Mary

December 5, 2021

Randy Hageman

This Christmas we want to look at the whole story, the

stuff along with the parts we like and remember.

In many ways, the messed-up stuff, the outtakes, may sometimes help us really relate to not just the people of the Bible, but the ways the stories of Christmas can really speak to us

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[Christ] committed no sin…. —1 Peter 2:22 (ESV)

We need to see Mary for who she really

- an everyday, poor, peasant girl, who certainly had real faith, but whose whole life is turned totally upside down by the message of an angel.

Though Mary was young by our standards today, her betrothal or engagement to Joseph wasn’t at all

for that time.

In the sixth month [of Elizabeth’s pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. —Luke 1:26-27 (ESV)

The author Luke intentionally tells us that this Nazarene girl named Mary was not only betrothed but she was also a

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And [the angel Gabriel] came to [Mary] and said, ‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!’ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ —Luke 1:28-33 (ESV)

Mary is being told that she will be the mother of the

, the one for whom the Jews had been waiting for, for centuries.

And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ —Luke 1:34 (ESV)

It’s generally believed that while Zechariah’s question had an undertone of doubt and he was seeking a sign, Mary’s question was more one of mechanics –

would this happen, ‘since I am a virgin?’

And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ —Luke 1:35-37 (ESV)

God is going to do something never done before – He’s going to literally

a human child, though this child Jesus will also be Immanuel, God with us, the Second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God.

How would you answer, “Is nothing truly impossible with God?”

Do we doubt God can do the impossible, or are we willing to simply wonder

He will do the impossible and trust the process and outcome to Him?

And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her. —Luke 1:38 (ESV)

is how we demonstrate our faith in and our love for God, and it’s almost always found in the

Reveal Answer

of life.

Jesus: ‘Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ —Matthew 6:9-10 (ESV)

Mary had no idea what she was really agreeing to, what her obedience would

her.

Faith is choosing to believe what God says is true, in spite of our own feelings or the beliefs of others, and, therefore,

what He tells us.

Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. —John 12:37 (NIV)

All the teachings, signs and miracles are there, but the question is still the same - Do

choose to believe and trust?

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. —Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

Faith is a day by day process in which God will show us what to do moment by moment. —unknown

A real Christian is an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see, expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another, empties himself in order to be full, admits he is wrong so he can be declared right, goes down in order to get up, is strongest when he is weakest, richest when he is poorest, and happiest when he feels worst. He dies so he can live, forsakes in order to have, gives away so he can keep, sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, and knows that which passeth knowledge. —A.W. Tozer

Next Week: Joseph