Luke 1:1-38: The Angelic Announcements Made To Zacharias
And To Mary”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
AUTHORSHIP: Though the author does not
name himself (as also is the case with the book of Acts), both internal and
external evidence points to the author of this book being Luke, Paul’s
sometimes Gentile co-worker on the mission field. Luke’s name is Gentile in origin and he is
identified as a Gentile believer in Col. 4:14 and is called, “The beloved
Physician.” Also the author of the
book of Acts, Luke was one of Paul’s traveling companions in the book of Acts,
and thus there are many “we” statements identifying times when Luke was
with Paul and his party.
1.2.
DATE: The date of the writing of the
book of Luke is disputed. Some would say
it was written as early as 62 AD, but most would say that it was written
between 80-90 AD.
1.3.
SETTING: Because the Lord had been
silent for 400 years, since the time of the prophet Malachi, the people had
become spiritually dull and hardened in their hearts towards the Lord. The Jews had created many traditions and had
added these to the commandments of scripture.
There was much religiosity in
1.4.
WRITING STYLE: The first three gospels,
Mathew, Mark, and Luke are called the “Synoptic Gospels” because they contain
similar approaches to conveying the life of Jesus, plus seem to have been
written from some common sources. Each
of the gospels contains unique material to that writer as well as unique detail
in the stories conveyed.
Luke, like the
apostle John, never mentions his own name in his books. Both in Acts and this book, he speaks of we
and us, but out of humility, his own name is never mentioned.
Luke as author
of this gospel and a physician had a unique writing style. Luke tells of many incidents in Jesus’ life
that are not recorded in the other gospels.
In the book of
Acts, Luke meets Paul on the second missionary journey and is found from then
on with Paul.
Luke's writes
this book primarily with Gentiles in mind.
Luke’s writing
is extremely detailed in nature, and mentions a number of accounts and
teachings (including parables) which none of the other gospels contain. It is said of this book that it is the most
complete of the gospels in displaying the full nature and teachings of
Jesus.
One author has
written, "Special emphasis is placed upon the kindness of Jesus toward
women, the poor, the outcasts, the weak, and those who were suffering in
various ways."
Luke’s
approach is to tell stories concerning Jesus that reveal Jesus’ fulfillment of
prophesy but at the same time meeting people and having compassion upon them in
their times of need. Jesus is seen as
compassionate and loving and providing forgiveness to those who are contrite
and keenly aware of their sinfulness.
Jesus is also seen as moved by peoples’ infirmities, not turning down
any who come to Him seeking healing from physical infirmities.
2.
VS 1:1 - “1 Inasmuch as many
have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us,” - The gospel accounts came from
many sources
2.1.
Evidently there were several
writings which were around in Luke's time which told of Christ's life or
contained His teachings.
3. VS 1:2 - “2 just as they were
handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and
servants of the word,” - The sources Luke used were
handed down from eye-witnesses of the events
3.1.
Luke was not an eye witness of
Jesus. His writing in this gospel comes
from those whom he has interviewed as well as the accounts written by Jesus’
apostles.
3.2.
It is evident from the way Luke
describes his gathering of this information concerning the life of Jesus that
he had interviewed the apostles, the Lord's mother, the disciples, etc..
3.3.
The things about Christ which Luke
is to write are historical events to which many credible apostolic witnesses
have carefully written and taught, they are not the imaginations of men.
4. VS
1:3a - “3 it seemed fitting
for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to
write it out for you” -
Luke examined everything carefully before writing
4.1.
God's leading of Luke to write this
work came about because he had investigated to such a great extent and with
such care the life of Christ, and thus it just "seemed fitting" for
him to write this gospel.
4.2.
From the outset we see this man's
account of his own eye for detail, he has ‘investigated everything carefully.’
4.3.
Some translators have rendered this
passage as saying that Luke had a perfect knowledge of everything, whether that
is the correct translation or not, we need to see that Luke wrote under
inspiration of the Holy Spirit and that this book is like all other scripture,
"infallible."
4.4.
The book of Luke also is such an
important book since it contains many things that are contained nowhere else,
and are of tremendous value.
5. VS
1:3b - “1:3 in consecutive order-”
- Luke attempted to write his account in
consecutive order.
5.1.
Luke felt compelled to write His
account from a chronological order, the extent of which he did this we do not
know.
6. VS 1:3c – “most excellent Theophilus” - Luke is writing to someone named Theophilus
6.1.
This work is evidently directed to
one who is probably some sort of government authority or dignitary with
considerable influence so that being a Christian he may through study of the
scriptures and thus have a more influential witness. Or, it could be that Luke is writing this
gospel to this man Theophilus in hopes of converting him to Christianity.
6.2.
Luke also wrote the book of Acts to
this same man, Theophilus.
7. VS
1:4 - “4 so that you
may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”
- Theophilus was being given the ‘exact
truth’ about Jesus’ life from this writing
7.1.
Again we get a glimpse of the
exacting nature of this servant in his study and preparation of this
gospel. The words which Luke records for
us are inspired in detail as well as in spirit, they are the very words as directed
by the Holy Spirit.
8. VS
1:5 - “5 In the days
of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of
Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was
8.1.
.The historical time frame of our
story is given here, it was during ‘the days of Herod king of
8.2.
John the Baptist's parents were literal descendants of Aaron, and Zacharias was a Levitical priest. The priests were divided into 24 groups so
that each group served in the temple for 2 weeks of the year, this was
instituted by David in 1 Chron. 24, and
Zacharias belonged to "Abijah" which was the eighth group of 24.
8.3.
The Hebrew word ‘Zacharias’
here means “remembered of Jehovah,” and in our story we will see that
the Lord was remembering the prayers of Zacharias for his wife to conceive a child.
9. VS
1:6 - “6 They were
both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments
and requirements of the Lord.” -
Zacharias and Elizabeth walked with the Lord and kept His commandments
9.1.
The parents of John the baptist
were people whose walk matched their talk.
They loved the Lord and sought to please the Lord in every command and
requirement He established.
9.2.
True righteousness does not consist
in picking and choosing which of God's commands we will obey, and which we
shall not obey. Rather, the one who is
righteous trembles at every word of God (Ezra 9:4) and always asks God to
search him and know his every way and see if there be any hurtful way in him
(PS. 139: 23-24)..
10.
VS 1:7 - “7 But they had no child, because
10.1.
In the Old Testament, angels
announced the births of Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, and Samson.
10.2.
Elizabeth and Zacharias had for
many years suffered greatly, for to the Jew and especially to the Jewish woman
it was a very severe trial to be barren.
10.3.
Because of Isaac being born to
Sarah (Gen. 18:11), Samson being born to the wife of Manoah (Jud. 13:2,5), and
Samuel being born to Hanna (1 Sam. 1-2),
10.3.1.
Before we are critical of Zacharias
and Elizabeth for their lack of faith we ought to consider how often it is in
our own lives that we fail to trust God and believe in His promises to us.
10.4.
10.5.
We Christians need to realize that
the Lord has a perfect plan for our lives that far exceeds what our minds
presently can even conceive (Eph. 3:20).
10.6.
We Christians should never feel
that because we walk closely with God that we shall be kept from the difficult
trials. Those trials are working
righteousness in our lives, and one day we shall be grateful for every one of
them.
11.
VS 1:8-10 - “8 Now it happened that while he was
performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his
division, 9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was
chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And
the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the
incense offering.”
- Zacharias was a Levitical priest of a
certain order and was chosen to enter the temple and burn incense
11.1.
It is important for us to
understand the significance of the Lord’s timing of this angel appearing to
Zacharias :
11.1.1.
In
11.1.2.
So, after 70+ years of praying for
a child, and then having been finally been chosen in that once in a lifetime
drawing to go in and to burn the incense in the Holy Place of the temple, that
which he believed would be the high point of his life, this was the setting in
which the angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias to tell him that he was going
to have a son.
11.2.
Zacharias was probably drawn to
burn incense during the evening sacrifice, at 3:00pm.
12.
VS 1:11-12 - “11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him,
standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zacharias was
troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.”
- In the
12.1.
.The
personage of this appearance to Zacharias was ‘an angel of the Lord.’ The Lord had for all purposes been silent to
the Israelite people for 400 years.
Since the book of Malachi (the last book in the Old Testament) no
inspired writer had written, “Thus saith the Lord,” and no angel had performed
a confirmed visit to the people of God.
12.2.
We see in the scriptures that fear
was a typical experience of those to whom the Lord appeared. Also, because of the great period of time
since the Lord had appeared to any of the children of Israel, and because it
was believed in Jewish culture that the Lord had made it clear that if anyone
saw the Lord this would bring about immediate death, it is not hard to
understand why Zacharias was very afraid on this day in the temple.
12.3.
We Christians need to take heart
that in those times when the Lord leaves us in the dark and grows silent, that
one day He will appear on our behalf and suddenly get a whole accomplished in a
short period of time. At that time we
might be asking the Lord to slow down.
13.
VS 1:13-14 - “13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be
afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth
will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. 14 “You
will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.”
- The angel tells Zacharias not to be
afraid and then tells him that his prayer to have a child has been heard
13.1.
As was mentioned earlier, the first
words out of the angel’s mouth was that this man’s petition had been heard, the
petition that had begun being prayed by he and Elizabeth 70+ years ago, and, in
now in his old age had probably been long forgotten by Zacharias.
13.2.
Again, God does not forget our
prayers prayed in faith, even though we sometimes may forget that we have prayed
them. The prayer was answered 70+ years
ago, after being initially prayed, yet only now would Zacharias receive the
answer.
13.2.1.
These verses should be an
encouragement to us who are God’s people when the Lord has not yet answered our
prayers that we have been praying in faith and believing their answer must be
according to His perfect will for us.
13.2.2.
We should never give up praying
just because an answer to our prayers is long in coming.
13.3.
We Christians today need to realize
that sometimes our great trials (such as horrible reproach and dejection which
Elizabeth experienced in being barren many long years) may be just preparatory
to receiving great blessing, just as happened to Elizabeth conceiving and
giving birth to John the Baptist.
13.3.1.
Zacharias and Elizabeth were simply
praying for a son, however in answering their prayer the Lord gave them not
only a son but a prophet, and a son that would be ‘great in the sight of the
Lord.’ Jesus would later say that of
those of the Old Testament era that there was none born greater than John the
Baptist.
13.4.
This prophesy reveals the character
and work of John the Baptist.
13.5.
The Greek word “ioness” translated
‘John’ means “Jehovah is a gracious giver.”
13.6.
The angel tells Zacharias that he
and Elizabeth will have joy at John’s birth and that many would rejoice at
John’s birth.
14.
VS 1:15 - “15 “For he will be great in the sight of the
Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy
Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.” -
The angel tells Zacharias that the son to be born to Zacharias and
Elizabeth will be great in the sight of the Lord
14.1.
The angel gives a prophetic word to
Zacharias that their son will be a Nazarite and be dedicated to the Lord in a
special way all of the days of his life.
The fact that it is not mentioned by the angel that John’s hair is not
to be cut causes some to question if John is truly called to a Nazarite vow,
however no matter what John’s life will be completely committed to the Lord via
this vow.
14.2.
In Old Testament time the Spirit
came and went from God’s people, not so with John, upon him the Spirit would
remain, even from birth.
14.3.
We don’t know if this is saying
that John will be filled with the Holy Spirit while in the womb or from the time
of his birth.
15.
VS 1:16 - “16 “And he will turn many of the sons of
15.1.
John’s ministry will be to preach
repentance to Jewish brethren, which we know he fulfilled in his lifetime. Thus, many came out to him, turned back to
the Lord, and were baptized into his baptism of repentance unto the Lord.
15.2.
John the Baptist was the one
prophesied about in Isaiah 40 and Malachi chapters 3-4 who would come before
the Lord Himself (Mal. 3). This is a
clear declaration of the deity of Jesus, for John prepared the way of Jesus.
15.2.1.
Isaiah 40:3-6, “3 A voice is calling, “Clear the way for
the Lord in the wilderness; Make
smooth in the desert a highway for our God. 4 “Let every valley be
lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground
become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; 5 Then the
glory of the Lord will be
revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” 6 A voice
says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is
grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.”
15.2.2.
Malachi 4:5-6, “5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah
the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 “He will restore the
hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children
to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.””
15.3.
This one prophesied to come by
Isaiah and Malachi would come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord
(Mal. 4:5). That day is still future,
but Jesus has come as was promised and now we are in that period of the church
age before His 2nd coming which will be to reign as King over Israel
and all of the earth.
16.
VS 1:17 - “17 “It is he who will go as a forerunner before
Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to
turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient
to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the
Lord.””
- The one prophesied to come by Isaiah
and Malachi would come in the spirit and power of Elijah and turn the hearts of
the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the
righteous
16.1.
John was not a reincarnation of
that greatest of prophets, Elijah.
Rather, as a prophet of the Lord he had the ‘spirit and power’ of
Elijah.
16.2.
In turning people to God and
fathers to their children and children to their fathers (the restoration that
righteous living brings to families), John was performing that role which God
had foreordained and prophesied concerning him-the messenger who would clear
the way for the Messiah (Mal. 3:1-ff).
17.
VS 1:18 - “18 Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I
know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in
years.””
- Zacharias asks the angel how he might
know for certain that these things would occur since he and his wife were of
old age
17.1.
As one author has written, here we
see at work the sin of unbelief in a righteous man, Zacharias. Mary’s question of, “How shall this be?” (vs
34), was not the question arising from unbelief as was Zacharias’ question.
17.2.
Zacharias should have remembered
Abraham’s promised son and been encouraged in faith through all of the stories
of men of faith to which he surely was aware, but instead his heart had been
hardened towards the Lord so that he simply didn’t believe this word from the
angel.
17.3.
This lack of faith on Zacharias’
part seemed to anger and grieve Gabriel, for Gabriel had come from the direct
presence of God to deliver this message.
17.4.
This sin of unbelief is so
prevalent and destructive to the child of God!
God had given Zacharias His word, and that was enough, there was no need
of a further sign that the Lord would do as He had promised.
17.5.
Unbelief is also a very distasteful
sin unto the Lord and Zacharias will be reminded daily of his sin for at least
9 months, since he will not be able to talk (and probably also cannot hear since
in verse 62 his friends are making signs to him).
17.6.
Also, it is fitting that since
Zacharias with his tongue chose not to give believing praise to God, that with
his tongue he was also made dumb. One
author writes, “It is a practical denial of God’s almighty power to doubt
whether He can do a thing, when He undertakes to do it. It is giving the lie to God to doubt whether
He means to do a thing, when He has plainly promised that it shall be
done…According to the degree of our faith will be our enjoyment of Christ’s
salvation, our patience in the day of trial, or victory over the world.”
18.
VS 1:19 - “19 The angel answered and said to him, “I am
Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to
you and to bring you this good news.” -
The angel Gabriel tells Zacharias who he is, where he has come from, and
why he has come
18.1.
The angel has come to Zacharias to
bring him some good news yet because of Zacharias’ unbelief that good news is
not met with gratitude by Zacharias.
18.2.
Gabriel seems to be expressing in
his words some righteous anger because of the unbelief that was in Zacharias’
heart.
18.3.
Here we see one of God’s
messengers, the angel Gabriel, announcing his purpose for coming. Then he
announces the place of his dwelling, ‘the presence of God,’ saying this
with a sense of reverence and awe.
18.3.1.
Should not we as God’s people seek
with our whole hearts to dwell there within the veil in His presence if
creatures great as angels speak in such a manner about dwelling there?
19.
VS 1:20-23 - “20 “And behold, you shall be silent and
unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not
believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” 21 The
people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the
temple. 22 But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and
they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs
to them, and remained mute. 23 When the days of his priestly service
were ended, he went back home.” -
Because of Zacharias’ unbelief the angel causes him to become dumb and
most likely deaf as well
19.1.
The angel pronounces an oath of
judgment against Zacharias against which he shall not repent (change his
mind).
19.2.
Zacharias shall be dumb until ‘the
days when these things take place.’
19.3.
Zacharias delayed in the temple and
then was unable to give the Aaronic blessing required by the priests at this
time (Num. 6:24-26). Because of this the
people correctly realized that Zacharias had had a vision in the temple.
20.
VS 1:24-25 - “24 After these days Elizabeth his wife
became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, 25
“This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with
favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.””
-
20.1.
The word of the angel to Zacharias
comes to pass, he and Elizabeth shall now have a son.
20.2.
There has been some debate as to
why
20.2.1.
These words seem to me to reveal a
struggle for Elizabeth during this time when she sought to be in seclusion, a
struggle over whether God really knows what He is doing, or over whether His
promises of blessing are really true and all things are working together for
the good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. We do know that later when Mary the mother of
the Lord seeks out
20.2.2.
This time of seclusion is in all
likelihood also a time of personal retreat for Elizabeth where she can seek the
Lord and be instructed by Him as to the purpose and office of the Messiah for
whom her son is being called to prepare the way.
21.
VS 1:26-27 - “26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel
was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man
whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was
Mary.”
- Six months after
21.1.
The angelic messenger in this case
is again Gabriel. Gabriel and Michael
are the only angels whose names are given in the scriptures. Michael is the angel of war and thus is
always seen fighting some battle, and Gabriel is the angel of announcements
whenever he appears.
21.2.
Jesus is not only to condescend
from being God the Son from all eternity to being a man, he is also to be born
in the humblest of conditions in poverty in a small insignificant town with a
bad reputation, Nazareth.
21.2.1.
We ought to praise God for His
wondrous grace, for as one author has written, Jesus would have condescended to
come and become king over all of the earth, yet even more He came unto the poor
and identified with humanity at its humblest of levels.
21.3.
In the wisdom of God, the Holy
Spirit was to come to a woman of God’s choice who was engaged to a man, a
virgin. This was the most discreet and
wise of circumstances for Jesus to be born under.
21.4.
In the Jewish culture, engagement
was not at all like what it is in our culture today. Then, when a man and a woman became engaged the
groom would pay a dowry to the bride’s father in a formal agreement (Mal.
2:14). At that point the couple were
considered to be married however they were still living apart and they did not
yet have sexual relations. About a year
later the couple would have a marriage ceremony and at that time the woman
would go to live with the man.
21.5.
Marriages were pre-arranged by
parents in those days and a young girl might become engaged at an age as young
as 12. Mary was a young gal at this
time.
21.6.
It is significant that Matthew
wrote that Joseph himself was a descendant of David, for the Old Testament
contains the prophecies of the Davidic covenant which explains that the Messiah
was to be a descendant of David’s and come and sit upon the throne of David for
eternity. However, the actual descent
from David came through Mary, who was also a descendant of David’s, for Joseph
was not Jesus’ father. We will see that
Mary is also a descendant of David in chapter 3 when we study the genealogy of
Jesus coming from David through Mary.
For legal purposes, because Joseph was a descendant of David, Jesus
would be considered a son of Joseph, a descendant of David.
22.
VS 1:28 - “28 And coming in, he said to her,
“Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.””
- The angel Gabriel greets Mary in such
a way as to show that she has found favor with the Lord
22.1.
Throughout history the church has
typically either elevated Mary to too high of a status, or conversely not
elevated her to a high enough of a status.
22.2.
The Roman Catholics have gone
beyond what the scripture says and have said that Mary herself was immaculately
conceived (no sex involved in her conception) and have elevated her to a
position equal to Jesus (to whom prayer can be offered with an assumed
authority equal to Jesus). Jesus Himself
however said in Luke 11:27 when one said to Him that the womb that bore Him was
blessed, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and
observe it.”
22.3.
In the New Testament it is clear
that Mary is a recipient of God’s grace not a bestower of it.
22.4.
In spite of the errors in elevating
Mary to a level superior to human, the greeting to Mary is very incredible, for
she is called, ‘Favored one.’
Truly, this woman was special in God’s sight, as there was to be only
one woman who would bear God’s only Son.
22.5.
As a personal application for us,
if we as God’s people serve God faithfully, would He not also consider us a ‘favored
one’?
23.
VS 1:29 - “29 But she was very perplexed at this statement,
and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.”
- Mary was perplexed at the statement by
the angel
23.1.
The Greek language here brings out
emphatically how this greeting of the angel troubled Mary.
23.2.
Mary was in this situation
pondering in her heart what this greeting meant, just as in the gospels we
often see her pondering the things of God.
She was one who was very sensitive to God’s working in her life.
23.3.
Those today who say that Mary
herself was immaculately conceived, or pre-existent herself, don’t seem to
understand how the gospels portray her actions and reactions as being very
human and expected.
23.4.
We Christians need to follow Mary’s
example and ponder the works of God in our life as did this saint of God, and
seek to be ever sensitive to all that the Lord is teaching us and working in
our hearts to do. Mary is often written
about as “pondering” and “treasuring in her heart” the things God was doing
through Jesus. However, the Devil tries to
cause us not to think about the things of God, and thus he tries to get us to
occupy our minds with other stuff. We
must not let the Devil get the victory in our lives in this and keep us from
often pondering and contemplating the things of God.
24.
VS 1:30 - “30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid,
Mary; for you have found favor with God.” -
The angel tells Mary not to be afraid
24.1.
As all others in the scriptures who
feared upon being visited by God or His angels, Mary must have feared she would
die, for to see the Lord meant death.
24.2.
Also, being a sinner herself Mary
was surely aware of her unworthiness for the Lord to visit her and her
consciousness of sin must have contributed to her fearfulness.
25.
VS 1:31 - “31 “And behold, you will conceive in your
womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.”
- The angel tells Mary that she will
conceive in her womb a son and shall name Him Jesus
25.1.
The angel begins to unfold to Mary
what is known as the “immaculate conception” to Mary.
25.2.
The angel tells Mary that the name
of this son shall be ‘Jesus,’ which means “Jehovah saves.”
26.
VS 1:32-33 - “32 “He will be great and will be called the
Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father
David; 33 and He will reign
over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.””
- The angel tells Mary that this son she
is to conceive will be great and be a ‘Son of the Most High’ and have the
throne of David
26.1.
Jesus is prophesied first to become
‘great.’ Whereas John the Baptist
would be great before the Lord, because of His deity Jesus will simply be ‘great.’
26.2.
Jesus shall also be ‘called the
Son of the Most High.’ Jesus’ proper
title shall be “The Son,” for so He was for all eternity, very God of
very God.
26.3.
Being a literal descendant of David
through Mary, Jesus’ father was David, and the Davidic Covenant is to be
eternally fulfilled in this One of whom the prophets wrote. See 2 Sam. 7:12-13.
26.4.
Jesus is the physical seed of David
who was to come and reign eternally over
26.5.
The ‘house of Jacob’ here
simply refers to the “house of
27.
VS 1:34 - “34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be,
since I am a virgin?””
- Mary asks the angel how she could
become pregnant since she is currently a virgin
27.1.
Mary’s question did not arise out
of unbelief as had Zacharias’ question.
Mary simply did not understand how the Lord was planning to accomplish
this thing in her life.
28.
VS 1:35 - “35 The angel answered and said to her, “The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow
you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”
- The angel tells Mary that she will
become pregnant as a result of the Holy Spirit coming upon her
28.1.
This explanation to Mary from the
angel reveals the wisdom of God, for the one to be born of Mary was not born in
sin nor the appearance of sin, for Mary was a virgin. Rather, the Holy Spirit came upon her causing
her to conceive.
28.2.
Joseph was not the biological
father of Jesus, it was God Himself, therefore Jesus is truly the only unique
Son of God.
29.
VS 1:36-37 - “36 “And behold, even your relative
29.1.
Mary had not asked for a sign that
these things would take place as the angel had said, and yet the angel gives
her one:
29.2.
When Mary next meets with
29.3.
Finally, the angel tells Mary that
God’s power has no limitations, thus He can and will do everything which He has
promised He will do.
29.4.
29.5.
We as God’s people need to realize
that God’s power is not limited by anything but our faith (or lack of it). What God has promised to do, He will do, and
for some of His most weighty promises He even confirms them further to us with
an oath. We need to leave all of our
burdens upon God and trust Him completely until we gain that peace that is
beyond comprehension.
30.
VS 1:38 - “38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the
Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from
her.”
- Mary tells the angel that she is the
Lord’s bond servant and thus may this thing promised by the angel be done
according to the Lord’s word
30.1.
What Mary doesn’t say is more
remarkable than what she does say! Mary
simply accepts God’s will for her life, as a “female slave” or “handmaid” of
the Lord, and she is ready to go on.
30.1.1.
We know that Mary must have
considered the reproach that might come to her for having a child out of
wedlock… Who would believe her story
about how it was that she was pregnant?
30.1.2.
And, we know that she would have to
stand against what could be a formidable amount of persecution in standing up
for this revelation to her and its subsequent fulfillment in the birth of
Jesus…
30.1.3.
We could have expected a number of
understandable objections being made by Mary at this very unusual request by
the Lord, but her silence shows the tremendous depth of her faith and
commitment to the Lordship of Jehovah over her life.
30.2.
We need to learn from the quiet and
bold faith possessed by Mary. Mary
should be an inspiration to all to persevere in the tasks that the Lord has
given each of us to perform. And, in
performing those tasks we ought to be careful not to grumble and complain of
their circumstances.
30.3.
We need to learn also that through
our faith we should be saying to God, “Be it done according to your will and
not my own.”
31.
CONCLUSIONS
31.1.
As we consider these annunciations
made to Zacharias and to Mary concerning the birth of sons, and the respective
responses of each to those annunciations, we ought to consider whether or not
we are allowing unbelief to enter our hearts.
31.1.1.
Do you doubt that the Lord is going
to fulfill what He has clearly promised regarding you?
31.1.2.
Is there anything that shall be too
difficult for the Lord to do in your life?
31.2.
As we consider this young woman
Mary and her commitment to the Lord as His “bondslave,” we ought to be
challenged about whether or not this is our response to the Lord’s will for our
life.
31.2.1.
When you know the Lord’s
commandment or His leading in your life do you do as Mary and tell the Lord, “Be
it done according to Your word” ?