West Park Baptist Church

Loving God, Loving People, Impacting the World

Mary

Advent 2020 – Luke 1:26-38 (Dec. 9)

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Luke 1:31–33

[31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (ESV)

After several hundred years of silence, with Isaiah long in the presence of God, God spoke once again of the way forward. He announced the arrival of the long-awaited King!

We know the story of Mary, and how as a teenage virgin she became the mother of the Son of God. It’s an amazing story yet one that has become commonplace, especially in the advent season. So, take a moment and meditate on Mary’s experience of hearing the announcement from God and reclaim some of the amazement at God and His ways. 

Mary was a mere 14 years old by most accounts. She was espoused (similar to our modern-day engagement period) to a godly man named Joseph. She expected to marry, have children, and live a quiet life in her village of Nazareth. 

Yet, God looked upon her with grace, determined to include her in His plan to rescue the world. He sent to Mary the angel Gabriel, the same Gabriel who appeared to Zechariah months ago and hundreds of years earlier to the prophet Daniel. Gabriel announced the amazing news that God was sending His Son into the world. Who would this child be? 

Gabriel announced 5 things about God’s Son, whom he said must be named Jesus:

  1. He will be great
  2. He will be called the Son of the Most High
  3. The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David
  4. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever
  5. Of his kingdom there will be no end

Any one of these is worth meditating on and marveling over. Think of how Mary felt hearing all this! Any one of these statements was enough to blow her away, but one after another she learns that the son to be in her womb would be like none other. No one would compare to His greatness. No one would be His equal, for He is the Son of the Most High. He will come from the line of Israel’s greatest king, but He will far exceed even King David. He would rule over Israel forever, and His kingdom would never end! Amazing news! News Israel had waited thousands of years to hear.

Most instructive for us is Mary’s response to this news. “I am your servant. Let it be to me according to your word.” 

We’ve discussed this week the way of the Lord – His plan to save the lost, and to usher in paradise. The way and the plan is Jesus. May we say with humble Mary, “Yes, Lord, I accept your way. I yield to your terms of Lordship over my life. Use me in your Kingdom however you see fit.”

 

Advent 2020 – Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23 (Dec. 5)

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What does Immanuel mean? The name literally means “God with us.”

This name was first mentioned in Isaiah 7:14 when God gave a promise to a very wicked King of Judah, Ahaz. Foreign powers were aligned against Judah, and God promised Ahaz the sign of Immanuel, a child born of a virgin, as the sure victory that Judah would need. In every situation of life, we need Immanuel. In Isaiah’s day we read how no foreign powers were able to conquer Judah because of the truth of “Immanuel.” Isaiah 8:9–10 says

Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered;

                        give ear, all you far countries;

            strap on your armor and be shattered;

                        strap on your armor and be shattered.

            Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;

                        speak a word, but it will not stand,

                        for God is with us. (ESV)

That last line is the meaning of Immanuel: no power shall be able to withstand God’s people, for God is with us.

Yet the future fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 is even more rich and full. In Matthew 1 a messenger approaches another man from the tribe of Judah. This time the angel Gabriel comes to Joseph in a time of his trouble and testing. His betrothed wife has been found pregnant, and Joseph, an honorable man, knows he is not the father. He has determined to end his engagement to Mary in private. Yet the messenger brings Joseph the good counsel of God and the sign to confirm it. “Joseph, you may have heard that the prophet Isaiah said the virgin would give birth!”

Joseph was likewise encouraged not to be afraid and not to go through with his plan to end his engagement. God was at work in a miraculous way. And the baby in Mary’s womb was the One baby long-promised to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to David, and even to wicked Ahaz: Immanuel was coming.

And the best news of all that Joseph received was that this child would come to “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Political and Military threats come and go. When they come we tend to think that wars and threats of wars are the height of danger and distress. But the reality is our sins are even more deadly. We cannot hope to defeat our sin and approach God. That is why Jesus came into the world as the full expression of Immanuel. God with us in our frail humanity, but not in our sin.

Yet even on the cross Jesus came to bear our sin in His own body, and that’s what He did. He became sin for all those who will call on His name in utter helplessness, forsaking their sin and believing in Jesus Christ as God with them. Friend, have you turned from your sin, repenting before Jesus and trusting in Him alone to save you?