Sermon Cloud

The Mystery of the Manger: (Part I)

MEET MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS

Luke 1:26-38

26) In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,

27) to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.

28) The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

29) Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

30) But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.

31) You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.

32) 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,

33) and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

34) "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

35) The angel answered, "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.

36) Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.

37) For nothing is impossible with God."

38) "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

            It's Christmas time once again, and as we begin our new sermon series for this month, I decided to adopt the theme of our children's musical this coming December 15 entitled, "The Mystery of the Manger."

            I'm not doing this to simply promote the children's musical, although it would be good if I would be able to accomplish that, but I want to highlight the same message that our kids will be sounding out during their Christmas presentation. If you would listen and watch the children's presentation, they would clearly declare that people who are seeking the truth about Jesus can check out a lot of evidences that would prove that Jesus is the Savior for the world.

            You see, time and again, we all encounter true seekers. These are people who have some serious questions about God, Jesus, or Christianity, and they are seeking some factual answers. I believe with all my heart that Christians need not to be timid in inviting these kinds of people to consider some of the evidences that God himself has provided in order to bring enlightenment to them.

            The key verse in our theme is Daniel 2:28a, "but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries." When we use the word "Mystery," we are not referring to a secret; rather Biblically speaking,  we are referring to a truth which was not very clear for the people of the Old Testament, but is now clear to New Testament Christians. Of course, for this series, the emphasis is on the birth of Jesus Christ on earth.

            For the very first message, we will zero in on Mary. After Jesus, Mary would be the second most important character in the Christmas story. It is important that we read our main text this morning in connection with the prophecy found in Isaiah 7:14:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

            The Old Testament had explicitly declared that one of the signs for the Messiah is the virgin birth. It does not explain who the virgin is and how it would happen. Back then it's a mystery, now in our text it's a reality.  I will be spending two Sundays on this. This morning let's focus on who the virgin is, then next Sunday let's talk about the virgin birth itself.  So, let's spend time trying to get to know who Mary is:     

I           THE GREAT FAVOR BESTOWED UPON MARY:

            The Gospels do not provide us a lot of background for Mary. The only things we can gather are: First, we have the information about the ancestry of Mary. The Gospel of Luke traces the family of Mary as a direct descent from King David (Luke 3:23-38). Based on the Old Testament prophecies, the Messiah who will reign forever will come from David's line (2 Samuel 7:12-16).          

Then, we are told that she came from a very small town called Nazareth, about 70 miles northeast of Jerusalem. The people of Judah have often despised the people of Nazareth because of their contacts with the Gentiles. You can probably remember the statement of Nathaniel to Philip when he said that they have found the Messiah in Nazareth. Nathaniel said, "Can anything good come from there?" (John 1: 45-46)

            Lastly, the name Mary is equivalent to the Hebrew name "Miriam." The name maybe derived from the Hebrew word for "Bitter." Bible scholars believe that this name may have a reference to the fact that the young life of Mary may have been filled with bitter hardships. Coming from a poor family and a poor community like Nazareth, Mary grew up working a hard as she could in order to survive.

            But her life will have a big turn-around. Our text records for us her surprising encounter with Gabriel, an angel of God, revealing to her God's wonderful plan. Notice, how the angel greeted her in verse 28: ""Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."  Literally, the phrase highly favored can be translated greatly graced. Clearly, Gabriel wants to convey the message that the favor she was about to receive from God is all because of God's grace.

            It is significant that we understand the real meaning of this. This angelic greeting has often been misinterpreted. I say this because it is the source of the saying, "Hail Mary full of grace." Gabriel did not say "Hail Mary who is full of grace to bestow on others." No, a more accurate wording would be, "Hail Mary who has been given much grace." In other words Mary is not the dispenser of divine grace. God is! And she herself received His grace in that she had been chosen to be the mother of Him through whom God's grace is extended to all people. Mary needed grace as much as any sinner separated by God. And she knew this, for, in one of the first phrases of her praise song, she sang, "my spirit rejoices in God my Savior" (Luke 1:47). With her reference to God as savior, she openly acknowledged her being a sinner in need of salvation.

            Now, why would God choose Mary for this special privilege? Why bestow to her the honor of being the mother of the Messiah? It's hard to really know the mind of God. What is obvious is that God is full of grace. In the same way that He has chosen us to receive so many blessings we ourselves don't deserve, we can remain eternally grateful for all the grace He has bestowed to us. Just like Paul we all must be quick to accept:

1 Corinthians 15:10

10) But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

II         THE GROWING FALLACIES ABOUT MARY:

            There is no doubt that Mary deserves to be honored because of the privilege that God has bestowed to her being the mother of Jesus. But let me give you some word of caution regarding magnifying Mary so much that Jesus takes a second place to her. Well, you might easily dismiss my warning and say it will never happen. I would say that this could happen when you begin to give her the following positions:

            A. Forgiver of Sins - There are people who make the mistake of thinking that Mary has the prerogative of forgiving people of their sins. Notice what the Bible says about who alone can forgive sins.

Mark 2:7

"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

            Only God has the authority to forgive sins, and to ascribe this to Mary is to elevate her to the position of deity.

            B. Mediator to God - One common mistake in forming a theological belief is putting logic above a clear passage of the Bible. For example, there are people who assume based on logic that the mother can provide a better access to the father compared to the son. If you follow this logic, then Mary is a better access compared to Jesus. Unfortunately this is not supported by the Bible:

John 14:6

6) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

1 Timothy 2:5

5) For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

            Only Jesus has the right to provide an access to the Father because of what He has accomplished on the cross. If one wants to go to heaven, Jesus is the only way.  

            C. Giver of Blessings - Another aspect of error is to think of Mary as more sympathetic to us in times of our needs because of her being a woman in contrast to Jesus being a man. That's the main reason why they would rather pray to her than Jesus. The only problem is that it is only through Jesus that we gain access into God's grace.

Romans 5:1-2

1) Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

2) through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

            The entire chapter of Romans 5 speaks of all the blessings of believers. Salvation by faith in Christ is the beginning of our blessings. Once we are saved, we are able to have an access to the presence of God and the privilege to stand before Him despite of our sins because of His grace to us. Again, Jesus is our access to God's blessings.      

            The truth of the matter is Mary herself was blessed because of her faith in God. For sure she has some special qualities that we can esteem, but we have to be careful of putting her above Jesus.

III        THE GENIUNE FAITH OF MARY:

            Speaking of Mary's special qualities, allow me to end this message identifying some of them and challenging us to follow her example. Obviously, these qualities were directly connected to her genuine faith towards God. I believe it would be tough to manifest genuine faith without these two:

A. Surrender:

The announcement of Gabriel was not easy for Mary to accept. First, she did not understand how could this happen to her when she was still a virgin.  Gabriel had to explain that this would be a miracle through the Holy Spirit (vs. 34-35). Secondly, there was the prospect of facing the stigma of unwed pregnancy. She could think of what other people would say, or how Joseph, her husband to be, would react. Although she had remained completely chaste, the world was bound to think otherwise. Even Joseph can assume the worst. Yet, in all of these, Mary declared, "I am the Lord's servant, may it be to me as you have said." In other words, she saw herself as God's servant, and she has no other option but obey.   What an example for us to follow!

•B.     Worship:

When you turn to verses 46-55 of the same chapter of our text, you would find the praise song of Mary. Her praise became known as the Magnificat. Listen to some of them:

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed. . ."

            There was no evidence of pride, but a deep appreciation for the grace she has experienced. Without a question, it is a song of unspeakable joy and magnificent worship that came from the heart.  

             Just like Mary, we can choose to live our faith more vibrantly before the people around us by committing ourselves into these two responses. God is worthy of our surrender and worship. And if we give Him both without reservation, we can experience more of His blessings in our lives.