Last Sunday we started the Gospel of Luke. I didn’t give you a series title for this kind of long book – I have been trying
to sum up the whole book with a catchy little phrase that will help us remember it. With shorter books it is easier –
Galatians, “Freedom!” James, “Live What You Say.” The Gospels are not letters, although we saw last Sunday that Luke
wrote to this guy named Theophilus to help him understand clearly what he was being taught about the life of Jesus. Today
I can tell you the title – I know you have all been wondering and waiting all week. Our series in the Gospel of Luke is
called “A REAL Human Life.” Looking at the life of the Lord Jesus will help us to understand how God wants us to live –
how to have real life. We have mentioned numerous times that the Lord Jesus lived a human life on earth – He never
cheated and used His God powers to make it through life without sinning. He never stopped being God, but according to
Philippians 2, He did empty Himself of His God abilities and came to live just like we have to. He did it the way God
desires it to be done. So as we look at His life, we should be able to apply things to our lives to help us live like Jesus.
Jesus Christ – a REAL human life.
Last Sunday we opened Luke and saw how God used normal people who trusted Him and were obedient to Him to
accomplish His eternal purposes. God still wants to do that today – using normal people. Do you know any normal
people? God wants to use them. Today we are continuing to lay out the background that Luke gives us. As we open
Luke’s Gospel, let’s ask for our Teacher’s help. PRAY.
Last week we saw God send the angel Gabriel to Zacharias and Elizabeth because God wanted to include them in His
eternal plan of bringing the Messiah – the Savior. These two old, normal people were blessed by God to give birth to and
raise a son who was the prophet God had promised long ago to prepare the way for the Savior. Today we continue the
story 6 months later. Luke 1:26-29. READ. Notice as we go through the Gospel of Luke the constant references to time
and circumstances and the things that are going on in peoples’ lives. These are indications that this account was written by
someone who paid attention to those things – someone like Luke, a doctor. Luke refers to the sixth month in verse 26 –
the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Luke notices and points out that Elizabeth was probably too old to have a baby.
Luke points out in the next section that Mary becomes pregnant without the kind of necessary act of sex. Very doctory.
At that time, God sent the same angel He had sent to Zacharias with another important and vital message. Often in the
Bible when God gives a message to human beings, it is this same angel Gabriel who brings it. Gabriel goes to Nazareth in
the area of Galilee in the northern part of Israel and goes to the home of a young girl – a virgin who was engaged to a man
named Joseph. When Gabriel appears to Mary, apparently he doesn’t just appear – it says he came in. His greeting to
Mary includes 2 and maybe 3 amazing statements. “Rejoice, highly favored one.” “The Lord is with you.” “Blessed are
you among women.” Verse 29 says that Mary was troubled – apparently not by the angel’s appearance, but by what he
said. Let’s look briefly at these statements. A lot is made of them and a lot is attributed to who Mary was because of
these statements.
The angel also said, “The Lord is with you.” This statement literally means, “The Lord is in your midst.” “The Lord is
here.” I think as time went on, Mary would hold on to that promise and truth more and more. This is the Lord’s business
and He is the one who is guiding and controlling circumstances for HIS glory. May I remind all of us that when we put our
trust in Jesus Christ for salvation and forgiveness of sins, that the Lord is WITH us, too. God Himself takes up residence in
the lives of people who believe in Jesus. We have the same thing true of us that Mary had – except ours is actually
BETTER. We will hear from Gabriel in a minute that the Holy Spirit is going to “come upon” Mary at some point for the
conception of the Savior. Before the resurrection of Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God did not live in believers. He “came
upon” them. And then He would leave. That’s why David says in the Psalms, “Take not Your Holy Spirit from me.”
Today the Lord is WITH us who believe, He lives in us – He will NEVER leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
And then, in some versions, the angel also says, “Blessed are you among women.” Most English versions of the Bible don’
t have this phrase. Later, we will hear Elizabeth say this to Mary. I tend to think that the phrase should not be there
because of Mary’s difficulty understanding the greeting from Gabriel. “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you.”
would be a weird thing for someone to walk in to your house and say.
Gabriel goes on to shed some light for Mary on what is happening. Luke 1:30-33. READ. As we prepare for the
Christmas season later in the year, we are going to come back to this section to talk about all the prophecy that is fulfilled
through the conception and birth of Jesus. We won’t forget to go through each of these promises and how they refer
directly to prophecies God made centuries earlier.
In verse 34, Mary responds. Her response looks kind of similar to the response Zacharias had when Gabriel talked to him
six months ago. Luke 1:34. READ. Look at Zacharias’ response in Luke 1:18. READ. Very similar – if we keep
reading what went on with Mary and Gabriel, we see that he didn’t hold this against her, but he did hold it against
Zacharias. Why? Are angels easier on girls than boys? Was it because Mary was somehow better than Zacharias? No –
the difference is in their attitudes. Mary’s response was not – “This can’t happen – I am a virgin.” Her response was,
“How WILL this happen (in other words, I believe you), but how will it happen since I am a virgin and have not had sex?”
Zacharias’ response was, “How shall I know this?” Basically he was saying, “I don’t believe this – we’re too old.”
Gabriel’s treatment of Zacharias is based on the fact that Zacharias COULD know it because an ANGEL from GOD told
him. Your oldness will not stop God from doing what He wants to do.
Gabriel answers Mary’s question on how it will happen. Luke 1:35-37. READ. I don’t think the conception of Jesus was
like what it might be portrayed in a movie – Mary’s eyes roll back and the bed shakes and she is swept around the room.
It certainly would not have had a sexual component – that’s not the character of our God. The conception of the Lord
Jesus may have been a kind of non-event – she may not have even known that it had happened. Especially as you look at
the next thing Luke tells us about the process which we’ll look at in a minute.
And Mary’s response is just that in verse 38. Luke 1:38. READ. Mary’s response is “I am God’s slave girl – whatever
He has planned is what I want.” Here is a person who had a proper understanding of the concept of “Lord” and
“Master.” I am Your slave – I will do whatever You want.” Mary is an example to us of yielding one’s life to the Master.
I don’t know if this is the point where the conception happened. We know that it happened at some point soon after this –
because of what took place when Mary went to visit Elizabeth.
Luke 1:39-45. READ. Mary and Elizabeth were probably related by marriage somehow. Both Zacharias and Elizabeth
were in the family of Levi. Mary was in the family of Judah. Jews tried to marry within their tribes, but apparently someone
from these two families intermarried. I think it is likely that Elizabeth was Mary’s aunt – probably her mother’s sister. We
don’t know.
Mary arrives at Zacharias and Elizabeth’s house and calls out a greeting. “Hello, Aunt Elizabeth!” Before we get to the
deep stuff, I want to encourage us. When you come in to a place, do YOU greet people or do you wait to BE greeted? I
can tell you that it is very noticeable when people never say hello when they enter a room. I encourage you to listen to
yourself as you come in – especially to the church building. We seek to be a welcoming church family. Let’s not wait for
people to come up to us – let’s go greet them. Let’s take the first step and take an interest in others. That’s one reason
we have our greeting time – it kind of forces some of us out of our bad habits. It shows us how self-centered we are
sometimes. As followers of Jesus, we need to be others-centered.
When Elizabeth hears Mary’s voice, someone else heard it, too – a person alive and growing inside Elizabeth. At
Plattsmouth Bible Church we believe that life begins at conception – this account from Luke the doctor reinforces that.
This baby in Elizabeth’s womb – at six months along – heard the greeting of Mary and responded. The Spirit of God filled
the baby John in fulfillment of the angel’s promise to Zacharias that John would be filled with the Spirit of God from his
mother’s womb. John didn’t just move – he leapt for joy. It wasn’t because Mary was there. It was because Jesus was
there. At some point between verse 38 and verse 40, the Spirit of God accomplished the conception of the Lord Jesus.
And once again, the fact that life begins at conception is clear – the Lord Jesus would have been literally a few days from
conception, but John leapt for joy at His coming and Elizabeth refers to Him as her Lord, her Master.
Here are two examples of life beginning at conception. If anyone thinks it does not, you will have to take on GOD – not
me. To end a pregnancy by abortion is to kill a baby – a life. Now listen – if you have done that – you are welcome here.
We serve the God who forgives our sins and remembers them no more. Each of us has sins that we have committed that
are just as disgusting in the sight of God as yours are. Everyone is welcome and everyone is acceptable to God through
faith in Jesus Christ. If this is a sin you have committed, you are not condemned here at Plattsmouth Bible Church. We
DO need to see things and agree with how GOD sees things. That may need to change. We don’t hold this view for
merely political reasons – right, left or otherwise. We at Plattsmouth BIBLE Church hold what the BIBLE says as the truth
and we adjust OUR lives to God’s ways.
When Elizabeth and her yet-to-be-born baby have this response to Mary’s arrival, Mary becomes aware that the
conception Gabriel had told her about had happened. And Mary responds in worship. Luke 1:46-55. READ. We are
not going to break down every verse of this song of praise today. Next Sunday we will compare Mary’s song with
Zacharias’ after the birth of John. We can see that even though Mary is quite young (maybe as young as an early teen), she
has a good sense of the history of what God has done through Israel’s past. And now, as she realizes that the promised
Messiah is coming and that God has even allowed her to be the one to carry Him and mother Him, she celebrates and
praises her Master for how His work in mankind includes her.
Our worship focus today has been that we lift our praise to our Master. Back in the 1980s Bob Dylan supposedly became
a believer. He had a Christian album with a song called, “You Gotta Serve Somebody.” In the interest of good taste, I am
not going to inflict Bob Dylan’s voice on you this morning. But his premise is true. We will serve somebody as we live our
human lives. Someone will be our master. We won’t have time to delve deeply into it, but turn to Romans 6:15-23. Mary
had a good understanding of what it meant to be God’s servant – God’s slave girl. As followers of Jesus, we need that
same understanding. READ.
Mary understood enough to know that what God our Master GIVES us is much preferable to what sin as master PAYS.
Who are you serving? Who really IS your master? James (one of Mary’s sons) made it clear that if we only SAY Jesus is
our Master, but we don’t do what He says, we are lying to ourselves. When we serve a master, we do what the master
says. So look at what you do – is it the stuff of Jesus or is it the stuff of sin? Then who is your master?
I praise our Master for the example of Mary. I desire that I and all of us would declare to our Master – “I am your slave –
do whatever You want with me.” And once again, God will do amazing things when given the opportunity. Devote
yourself to your Master totally and experience the blessings He dumps on you.
“Rejoice, highly favored one.” This has been changed by some to read, “Hail, Mary, full of grace.” Mary’s name is not
part of the greeting here – and the words “full of grace” or Latin “gratia plena” are not found here. She was greeted by
God’s messenger as one who was highly favored. This means honored and blessed by God because of HIS grace. In
verse 30, the angel says that Mary has found favor with God – it is God’s favor, God’s grace, God’s character which is to
be worshiped and held high. God, in His grace, saw Mary – saw that she was seeking to be a fully devoted follower as
much as she knew how – and He chose her to receive the honor of carrying the Messiah. God also chose her to receive
the honor of being this Messiah’s mother. Mary was not merely the mother of Jesus until He was born – she was His
mother for His whole life. She was there at the beginning and she was also there at the end. In the joy and in the pain of
God’s eternal plan, God gave young Mary the honor of experiencing all that was coming. Only one woman in all of human
history would receive this honor – she was highly favored to be the one. But it was not because of her sinlessness or
perfection. Mary was a sinner just like the rest of us. God works – even today – through sinners who trust Him and do
what He says.
Still, in answer to her question of “How will this happen since I am a virgin?” the angel tells her about her relative Elizabeth
who is now six months into her pregnancy. Mary knows that Elizabeth is old and barren. Mary was likely of the opinion
that Aunt Elizabeth would never have children. But Gabriel explains that even an old woman having a baby – even a virgin
having a baby is possible when God is in it. With God nothing is impossible. Trust Him and do what He says.