There's Something About Mary

Luke 1:26-38

Facts About Mary

• Her name, Mary is from the Hebrew “Miriam.” The name is derived from the Hebrew word for “bitter.” Mary’s young life may well have been filled with bitter hardships. It certainly was prophetic of her future. 

• She's female. Notice God didn't pick a man to do His work here – mainly, because it wasn't how He made men to be. Women were designed to bear children. Plus, little do many realize, the Lord chose a woman to do this glorious work because the curse of sin came through man. Jesus had to be sinless. Only possible way. Also to show that women are as important in serving Him as men are. They each just have different roles. 

• She's Jewish, a Hebrew, An Israelite, God's chosen people by which the promise of a Savior would come, through Abraham. 

• She's a young teenager, probably around 13-14 years old. We see that the Lord uses a teenage girl. Many famous teenagers in the Bible. Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, Isaac, Joseph, Samuel, David, Jonathan, King Josiah, Jeremiah, Esther, Daniel. 

• From the town of Nazareth - An insignificant, small and impoverished town. John 1:46 "Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nothing good comes out of that place. 

• From the hills of Galilee. Pretty much in the middle of nowhere. They were first century Jewish Hillbillies.

• Poor herself. 

• Descendant of the Royal line of David. Messiah must have royal blood. Thus fulfilling the Davidic Covenant - God’s promise that a King would reign forever from one of David’s direct descendants. Her line was in noted in Luke 3.  

• Immersed in the scriptures - Even as a 1st century Middle Eastern girl.

• Every girl would have hoped to be the mother of the Messiah. 

• Engaged - common for all who had reached puberty to be betrothed in an arranged marriage and married in a year. 

• Engaged to Joseph, of the direct Royal line of David. If anyone was to be the Messiah at that time, it would have been a son of this poor carpenter. 

That's what we know of her. 

What Happened to Change Her life? 

Put yourself for a second in her place. From the mundane day to day chores and life in a small village to this supernatural moment that would change the course of history - especially for us. She was sovereignly chosen by God—from among all the women ever born—to be the singular instrument through which He would at last bring the Savior into the world. Let's walk through this moment by moment. 

• First, an angel shows up. No angel talking in over 400 years (except recently to parents of John the Baptist). One of the top Angels, Gabriel. She is probably freaking out. Luke says, “She was greatly troubled.”
• The angel speaks to her. One thing to see one but another to have one speak to you. 
• It is a message from God. This also hasn't happened for 400 years! And it is rare.
• It’s directly to her alone. What's the message? 
• God personally wants her to know she is favored. Wow! What else? 
• You will become pregnant. "What?!" 
• It will be a son. No ultrasound needed. 
• He is the Messiah. He is the Savior of the world. He will reign forever. The promise of all the ages. For all of her nation, for all of mankind. 

“But I’m a virgin!” She was. You can't imagine her lying to an angel. She is not doubting but she is merely asking how.

• You will conceive through the Holy Spirit. The power of the Most High will overshadow you. Understand again that there has not been a miracle in nearly 400 years. This has not happened ever before. Not even in the miracles of scripture.
• He is the Son of God. God will become flesh, a human, a baby.
• And then, "By the way, your older barren relative, she is finally pregnant as well. Will be the greatest prophet who will ever live." 

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet Isaiah : "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."

What Can We Learn From Mary: Those God Chooses To Use.

Note: Mary was doing all these things BEFORE the angel appeared. She was ready. She was faithful with little, therefore God knew she would be faithful with much. What is true of her is true of every one God desires to work powerfully through. First ...

1. She Was Humble Before God.

Everything she had and was she could only credit the Lord for. She calls herself a servant of the Lord. Better translated, a bondservant. Not an anointed leader or person of importance. Her humility before God was displayed in her humility before others. 

Humility is not “worm theology”; thinking you are lowly, dirty scum. In fact, you are a child of God. 

True Humility is realizing three things:

• Who God is. Primary reason.
• Who you are. Apart from Christ. And in Christ. 
• Who others are. Loved, in need of Christ. No better or worse than you. 

God took a nobody, a humble, unlikely, young girl, poor, cruddy town, engaged to a mere carpenter, and made her the most blessed woman of all the ages. The one who birthed, cared for, raised and experienced Christ 24/7 for several years. 

God likes to use nobodies. That way He receives the honor. People look to Him and not just the person, thinking I could never be like that. God takes a nobody and makes them somebody. He also takes those who think they are somebody and makes them a nobody. 

2. She Listened to God.

She was committed to God's Word. Even before this happened. That why God picked her.  

She heard first, she had an angel speaking to hear. Not likely to happen today. So many Christians think, “It would be so much easier if God just spoke to me directly or sent an angel. That way I'd really know.” But the reality is, we have it easier. We have God's complete Word to us. They didn't. That is how God speaks today. Not just once or twice, if they were fortunate. We have 24/7 access to everything He wants to say to us. They had to listen to it in the synagogues and then memorize it. Listen to God speak to you personally, daily, even multiple times during the day. 

This 14 year old memorized whatever portions of scripture she had. If you read her prayer you will see multiple references to the Psalms, I Samuel, and Isaiah. She recites portions of two of Hannah’s prayers. There are several other allusions to the law, the psalms, and the prophets.

3. She Trusted God.

If God said it, she believed it. What did she believe? 

She was to become pregnant as a virgin, by the Holy Spirit. And bring forth in birth the Son of God. The Almighty in human flesh. The Savior of the world. The King of all Kings. 

She submitted her will, her plans to His will and His plans.

This is one brave woman! But her bravery came because she knew the Strong One. She trusted when He said, "Nothing will be impossible with God." Not only present trials but future ones. She believed God for the impossible. Believed in His promises. 

Luke 1:38 “Yes, I am a servant of the Lord. May it be to me as You have said.” or another translation - "Let this happen to me according to Your word." Wouldn't that be great to be able to say the same thing?  

Even her older godly relative, Elizabeth, says this of Mary – 

Luke 1:45  “And blessed is she who believed that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

What does her trust lead to? 

4. She Obeyed God.

Her belief was strong enough to lead to her obedience. You can say you believe all you want. But the trust is ultimately revealed in obedience. If God said to do something, she did it. Without complaint or hesitation. 

Notice, she was pure before God. She kept her purity. God uses those who are committed to be holy. Only through Christ can we behave holy. Because of the cross we can be pure. We confess, we repent, we submit, He cleanses us and thus we obey. 

Her obedience was thorough. She obeyed, no matter the cost. 

What costs did she have to endure?

• He reputation with parents and family. Which is her source of life! Imagine your 13-year-old daughter comes in and says, "Guess what, I'm pregnant." And you say, "What?"  And she explains, "An angel came to me and told me that I would get pregnant by the Holy Spirit and I'm going to be the mother of the Messiah, the Savior of the world."  “Really?" Sounds like something a teenager would come up with, doesn't it?  That is one crazy story! 

• Her reputation with Joseph. She tells him and guess what? He didn't believe her! He was shocked because Mary had seemed to be so pure and so faithful. He was terribly hurt. The law said that she should be publicly judged and the penalty was to be stoned to death. He still cared for her. He would arrange to sign the papers for divorce privately. All this until an angel shows up and tells him she is telling the truth. He was about to divorce her. She was willing to risk that! Leaving her tainted and almost unmarriable the rest of her life. Imagine her brokenness. 

• Her reputation with her hometown. Friends, neighbors, relatives, everyone, everyday. Stoned to death. Treated horribly. Never believed, even 30 years later there were still rumors about Jesus’ birth, In John 8:41. the Jews were debating with him and He replies to them, “You’re of your father, the devil.” They said, “Well, we weren’t born of fornication”—the real slur, implying that He was. She was the butt of the largest scandal ever in that little town. And yet she still obeyed. She still remained chaste, despite everyone's judgment. Before marriage, then even after marriage until she gave birth. You don't see her railing back at everyone. She was firm in who she was and what the Lord called her to.

• Traveling on a 8-10 day journey while 9 months pregnant. 3,500 ft in elevation. This doesn’t count her previous journey to see her relative Elizabeth, in her first months of pregnancy.

• Arriving in Bethlehem and no place to stay. Apparently Joseph didn't use Expedia. 

• Deliver her baby in a barn or cave. Alone. Filthy. Hay trough for a crib. Her faith was just not a one time faith. Could you imagine her disappointment upon where Jesus would be born? You would think that the birth of the Messiah, the Savior, would be a national event if not a worldwide extravagant event. 

• Having to make home in different town, Bethlehem, away from family in Nazareth. 

• The threat of Herod to kill her son. He issued a manhunt/baby hunt for all under the age of two to be killed. 

• Run off to Egypt. That's about a 200 mile trek for a young family with a toddler through mostly desert. 

• Then not long after, another 200 plus mile trek to move back to Nazareth. 

And that is all before He finished being a toddler. That was the cost. Trust and obedience was a lifelong decision for her. From the conception to the cross she suffered. 

God is looking for those who are willing to say yes to Him. Who are willing to put their plans aside for His.

Think of this for a second. Imagine the cost to her, even further on in life. She raised the perfect child, literally. And she still had heart ache. Especially when he was an adult and away from home. A mom's concern for her children never goes away. 

No woman ever faced more heart ache that Mary. No one. This was her son. The promise from God. Her Savior. Her Lord. Her most cherished love in all of life. I don't think any mother who has ever lived, loved her son as much as Mary did. She would watch and be with him every day, growing up and she would experience the love of God Himself. No mother was ever loved by her child as was Mary. No woman had any higher expectations and promise for her child than she did. In fact, He was to exceed every expectation of hers. She failed to truly understand how great He really was and what His purpose in life was for. 

No woman could have been more proud of her son than was Mary. Without a doubt He was her favorite child. Yet, she would watch others reject him, even His own brothers and sisters. Mothers don't do very well mothers don't do very well when their children are treated unjustly, when their children are rejected. Mothers don't do very well when the children suffer. She was there nearly every step of the way. Watching every form of abuse being hurled at her innocent son. Mothers especially don't do very well when they watch their children die. No woman has experienced more pain than Mary. 

What could have been her response to God?

• Gotten mad at God for ruining her life. "You messed over my life. You ruined all my plans. You've ruined my relationship with my fiancé. You ruined my relationship with my family. You ruined my relationship with my friends. You ruined my reputation." And here's the worst one - "You ruined my perfect wedding."

• Ran away. “No one is ever going to believe me.” This has never happened before and no such thing recorded in Scripture. She could have just stayed with Elizabeth, her relative. They could raise the babies together. 

• She could have just plain said No. “I'm just not going to do it. I will ignore what You said.” 

• She could have just gone along but been irresponsible and her own thing, her own way.

• She could have worried herself sick. “How am I going to do this? How am I supposed to raise the Son of God. I’ll screw it all up. How am I going to handle others who reject me? How am I going to raise and keep safe this child?” 

• Gone into depression. After all, it was one trial after the other. Non-stop, from conception all the way till His crucifixion and burial. 

• Killed herself and thus the baby.

• Killed the baby. Imagine the recommendation of her going to Planned Parenthood today? 

No. What was her response? 

5. She Worshiped God.

Three months later she is still praising God. 

Mary replied with prophetic words of her own. Her saying is known as the Magnificat (Latin for the first word of Mary’s prayer of praise). It is a hymn about the incarnation. 

Luke 1:46–55  ⁴⁶ And Mary said, “My soul exalts the Lord, ⁴⁷ and my spirit has begun to rejoice in God my Savior, ⁴⁸ because He has looked upon the humble state of His servant. For from now on all generations will call me blessed, ⁴⁹ because He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name; ⁵⁰ from generation to generation He is merciful to those who fear Him. ⁵¹ He has demonstrated power with His arm; He has scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance of their hearts. ⁵² He has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position; ⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things, and has sent the rich away empty. ⁵⁴ He has helped His servant Israel, remembering Hos mercy, ⁵⁵ as He promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to His descendants forever.”

She didn’t go looking up anything—she just knew it and it poured out of her. It sounds a lot like Hannah's song of praise in 1 Samuel 2.

God is looking 

for the humble, 

the trusting, 

those willing to obey no matter the cost 

and those who have a heart to see Him praised. 

Those are the ones who change the world, forever. 

Pray that you would be like Mary,  the ordinary person that was used by God to do the extraordinary. 

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Extra Thoughts - 

Myths About Mary:

Mother of God. The idea that she is a demi-goddess/divine/Holy Mother. Feminists prefer this one. It is said that because Jesus was her son and called her mother then so should we. Do we then call Joseph Father? Yet, she calls upon God herself. Those who would worship should follow her leading and worship God alone. 

Perpetual Virgin. A rumor that she remained a virgin throughout her life. And yet, she had other children. Scripture says she remained a virgin only until she delivered. 

Immaculate Conception. Meaning she was sinless. Truth is, she calls God her Savior. 

The Assumption. This is the belief that she did not die and then was taken to Heaven. However, it’s a false assumption. There is no mention of it in Acts. In fact, she is not even mentioned in epistles. 

Co-Redemptrix with Christ. - She didn’t die for sin. Jesus alone did. 

Queen of Heaven. There is no queen in Heaven. No where is scripture does it say.  

Our Mediatrix – Somehow she supposedly intercedes and prays for us. As if she is the only one who can convince Jesus to forgive you. - Problem is that we who believe in Christ are all saints. She’s not omnipresent nor omniscient. She can't hear your prayers. No reason to hail Mary, for Jesus alone is our Mediator, our intercessor. 

Apparitions. The false notion that she appears today to grant miracles, give prophecies and answers prayers. Recently a piece of toast with her supposed image upon it sold for $38,000. - She can't do those things, she’s a human spirit and is in heaven. She can’t appear to us.