00:07:03,410 --> 00:07:05,540 always refer to the fact that they felt shame. 131 00:07:05,550 --> 00:07:09,440 We infer that even though the text doesn't explicitly say it. 132 00:07:09,450 --> 00:07:12,020 But look at this in another translation which makes the 133 00:07:12,030 --> 00:07:15,680 inference for us. At that moment their eyes were 134 00:07:15,690 --> 00:07:19,020 opened and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness, so 135 00:07:19,030 --> 00:07:21,540 they sued for Glees together to cover themselves. 136 00:07:21,890 --> 00:07:25,570 So it's very normal for us to infer details into a narrative, 137 00:07:25,580 --> 00:07:28,520 and that's a good thing to do. We don't just want to take 138 00:07:28,530 --> 00:07:31,900 everything at face value. We want to understand what the 139 00:07:31,910 --> 00:07:34,640 author is putting down for us to pick up. 140 00:07:34,770 --> 00:07:38,420 And that is what we are going to be doing this morning as we look 141 00:07:38,490 --> 00:07:42,160 at Luke. Our structure for this morning 142 00:07:42,170 --> 00:07:43,810 is going to look very similar to last week. 143 00:07:43,820 --> 00:07:45,920 We're just going to work our way back through the text. 144 00:07:45,930 --> 00:07:49,620 I'm going to comment on it as we go and we're going to look for 145 00:07:49,630 --> 00:07:51,400 some things. But before we actually start, I 146 00:07:51,410 --> 00:07:54,120 want to tell you what I think we're going to find so that you 147 00:07:54,130 --> 00:07:57,420 can be looking with me. So there's four key truths that 148 00:07:57,430 --> 00:07:58,790 we're going to be looking for this morning. 149 00:07:59,740 --> 00:08:02,890 The first are these. They explicit facts that the 150 00:08:02,900 --> 00:08:05,410 text says very, very clearly within them. 151 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:07,840 And it doesn't take much for us to infer. 152 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:09,610 Luke just puts them right out there for us. 153 00:08:09,620 --> 00:08:14,110 And that is the virgin birth and the Davidic heritage that Jesus 154 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,010 has. They're realities of the event. 155 00:08:17,100 --> 00:08:20,310 And then there's 2 themes of Luke, which I think he is 156 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:22,150 putting in there for us to pick U. 157 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:24,510 And I think we're going to see them throughout his book as 158 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,110 well, not just here oo Firstly, we're going to see Jesus. 159 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:33,169 Jesus superiority to John. John was a forerunner and Jesus 160 00:08:33,179 --> 00:08:35,730 is the fulfilment. We're going to see that a lot, 161 00:08:35,740 --> 00:08:39,429 particularly for through the 1st 3 chapters of this gospel. 162 00:08:39,940 --> 00:08:42,890 This story is going to be told parallel throughout it for us to 163 00:08:42,900 --> 00:08:46,070 see. And secondly, this gospel, this 164 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:49,740 good news is for everyone. And God is using the lowly and 165 00:08:49,750 --> 00:08:54,310 the humble to bring it about. So let's get back into our text, 166 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,930 our first 2 verses. Now. 167 00:08:57,940 --> 00:09:02,250 In the six month, the Angel Gabriel was sent by God to a 168 00:09:02,260 --> 00:09:05,970 city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man 169 00:09:05,980 --> 00:09:08,410 whose name was Joseph of the House of David. 170 00:09:08,500 --> 00:09:12,700 The Virgin's name was Mary. So 1st 2 verses they give us the 171 00:09:12,710 --> 00:09:15,860 setting for which the story is occurring in and note that the 172 00:09:15,870 --> 00:09:18,800 first thing Luke does is he connects it to the prior story 173 00:09:18,810 --> 00:09:23,310 about John's conception in the six month is in a reference to a 174 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:25,600 period of time in the year. It's not referencing June or 175 00:09:25,610 --> 00:09:27,720 wherever it was in the calendar they were using. 176 00:09:27,810 --> 00:09:31,880 It's a reference to Elizabeth's pregnancy, the same Angel 177 00:09:31,890 --> 00:09:35,120 Gabriel as also prison, which continues this link. 178 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,480 Luke wants his reader to connect these two stories. 179 00:09:38,490 --> 00:09:41,490 He wants us to compare them. He wants us to contrast them. 180 00:09:41,660 --> 00:09:45,290 And like I said, the first 3 chapters of his gospel are all 181 00:09:45,300 --> 00:09:47,370 like this. So tell John side of the story. 182 00:09:47,380 --> 00:09:50,300 Tell Jesus side of the story. So right, Gabriel's profit 183 00:09:50,310 --> 00:09:53,470 prophecy to Zechariah, right? Gabriel's prophecy to Miri, 184 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:57,030 right, the story of John birth, John's birth right, the story of 185 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:01,190 Jesus birth introduce John's ministry, introduced Jesus 186 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:02,350 ministry. So we're going to see this 187 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:04,920 contrast over the next few weeks as well. 188 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,130 Luke wants us to be comparing the two of them not to show 1 as 189 00:10:09,140 --> 00:10:11,530 good and one is bad, but to distinguish their roles. 190 00:10:11,540 --> 00:10:14,850 Make it clear that one is the forerunner and one is the 191 00:10:14,860 --> 00:10:18,890 fulfilment. 1 is preparing the way for the Lord. 1 is that 192 00:10:18,900 --> 00:10:21,970 Lord? So having established that 193 00:10:21,980 --> 00:10:24,700 connection and that first sentence there, we see an 194 00:10:24,710 --> 00:10:27,620 immediate contrast between these two stories. 195 00:10:28,390 --> 00:10:31,640 Gabriel, if we remember from last week, appeared to Zechariah 196 00:10:31,650 --> 00:10:34,820 standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 197 00:10:34,910 --> 00:10:36,480 Jeff talked about the significance of that. 198 00:10:36,490 --> 00:10:39,060 The Jewish legend there was a part of that. 199 00:10:39,130 --> 00:10:42,100 And we also saw some incredible timing, right? 200 00:10:42,110 --> 00:10:46,340 Jeff talked about how and over the course of somebody's life, a 201 00:10:46,350 --> 00:10:50,120 priest, they actually spent very little time in this position. 202 00:10:50,130 --> 00:10:54,020 So maybe of the two weeks or the month that they might spend 203 00:10:54,030 --> 00:10:57,760 their entire lives doing this. So happens that when Zechariah 204 00:10:57,770 --> 00:11:01,180 is standing in the most central location of Jewish worship, that 205 00:11:01,190 --> 00:11:06,020 is where Gabriel appears to him. By contrast, Gabriel's second 206 00:11:06,030 --> 00:11:10,570 expedition has him somewhere far less expected generally, as 207 00:11:10,580 --> 00:11:14,310 you'll see on this map here, it's far to the north of Israel. 208 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:16,120 I'm not sure how big that is for you. 209 00:11:16,210 --> 00:11:22,330 So Galilee is our region up and purple towards the top half of 210 00:11:22,340 --> 00:11:26,670 the map. Jerusalem is right down in the 211 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:30,710 middle of this pink area. So Galilee, it is a Jewish 212 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:31,990 province. The colours there are just 213 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,950 dividing who's in charge of them during this period of time, but 214 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,890 that's not relevant to us. Galilee is a Jewish area. 215 00:11:37,900 --> 00:11:41,910 It's not like Samaria, which is in between Judea and Galilee, 216 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:44,370 which is obviously enemies of the juice. 217 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:48,230 It's a Jewish area, but it's looked down upon by Jews from 218 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:50,390 Judea. They're considered to be far 219 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:53,410 more under the influence of Greco Roman culture. 220 00:11:53,700 --> 00:11:56,850 If you've heard of the Decapolis cities, they're in that area and 221 00:11:56,860 --> 00:11:59,690 they have an immense influence on the region of Galilee. 222 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,000 So it's considered to be a little bit unclean that people 223 00:12:03,010 --> 00:12:05,900 there aren't considered to be as pious, and it's far less 224 00:12:05,910 --> 00:12:08,890 expected for where Jewish faithful are and for where 225 00:12:08,900 --> 00:12:11,260 angelic messages are going to be coming to. 226 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:16,020 Now, within that, Nazareth is so insignificant that it's 227 00:12:16,030 --> 00:12:18,480 identified by its province, right? 228 00:12:18,490 --> 00:12:23,540 So it's Nazareth to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, right? 229 00:12:23,550 --> 00:12:27,200 We only identify places by their province affair and significant. 230 00:12:27,250 --> 00:12:30,700 I don't say to you, my friend is in now living in London, in 231 00:12:30,710 --> 00:12:32,510 England. I just say London and you know 232 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:35,280 where it is. Maybe if I identified a 233 00:12:35,290 --> 00:12:37,820 different place, I would have to identify we would come from, 234 00:12:37,830 --> 00:12:39,500 right? So if I said I'm from Petadu, 235 00:12:39,930 --> 00:12:42,820 many of you might know where that is because it's the city of 236 00:12:42,830 --> 00:12:46,140 the future. Ohh, I might have to identify it 237 00:12:46,150 --> 00:12:50,520 by it's in the South Waikato. So we know that Nazareth is 238 00:12:50,590 --> 00:12:54,960 insignificant. So what Luke has done here and 239 00:12:54,970 --> 00:12:58,220 setting the story out is he's made it apparent that this is a 240 00:12:58,230 --> 00:13:02,010 nobody from a nowhere place. OK, so Mary is an insignificant 241 00:13:02,020 --> 00:13:05,900 person from an insignificant place, a lowly Jewish town. 242 00:13:06,850 --> 00:13:09,660 And as we head into our next verse, we see two points of 243 00:13:09,670 --> 00:13:13,110 identification about Mary, and they are parallel directly to 244 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:15,440 the two truths that I mentioned earlier for us to pick up. 245 00:13:15,450 --> 00:13:18,620 Pick up on. Mary is a virgin and she's 246 00:13:18,630 --> 00:13:21,460 betrothed to a man of David's line. 247 00:13:21,510 --> 00:13:25,340 Betrothal and Jewish culture is essentially just a year long 248 00:13:25,350 --> 00:13:27,450 engagement. There's a commitment there, but 249 00:13:27,460 --> 00:13:30,660 there is no sexual relations. We'll talk about the 250 00:13:30,670 --> 00:13:33,710 significance of both the virgin birth and the developed heritage 251 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:35,470 as we go. But what I just want to note 252 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:38,820 while we're on this verse is what Luke chooses not to include 253 00:13:38,830 --> 00:13:40,750 about Mary. So last week when we were 254 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,190 introduced to Zechariah and to Elizabeth, we were given the 255 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,130 heritage. Zechariah was a priest of 256 00:13:47,140 --> 00:13:50,570 Abidjan's division, and Elizabeth was a descendant of 257 00:13:50,580 --> 00:13:53,070 Aaron, and they were also described as righteous. 258 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:57,330 Mary gets no such introduction. Mary is really being pictured as 259 00:13:57,340 --> 00:14:03,930 a nobody from a nowhere place. So then we get into our 260 00:14:03,940 --> 00:14:07,600 greeting. This is 28 and 29. 261 00:14:07,610 --> 00:14:10,300 And having come in, the Angel said to her, Rejoice, highly 262 00:14:10,310 --> 00:14:12,880 favoured one, the Lord is, whether you blessed are you 263 00:14:12,890 --> 00:14:15,060 among women? But when she saw him, she was 264 00:14:15,070 --> 00:14:18,080 troubled at her saying and considered of what manner of 265 00:14:18,090 --> 00:14:22,800 greeting this was. O Mary, this character who Luke 266 00:14:22,810 --> 00:14:25,610 is portraying as insignificant and we should understand to be 267 00:14:25,620 --> 00:14:27,850 insignificant, gets quite the greeting, right? 268 00:14:28,620 --> 00:14:31,490 Begins with rejoice, so that anticipates that what Gabriel is 269 00:14:31,500 --> 00:14:36,290 going to say is good news. The following three declarations 270 00:14:36,300 --> 00:14:39,760 are certainly good news. Highly favoured one. 271 00:14:39,830 --> 00:14:43,640 The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. 272 00:14:43,830 --> 00:14:45,470 Pretty good things to have said about you, right? 273 00:14:46,230 --> 00:14:49,980 Luke, though, gives no basis for why Mary is getting these 274 00:14:49,990 --> 00:14:52,160 honours. We don't have a description of 275 00:14:52,170 --> 00:14:55,120 her righteousness like we did of Zechariah and Elizabeth. 276 00:14:55,950 --> 00:14:59,480 And angels aren't really known for turning up and delivering 277 00:14:59,490 --> 00:15:01,700 kind words that people for no apparent reason, right? 278 00:15:01,710 --> 00:15:03,980 We don't have a record of that throughout the Old Testament. 279 00:15:04,090 --> 00:15:07,560 Or an Angel shows up, shower somebody with praise, takes off. 280 00:15:08,890 --> 00:15:11,090 Because we don't have a description of Mary's 281 00:15:11,100 --> 00:15:13,480 righteousness with that, we can confidently say that Mary's 282 00:15:13,490 --> 00:15:15,920 favour that she's finding with God this blessing and the Lord 283 00:15:15,930 --> 00:15:19,480 being with her is nothing about her present state, but about 284 00:15:19,490 --> 00:15:21,940 what God is about to announce and do through her. 285 00:15:22,990 --> 00:15:25,500 That's important to realise because we don't want to ascribe 286 00:15:25,510 --> 00:15:28,180 to Miri our honour that she's not due, right? 287 00:15:28,190 --> 00:15:30,440 That's the mistake of the Roman Catholic Church. 288 00:15:30,610 --> 00:15:34,770 Rather, we can say this. God has given his favour to one 289 00:15:34,780 --> 00:15:37,670 who had no claim to worthy status, raised her up from a 290 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,980 position of loneliness and has chosen her to have a central 291 00:15:40,990 --> 00:15:43,240 role in salvation history. Why? 292 00:15:43,860 --> 00:15:47,450 Because that is who God is. He pours out blessing and grace 293 00:15:47,460 --> 00:15:50,220 on those who are undeserving. He delights in the humble and 294 00:15:50,230 --> 00:15:52,830 the lowly. Mary is lovely and humble within 295 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:55,520 society. She is not righteous or perfect. 296 00:15:56,650 --> 00:15:59,810 Now, Mary's initial reaction to this is not to rejoice like 297 00:15:59,820 --> 00:16:02,840 Gabriel has suggested. Instead, she's troubled because 298 00:16:02,850 --> 00:16:06,060 she considers the type of greeting that it is. 299 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:10,740 She knows that she isn't worthy of the things that Gabriel has 300 00:16:10,750 --> 00:16:13,080 just said about her. She knows that she's not 301 00:16:13,090 --> 00:16:15,920 deserving of God's favour. She says in her song, which 302 00:16:15,930 --> 00:16:19,550 Billy will be preaching on next week, that God is her Saviour 303 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:21,560 and praises her, praises him for it. 304 00:16:21,890 --> 00:16:25,200 She recognises, as I've just explained, that this bestowing 305 00:16:25,210 --> 00:16:28,770 of God's favour is not about her present state, but about what 306 00:16:28,780 --> 00:16:32,290 God is going to do through her. And to be troubled by that is 307 00:16:32,300 --> 00:16:34,450 fear. Throughout the Old Testament, 308 00:16:34,460 --> 00:16:38,130 when angels show up, the person they talk to is often tasked 309 00:16:38,140 --> 00:16:40,880 with something difficult. Gideon was tasked with 310 00:16:40,890 --> 00:16:44,520 overthrowing the Midianites, Manoa and his wife with raising 311 00:16:44,530 --> 00:16:48,110 a Nazarite son. If I suddenly appeared by my 312 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:50,580 wife's side and showered her with compliments, she would also 313 00:16:50,590 --> 00:16:53,940 probably look at me troubled and wonder what it was I was about 314 00:16:53,950 --> 00:16:59,700 to ask her to do. It's a natural response, and so 315 00:16:59,710 --> 00:17:02,020 Mary, she's considering this type of greeting that she's 316 00:17:02,030 --> 00:17:05,010 getting, and she's troubled for what she might now hear. 317 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,530 And this is what Gabriel announces to her. 318 00:17:10,069 --> 00:17:13,560 Then the Angel said to her, Do not be afraid Mary, for you have 319 00:17:13,569 --> 00:17:16,859 found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in 320 00:17:16,869 --> 00:17:20,160 your womb, and bring forth the sun, and shall call his name 321 00:17:20,210 --> 00:17:22,160 Jesus. He will be great. 322 00:17:22,170 --> 00:17:25,319 And we recalled the Son of the Highest and the Lord God will 323 00:17:25,329 --> 00:17:28,220 give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign 324 00:17:28,230 --> 00:17:31,580 over the House of Jacob Forever and his of his Kingdom. 325 00:17:31,910 --> 00:17:38,690 There will be no end. Even after an Angel showing up. 326 00:17:38,780 --> 00:17:41,410 I don't think Mary could have anticipated this news, right? 327 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,930 It's very strange news. And in the case of Zechariah, he 328 00:17:44,940 --> 00:17:48,650 had been praying and he had been crying out to God for the 329 00:17:48,660 --> 00:17:50,370 barrenness of his wife to open her womb. 330 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,280 And with Mary, there's no apparent problem given there is 331 00:17:53,290 --> 00:17:56,550 no prayer for anything. There's angels just shows up and 332 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:59,070 gives some very unexpected and unanticipated news. 333 00:18:00,710 --> 00:18:03,140 Mary was a virgin. She would not have been praying 334 00:18:03,150 --> 00:18:05,820 for children. Now these are important notes. 335 00:18:05,830 --> 00:18:09,180 Firstly, because at furthers that contrast that we're making 336 00:18:09,190 --> 00:18:11,980 between Jesus and John, but secondly, and perhaps more 337 00:18:11,990 --> 00:18:16,090 importantly, it highlights that Jesus coming was God's 338 00:18:16,100 --> 00:18:18,440 initiative in the world and God's alone. 339 00:18:18,890 --> 00:18:21,880 God is the author of salvation. He has planned it from maternity 340 00:18:21,890 --> 00:18:25,600 past and he alone dictates us coming, coming to pass. 341 00:18:25,610 --> 00:18:27,930 Salvation belongs to the Lord, right? 342 00:18:27,940 --> 00:18:31,700 This is not being put forward by three years of men. 343 00:18:31,890 --> 00:18:34,440 It is not being ushered in by the righteousness of a 344 00:18:34,450 --> 00:18:36,880 particular person. This is God's plan, God's 345 00:18:36,890 --> 00:18:39,060 working in the world and his alone. 346 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:43,650 So what we actually have in this verse, verse 30, Gabriel 347 00:18:43,700 --> 00:18:48,220 reassures Mary, don't be afraid, there's 31. 348 00:18:48,230 --> 00:18:52,550 Gabriel announces the birth of a child, and verses 32 and 33 349 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:54,610 described the ministry of the coming child. 350 00:18:55,020 --> 00:18:57,230 He'll be great. That's a contrast to John the 351 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:59,940 Baptist, who was described as being great in the sight of the 352 00:18:59,950 --> 00:19:02,130 Lord. And verse 15, he'll be called 353 00:19:02,140 --> 00:19:04,510 Son of the highest. That's regal language. 354 00:19:05,770 --> 00:19:08,140 It gives the idea that he'll be a king, which is further 355 00:19:08,150 --> 00:19:10,500 supported by the remainder of this announcement saying he will 356 00:19:10,510 --> 00:19:14,260 sit on David's throne and rule over the House of Jacob Forever. 357 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:19,200 Gabriel is using this language which brings to mind the 358 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,870 covenant found in 2nd 7/7. Mary's a nobody in Jewish 359 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:25,900 society, but she would have known the government this 360 00:19:25,910 --> 00:19:28,730 expectation that when the Messiah came, he would have been 361 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:32,270 of David's line and he would restore Israel to even greater 362 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,520 glory and splendour than they'd been when David rained over 363 00:19:35,530 --> 00:19:38,030 them. So if we look at Sick and Samuel 364 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:42,880 7 next to our passage here, this is 12 to 16, and we will see 365 00:19:42,890 --> 00:19:45,250 some of these comparisons. If you'd like to turn there, 366 00:19:46,540 --> 00:19:53,510 reading from verse 12. When your days are fulfilled and 367 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:56,570 you rest with your father's, I will set up your seed after you, 368 00:19:56,580 --> 00:19:59,770 who will come from your body. I will establish his Kingdom. 369 00:20:00,180 --> 00:20:03,170 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the 370 00:20:03,180 --> 00:20:06,950 throne of his Kingdom forever. I will be his father and he 371 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:09,610 shall be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will 372 00:20:09,620 --> 00:20:13,250 chase chasing him with the rod of men and with the blows of the 373 00:20:13,260 --> 00:20:15,990 sons of men. But my mercy shall not depart 374 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,690 from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before 375 00:20:18,700 --> 00:20:21,130 you. And your house and your Kingdom 376 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,970 shall be established forever before you. 377 00:20:24,060 --> 00:20:26,560 Your throne shall be established forever. 378 00:20:28,830 --> 00:20:31,340 O We see a lot of similarities in these two texts, words that 379 00:20:31,350 --> 00:20:34,380 Gabriel is specifically using to bring this to mind, right? 380 00:20:34,390 --> 00:20:36,340 So I've drawn some parallels for us here. 381 00:20:36,350 --> 00:20:39,280 Firstly, we have this idea of sunship going across both of 382 00:20:39,290 --> 00:20:42,180 them. Son of the highest and Luke, and 383 00:20:42,190 --> 00:20:44,010 shall be my son and sick and Samuel. 384 00:20:44,660 --> 00:20:47,590 We have the establishing of his throne mentioned several times, 385 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:51,300 particularly in Second Samuel, and once in Luke, and we have a 386 00:20:51,310 --> 00:20:53,900 Kingdom that never ends right. The the parallels are clear. 387 00:20:53,910 --> 00:20:56,420 This is a fulfilment of what's being talked about in Second 388 00:20:56,430 --> 00:21:00,390 Samuel 7 and that's a lot for Mary to take on. 389 00:21:01,100 --> 00:21:03,710 It's one thing to be preparing for marriage, right? 390 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,170 That takes mental and emotional toll on somebody. 391 00:21:07,050 --> 00:21:10,600 It's another thing for an Angel to turn up at the most to the 392 00:21:10,610 --> 00:21:13,900 most unsuspecting of people in an unsuspecting place, right? 393 00:21:13,910 --> 00:21:15,670 That's a lot for one person to be taking on. 394 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,830 To then be told by that Angel that you're going to conceive 395 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:23,530 when you're a virgin is more news that might overwhelm you a 396 00:21:23,540 --> 00:21:25,640 little bit. And then finally, on top of 397 00:21:25,650 --> 00:21:28,790 that, that that child that you are going to conceive and bear 398 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:30,860 is the long-awaited Davidic Messiah. 399 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:35,660 It's a lot to take on, but Mary, bless her soul, she doesn't miss 400 00:21:35,670 --> 00:21:38,430 a beat, right? She doesn't sit staring at 401 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:42,290 Gabriel in shock, she doesn't have an emotional breakdown, and 402 00:21:42,300 --> 00:21:46,010 she asked a very practical and logical question given the 403 00:21:46,020 --> 00:21:49,710 circumstances. How can this be since I have not 404 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:51,870 known a man? Good question. 405 00:21:53,860 --> 00:21:58,690 Unlike Zechariah's question last week, which Gabriel interpreted 406 00:21:58,700 --> 00:22:02,850 as being 1 of disbelief, Mary's question is not a sign of 407 00:22:02,860 --> 00:22:05,190 disbelief. It's just a question it's a 408 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:07,600 pondering over. This is a weird situation, this 409 00:22:07,610 --> 00:22:09,130 is a weird thing, and I have questions. 410 00:22:09,140 --> 00:22:11,940 Fair enough. She's inquisitive about how this 411 00:22:11,950 --> 00:22:13,500 is gonna work. And fair enough. 412 00:22:13,510 --> 00:22:16,220 Virgins don't conceive. It hadn't happened prior. 413 00:22:16,590 --> 00:22:20,250 It hasn't happened since, and I want to talk Doctrine of the 414 00:22:20,260 --> 00:22:21,690 Virgin Birth here, just for a second. 415 00:22:21,700 --> 00:22:24,470 OK, so we're gonna not stray from our text, but get a little 416 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:28,630 bit more specific with this O the virgin birth, or more 417 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,510 accurately, the virginal conception is a doctrine of 418 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:33,510 orthodox Christianity, and we should understand it. 419 00:22:33,580 --> 00:22:36,690 And I recognise that there's very few passengers in Scripture 420 00:22:36,740 --> 00:22:39,030 which talk about the virgin birth, and it's probably going 421 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,510 to be a long time before Hockney has one of these passages again. 422 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,640 So I thought we better cover it at least somewhat. 423 00:22:45,820 --> 00:22:48,550 So let's start with this. The doctrine of the virgin birth 424 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,130 is supernatural. There is nothing natural about 425 00:22:52,140 --> 00:22:54,790 the virgin birth. We do not conceive for this way. 426 00:22:54,900 --> 00:22:57,310 This was a one time thing. It was unique. 427 00:22:58,950 --> 00:23:01,580 If you want an explanation for how the virgin birth is 428 00:23:01,590 --> 00:23:04,210 possible, we know we're not going to find one. 429 00:23:04,220 --> 00:23:07,510 We're just going to get told God does this thing, all right? 430 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:12,060 That's the explanation we get. But Scripture, and this passage 431 00:23:12,070 --> 00:23:15,480 in particular, is abundantly clear that the virgin birth is 432 00:23:15,490 --> 00:23:17,560 what happens. It doesn't leave room for any 433 00:23:17,570 --> 00:23:19,650 other sort of interpretation of what's going on. 434 00:23:20,310 --> 00:23:23,140 Alright, so if we consider the Bible as our source of 435 00:23:23,150 --> 00:23:26,600 authority, we can consider the virgin birth to be a fact even 436 00:23:26,610 --> 00:23:30,000 though we don't understand it. Now that's not a new 437 00:23:30,010 --> 00:23:32,920 interpretation of scripture that has existed since the beginning 438 00:23:32,930 --> 00:23:36,020 of the church, right? We have documents going as far 439 00:23:36,030 --> 00:23:40,080 back as the Church Father Iranians in the 2nd century, or 440 00:23:40,090 --> 00:23:43,500 the Apostles Creed, a touchstone of faith since the 2nd century 441 00:23:43,570 --> 00:23:45,990 that attests to Mary being a virgin. 442 00:23:46,740 --> 00:23:50,040 So what's left to discuss is not how, but why. 443 00:23:50,980 --> 00:23:54,950 And the majority of the answer are lies in the uniqueness of 444 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:58,970 the virgin birth, because the Bible has a lot of accounts of 445 00:23:58,980 --> 00:24:03,850 barren woman at whom God comes to and opens their womb and they 446 00:24:03,860 --> 00:24:05,770 conceive, right? Jeff talked about some of the 447 00:24:05,780 --> 00:24:09,220 parallels last week between Elizabeth and Sarah. 448 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,780 All right, so that's one example of somebody who was born in the 449 00:24:12,790 --> 00:24:14,390 Old Testament. God opens their womb and they 450 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:19,320 conceive and the book of Genesis that makes a point of God's 451 00:24:19,330 --> 00:24:22,510 faithfulness to his covenant by having so many barren woman and 452 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,110 Abraham's line that would prevent that promised seed from 453 00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:27,980 continuing. But again and again God 454 00:24:27,990 --> 00:24:30,040 overcomes the the natural barrenness. 455 00:24:31,810 --> 00:24:34,280 If God is faithful to Abraham, then he must have the sentence 456 00:24:34,290 --> 00:24:36,580 right? But his wife Sarah is Baron when 457 00:24:36,590 --> 00:24:40,210 he finally has a son Isaac, Isaac's wife Rebecca as Baron, 458 00:24:40,220 --> 00:24:42,020 then Jacob's wife Rachel is also Baron. 459 00:24:42,390 --> 00:24:45,800 But each of these Baron women have children after God 460 00:24:45,810 --> 00:24:48,850 intervenes. God is intervening again in the 461 00:24:48,860 --> 00:24:51,620 story we're looking at this morning, but it's in a unique 462 00:24:51,630 --> 00:24:55,460 way for a unique child in this situation. 463 00:24:55,470 --> 00:24:58,400 God is intervening in a place where no human is crying out for 464 00:24:58,410 --> 00:25:01,460 him to intervene like the patriots were for their wives. 465 00:25:01,730 --> 00:25:06,000 And he's also overcoming the greatest natural obstacle to 466 00:25:06,010 --> 00:25:08,230 conceiving the lack of male sperm. 467 00:25:08,650 --> 00:25:13,160 And again we ask why? Because the uniqueness of the 468 00:25:13,170 --> 00:25:16,310 virgin birth protects the humanity and the divinity of 469 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:17,900 Jesus from coming under accusation. 470 00:25:18,940 --> 00:25:22,570 It would be hard to recognise just the divinity if he was a 471 00:25:22,580 --> 00:25:25,870 child of Joseph and Mary, and it would be equally hard to 472 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,930 recognise his humanity if he had no parents at all. 473 00:25:29,930 --> 00:25:34,200 But it also makes unequivocally clear that God is the one 474 00:25:34,210 --> 00:25:39,430 controlling redemptive history. The way for God to work with 475 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:43,650 humanity and restoring harmony between himself and us is no 476 00:25:43,660 --> 00:25:46,650 longer by providing children to barren women to build up a 477 00:25:46,660 --> 00:25:49,950 nation. It is by taking on human forms 478 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:54,390 that divinity and humanity intersect in a new and unique 479 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:56,590 way which they have never done so before. 480 00:25:57,590 --> 00:26:01,900 God enters the human story and a new and unique way to achieve 481 00:26:01,910 --> 00:26:05,910 His unique purposes. This, this, this distinguishes 482 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:09,570 Jesus from the outset as being far greater than all the 483 00:26:09,580 --> 00:26:12,910 biblical heroes who have come before him, who were born out of 484 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,720 barrenness. He is greater than Isaac. 485 00:26:15,730 --> 00:26:17,980 He is greater than Jacob. He is greater than Judah. 486 00:26:18,130 --> 00:26:20,960 He is greater than Samuel. He is greater than John the 487 00:26:20,970 --> 00:26:23,140 Baptist. And it's all good and well for 488 00:26:23,150 --> 00:26:28,010 us to look at the story and have these details and see the 489 00:26:28,020 --> 00:26:29,400 significance of the virgin birth. 490 00:26:30,790 --> 00:26:32,980 Mary doesn't get this explanation from Gabriel. 491 00:26:32,990 --> 00:26:37,460 Instead, she gets this from this. 35 And the Angel answered 492 00:26:37,470 --> 00:26:39,920 and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the 493 00:26:39,930 --> 00:26:42,320 power of the highest will overshadow you. 494 00:26:42,390 --> 00:26:45,680 Therefore also that Holy One is to be born would be called the 495 00:26:45,690 --> 00:26:48,500 Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth, your 496 00:26:48,510 --> 00:26:52,150 relative has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is 497 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:55,220 now the 6th month for her, who was called Baron. 498 00:26:55,650 --> 00:26:58,940 For with God, nothing will be impossible. 499 00:27:04,590 --> 00:27:07,520 So as we've just discussed, the hell and Mary's question can 500 00:27:07,530 --> 00:27:09,840 only be answered by supernatural means. 501 00:27:09,910 --> 00:27:12,200 The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most 502 00:27:12,210 --> 00:27:15,380 High will overshadow you. Isn't a medical explanation for 503 00:27:15,390 --> 00:27:17,890 the virgin birth, it's just saying God is doing his thing. 504 00:27:19,220 --> 00:27:21,660 Mary has given a sign of confirmation that this is going 505 00:27:21,670 --> 00:27:24,250 to happen in the form of Elizabeth's pregnancy. 506 00:27:24,540 --> 00:27:27,460 Once again, connecting this narrative to the previous one, 507 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:33,090 this also gives us some new information about Mary, right, 508 00:27:33,100 --> 00:27:35,870 So earlier I said she gets no genealogy, there's no 509 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:38,740 information given about her. But now we see that she's 510 00:27:38,750 --> 00:27:40,840 actually Elizabeth's cousin, meaning it's likely that she's 511 00:27:40,850 --> 00:27:43,910 also from Aaron's line. Does that contradict to what we 512 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,530 said earlier about what Luke was doing to make her as 513 00:27:46,540 --> 00:27:49,070 insignificant as possible? No, it probably furthers the 514 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:51,810 argument because it shows that although Luke knew that, he 515 00:27:51,820 --> 00:27:55,350 chose not to include any sort of introduction about Mary, but 516 00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:58,870 chose to make her as insignificant as possible. 517 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:02,110 Rather, he just uses that information as a necessary link 518 00:28:02,580 --> 00:28:04,640 to what's going on. Then a grand introduction. 519 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:09,750 It's also worth noting that Miri, who's just a young girl in 520 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,080 Galilee, is the one whose question to Gabriel is not met 521 00:28:13,090 --> 00:28:14,640 with punishment for disobedience. 522 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:18,730 Zechariah, who was a priest, would be the one who was 523 00:28:18,740 --> 00:28:22,210 expected to of the two to respond to a meeting with an 524 00:28:22,220 --> 00:28:26,680 Angel with faith. But there's a priest who doubts 525 00:28:26,790 --> 00:28:28,410 and as a consequence is made mute. 526 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,660 It is the lonely woman who responds in faith and is given a 527 00:28:32,670 --> 00:28:34,830 sign that doesn't cause her any harm. 528 00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:39,540 In the mean time, that brings us about to the end of our text, 529 00:28:39,550 --> 00:28:41,150 right? So let's do a quick recap before 530 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:46,540 we look at this last verse, our full key truths. 531 00:28:46,550 --> 00:28:49,200 Hopefully you have seen them as we've gone along. 532 00:28:50,060 --> 00:28:53,750 Mary was a virgin. The text is that three times. 533 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:56,860 It gives no room for any other sort of interpretation. 534 00:28:58,630 --> 00:29:02,610 The man she was betrothed to was of David's line. 535 00:29:02,660 --> 00:29:05,490 Despite Joseph not playing any role in the conception of the 536 00:29:05,500 --> 00:29:08,610 child, he's still considered the father and the child. 537 00:29:08,620 --> 00:29:12,110 Jesus will take on his heritage. Gabriel's announcement make that 538 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:15,110 makes that super clear. The Lord God will give him the 539 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:21,040 throne of his father, David, despite despite Joseph's absence 540 00:29:21,050 --> 00:29:23,980 and that conception, he passes his family connection to the 541 00:29:23,990 --> 00:29:27,300 child. Luke also makes clear through 542 00:29:27,310 --> 00:29:30,060 the style of writing that we should be making the comparison 543 00:29:30,070 --> 00:29:33,730 between John and Jesus. Their stories are interwoven and 544 00:29:33,740 --> 00:29:37,280 designed to be read together. He also makes clear that they're 545 00:29:37,290 --> 00:29:40,540 not merely related, but they play an important role in the 546 00:29:40,550 --> 00:29:42,980 lives of each other. John is a forerunner who 547 00:29:42,990 --> 00:29:44,480 prepares the way for the Messiah. 548 00:29:44,650 --> 00:29:48,570 Jesus is that Messiah for John and for the whole world. 549 00:29:50,090 --> 00:29:54,260 Luke also makes great effort to show the people who God is using 550 00:29:54,270 --> 00:29:56,860 to bring about His plan. He's already shown us in his 551 00:29:56,870 --> 00:29:59,180 previous passage. He's using the high and 552 00:29:59,190 --> 00:30:01,560 righteous of society and Zachariah and Elizabeth. 553 00:30:01,730 --> 00:30:04,580 But he's not just working with people in those positions. 554 00:30:04,650 --> 00:30:08,250 He's working with the lowly and the humble as well. 555 00:30:08,650 --> 00:30:12,160 God is showing His power through the week in the world, not the 556 00:30:12,170 --> 00:30:14,220 strong. It is the lowly and humble who 557 00:30:14,230 --> 00:30:15,780 is bringing about the greater child. 558 00:30:15,850 --> 00:30:19,720 Not to the priests. He does not need people of high 559 00:30:19,730 --> 00:30:23,890 standing and earthly power. He uses whomever he chooses and 560 00:30:23,900 --> 00:30:26,880 they are considered from thereafter the highly favoured. 561 00:30:28,670 --> 00:30:32,280 What I want to do as we come to a close is take a look at our 562 00:30:32,290 --> 00:30:35,950 final verse. I think it brings us to a 563 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:39,230 natural challenge because if we could summarise what we've 564 00:30:39,270 --> 00:30:44,140 looked at in these previous 11 verses, we could talk about it's 565 00:30:44,220 --> 00:30:47,260 it's summing up how God is bringing about salvation in the 566 00:30:47,270 --> 00:30:49,420 world. It's talking about His plan, and 567 00:30:49,430 --> 00:30:51,540 it's talking about to one specific person, Mary. 568 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:55,650 So what is the response of this blessed woman, the highly 569 00:30:55,660 --> 00:30:59,650 favoured Mary, to the God who has chosen her to play a crucial 570 00:30:59,660 --> 00:31:05,980 role in His redemptive plan? Behold, the maid servant of the 571 00:31:05,990 --> 00:31:12,370 Lord, let it be to me. According to Your word, Mary 572 00:31:12,380 --> 00:31:16,830 counts the cost, identifies with the Lord, and submits to Him. 573 00:31:18,410 --> 00:31:19,900 There's all at stake for her here. 574 00:31:21,590 --> 00:31:23,720 She's about to fall pregnant. During the time of her 575 00:31:23,730 --> 00:31:29,370 betrothal, she's not told that Joseph will be made aware of the 576 00:31:29,380 --> 00:31:33,500 situation. She can only expect that she 577 00:31:33,510 --> 00:31:38,350 will be considered adulterous, that she'll be shamed, and that 578 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,090 she'll have no type of certainty for anything in the future. 579 00:31:42,990 --> 00:31:48,560 God has put on her an incredibly difficult task, but she doesn't 580 00:31:48,570 --> 00:31:50,980 mention any of these challenges in her response. 581 00:31:50,990 --> 00:31:54,740 She doesn't ask for God's favour or blessing in them or complain 582 00:31:54,750 --> 00:31:58,200 about them. Instead, she identifies herself 583 00:31:58,210 --> 00:32:04,100 as the maid servant of the Lord. In the Greco Roman world of the 584 00:32:04,110 --> 00:32:06,880 1st century, servants were a part of the household that they 585 00:32:06,890 --> 00:32:08,700 served. They were identified by the 586 00:32:08,710 --> 00:32:11,680 household they belonged to, not the family that they came from. 587 00:32:11,810 --> 00:32:16,750 As we are Miri and calling herself the Lord's maid servant 588 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,860 is showing her allegiance. Her place of belonging first and 589 00:32:19,870 --> 00:32:21,770 foremost is not to her father's house. 590 00:32:22,450 --> 00:32:25,440 It is not that to the House of her betrothed and Joseph, it is 591 00:32:25,450 --> 00:32:30,890 to the Lords House, and it is out of this firm and shore 592 00:32:30,900 --> 00:32:34,270 identity that she sees. Let it be to me according to 593 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:38,520 Your Word. She placed her faith in God's 594 00:32:38,530 --> 00:32:42,230 provision, protection, and salvation in a situation that 595 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:46,720 gave her no basis for certainty. And the question that I want to 596 00:32:46,730 --> 00:32:51,060 ask us this morning is what is our response to God bringing 597 00:32:51,070 --> 00:32:56,440 about salvation in the world? What is our response to God 598 00:32:56,450 --> 00:32:59,610 inviting us to be a part of it like he did with Mary? 599 00:33:01,370 --> 00:33:04,270 Mary's role was unique and I don't want to draw parallels 600 00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:07,360 that don't exist, but she's an excellent model of a faithful 601 00:33:07,370 --> 00:33:12,190 response and we've all been given a message to respond to. 602 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:17,800 It has not been delivered to us by angels like Mary's was, but 603 00:33:17,810 --> 00:33:20,400 it has been given to us. We don't need an Angel to come 604 00:33:20,410 --> 00:33:22,240 and reveal the will of God to us. 605 00:33:22,250 --> 00:33:26,060 We have the Word of God and it was given to us by the child 606 00:33:26,070 --> 00:33:29,120 that she bears. And I want to read a summary of 607 00:33:29,130 --> 00:33:32,320 that child and what he says to us later in Luke at the end of 608 00:33:32,330 --> 00:33:34,640 his gospel. If you want to flip over to 609 00:33:34,650 --> 00:33:43,020 chapter 24 right in the end of Luke's account, this is after 610 00:33:43,030 --> 00:33:47,140 Jesus resurrection. He's with his disciples. 611 00:33:47,150 --> 00:33:52,230 He appears to them in the upper room, and it says this, and 612 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:56,750 versus 46 to 49. Then He said to them, Thus it is 613 00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:59,180 written. And thus it was necessary for 614 00:33:59,190 --> 00:34:03,780 the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and 615 00:34:03,790 --> 00:34:07,090 that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His 616 00:34:07,100 --> 00:34:10,310 name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 617 00:34:10,420 --> 00:34:13,510 And you are witness of this, witnesses of these things. 618 00:34:13,860 --> 00:34:16,770 Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you. 619 00:34:17,060 --> 00:34:19,570 But Terry, in the city of Jerusalem until you are in 620 00:34:19,639 --> 00:34:28,510 endowed with power from on high. This passage sums up in a very 621 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:34,469 broad sense the salvation that God has brought about and His 622 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,790 offer for us to be a part of it, both in receiving it and in 623 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:41,500 participating in His mission. That's what Mary got right. 624 00:34:41,510 --> 00:34:43,929 She got an image of what salvation from the Lord looked 625 00:34:43,940 --> 00:34:46,820 like and her role in it. And what was her response? 626 00:34:46,909 --> 00:34:49,780 Behold the the maid servant of the Lord. 627 00:34:49,790 --> 00:34:54,510 Let it be to me, according to your word in this passage, 628 00:34:54,590 --> 00:34:56,340 salvation looks a little different, right? 629 00:34:56,350 --> 00:34:59,560 We're a little bit further along with a few more facts was 630 00:34:59,570 --> 00:35:02,080 necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead on 631 00:35:02,090 --> 00:35:04,550 the third day. We know that to be true and that 632 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:09,290 in repentance and faith in that message, we find forgiveness of 633 00:35:09,300 --> 00:35:13,500 sins. That is where salvation comes 634 00:35:13,510 --> 00:35:15,440 from. What is our response to it? 635 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:19,950 But this remissions of sins, this repentance, it should be 636 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:22,950 preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 637 00:35:23,930 --> 00:35:26,540 And your witnesses of these things, behold, I send the 638 00:35:26,550 --> 00:35:28,980 promise of my Father upon you. But Terry, in the city of 639 00:35:28,990 --> 00:35:34,830 Jerusalem, until you're injured with power from on high, that is 640 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:36,990 the ministry that we are called to, right? 641 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:40,290 Mary was given the ministry of bearing the Son of God, a pretty 642 00:35:40,300 --> 00:35:42,890 unique role. And we don't have that same one, 643 00:35:42,900 --> 00:35:45,830 but we're given a mission to be a part of, and it's a part of 644 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:51,180 that same mission to preach his name beginning in Jerusalem and 645 00:35:51,190 --> 00:35:54,130 to all the nations, right? And we're at 2000 years later, 646 00:35:54,140 --> 00:35:55,920 right? Jerusalem has had it preached 647 00:35:55,930 --> 00:35:57,600 through it. A lot of the nations have had 648 00:35:57,610 --> 00:35:59,520 preached to it. We're not going to tell you guys 649 00:35:59,530 --> 00:36:02,670 to go start in Jerusalem, but we're given this Ministry of 650 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:07,040 Reconciliation as well. What is our response to the God 651 00:36:07,050 --> 00:36:10,120 who has invited us into his salvation and to be a part of 652 00:36:10,130 --> 00:36:14,840 then sharing that salvation to all of the word Mary models what 653 00:36:14,850 --> 00:36:19,290 it should be, counting the cost, identifying with the Lord and 654 00:36:19,300 --> 00:36:21,250 submitting to him. Let's pray. 655 00:36:26,810 --> 00:36:29,020 Father, we thank you for the gift of your Word. 656 00:36:29,030 --> 00:36:32,100 We thank You that it is sufficient for salvation and 657 00:36:32,110 --> 00:36:34,530 godliness. Lord, You have given us 658 00:36:34,540 --> 00:36:38,630 everything that we need within it that we can respond to You. 659 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:41,150 You have told us what we need to respond to. 660 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:45,790 You have told us our fault and our issue, and you have shown us 661 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:49,610 the way that you can change us and transform us from this miss 662 00:36:49,620 --> 00:36:52,410 of sin that we have created to the salvation that you have won 663 00:36:52,420 --> 00:36:55,840 for us at the cross. Well, we thank you for this 664 00:36:56,940 --> 00:37:03,220 model of response that Mary gives us to count the cost to 665 00:37:03,230 --> 00:37:07,580 identify with you and to submit to your will and your plan 666 00:37:08,810 --> 00:37:11,400 lobby. Thank you that your plan reaches 667 00:37:11,410 --> 00:37:13,040 to everyone as we've seen this text. 668 00:37:13,050 --> 00:37:17,570 We thank you that it is not just to the Jew, it is not just to 669 00:37:17,580 --> 00:37:24,340 the high of society, but it is to the lowly, to those who are 670 00:37:24,350 --> 00:37:27,420 insignificant to the world, who live in insignificant places. 671 00:37:27,710 --> 00:37:31,580 Your gospel goes to all of them and is powerful to all of them. 672 00:37:32,810 --> 00:37:36,290 Would I pray that we would be a people who respond faithfully, 673 00:37:38,060 --> 00:37:41,030 who repent faithfully, and then who take that message of 674 00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:47,730 repentance and everywhere we go, thank you for the gift of your 675 00:37:47,740 --> 00:37:50,620 Son that made this possible. In Jesus name we pray and.