Jesus’ Birth Foretold

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Title: Jesus’ Birth is Foretold to Mary

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on December 24, 2023

As I think about the Christmas story, I wonder, “What if Mary said, ‘No?’” I wonder, “Could Mary say no?”

But again, I ask, “What if Mary said ‘No!”’

If Mary said, “No,” would there be a Savior? If Mary said, “No,” what would have happened in Bethlehem?  As you know, Mary was the mother of Jesus, and this event didn’t just happen. It was God’s foreordained plan (Gen. 3:15; Isa. 7:14; Gal. 4:4). In today’s passage, Mary was told that she was to give birth to the Christ child. You know what? She didn’t even argue. You ask, “Why would she argue?” Well, though it was an honor for her, Mary did face a lot of shame and a lot of trouble for the virgin birth. We are going to look at Luke 1:26-38 and in this passage, we will see that Mary is told about Jesus’ birth. I want you to notice Mary’s obedience.

My theme today:

Theme: Mary is told about the man Who she is to give birth, notice her obedience.

  1. Mary is greeted by Gabriel.
    1. Luke 1:26–29 (ESV)
    2. 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
    3. Notice the passage begins saying “In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy…” This is connecting this narrative with the previous narrative. In the previous verses the story is told of how John the Baptist came to be born to elderly parents.
    4. Now, the text says that Gabriel was sent to Nazareth in Galilee. Nazareth was the city, a very small city, Galilee was the greater area. Nazareth had 1600-2000 people at this time.
    5. Now, take note that an angel is involved in this event. The word for angel means messenger and here we see the angel being a messenger.
    6. Gabriel and Michael are the only angels in the New Testament; these are the most popular angels in Jewish lures.
    7. Now, the angel comes to a virgin who was engaged or pledged to be married to Joseph. The Bible says that Joseph was a descendant of David. Because Joseph was of David’s line and Jesus would be his legal son, Jesus could qualify as belonging to David’s royal house. The New American Commentary tells us that in Judaism, “virgins” were young maidens, usually fourteen or younger.
    8. Gabriel greets Mary by saying that she is highly favored and the Lord is with her.
    9. How often do you greet someone like that? Not often, and that apparently was the same for Mary because she didn’t understand the greeting.
  1. Now, we see Gabriel explain why she is favored.
    1. Luke 1:30–33 (ESV)
    2. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 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.”
    3. Notice that the angel starts by saying, “Do not be afraid.” I like this because this verse shows that angels were warriors; they were an image that we usually don’t see. They were not fair-skinned feminine creatures that looked maternal. This angel appeared out of thin air and was something she likely had never seen before.
    4. The angel tells her that she has found favor with God.
    5. Now, let’s stop there. Now, I realize that my questions at the beginning of the sermon were not fair; obviously, God wouldn’t have chosen Mary if she had resisted. But why did God choose her? She was favored by God. I wonder, was she such a respectful, pious young lady that she was favored? Or, does favor simply mean that God will bestow on her this blessing of being the mother to the Christ child? This could be either or both.
    6. Then the angel tells her that she will conceive and give birth to a son and call Him Jesus. Look at that.
    7. She is told that she will become pregnant. That is prophetic; in verse 34 she says that she is still a virgin.
    8. She is told that the baby will be a boy. Again, this is prophetic; she doesn’t even know she is pregnant. Besides, you cannot even know the sex of a baby until about 16 weeks. Yet, the angel knows.
    9. She is told what to name the baby.
    10. Now, this is not unusual in the Scriptures. In the Bible we learn that God controls the womb. In Genesis 17:17 and 18:12 both Abraham and Sarah laugh when they are told they are going to have a baby in their old age. But, God controls the womb. In Genesis 17:19 an angel tells Abraham what to name his son.
    11. In Luke 1:8-25 John the Baptist’s father, Zacharias was told that he will have a son in his old age, and he is told the name for the son will be John.
    12. Now, Mary likely knew that God controls the womb, but she is still a woman around 14 years old who is engaged to be married. If she is pregnant, how? Then, if she is pregnant and not by Joseph, it will look like adultery, and she could be stoned (Lev 20).
    13. Mary had to be thinking: What will I tell my fiancé? Now, some of you are thinking, “Who cares? She is not married, but engaged.”
    14. The New American Commentary says the following about Jewish marriage and engagement:
    15. Marriage consisted of two distinct stages: engagement followed by the marriage itself. Engagement involved a formal agreement initiated by a father seeking a wife for his son. The next most important person involved was the father of the bride. A son’s opinion would be sought more often in the process than a daughter’s. Upon payment of a purchase price to the bride’s father (for he lost a daughter and helper whereas the son’s family gained one) and a written agreement and/or oath by the son, the couple was engaged. Although during this stage the couple in some instances cohabited, this was the exception. An engagement was legally binding, and any sexual contact by the daughter with another person was considered adultery. The engagement could not be broken save through divorce (Matt 1:19), and the parties during this period were considered husband and wife (Matt 1:19–20, 24). At this time Mary likely was no more than fifteen years old, probably closer to thirteen, which was the normal age for betrothal.[1]
    16. Mary also must have been thinking, “What will I tell my parents?”
    1. In the next few verses, she is told that she will be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. I am a pastor, but if my wife or daughter told me, “I am pregnant by the Holy Spirit.” I would be suspicious.
    2. Mary must have been thinking, “What will the neighbors think? I will be the talk of the town. What does it feel like to die by stoning?”
    3. We don’t know Mary’s thoughts, but we do know that she doesn’t argue. She is obedient.
    4. Gabriel does tell Mary, “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, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
    5. That is a major verse. He will grow up to have the throne of Israel. Now, Mary likely interpreted this to mean that He will physically be the king just as David was in the Old Testament and David was the greatest king of Israel.
    6. But David died and his son Solomon ruled Israel, then Solomon died, and Israel was split into a divided monarchy by Solomon’s children, David’s grandchildren.
    7. David and Solomon were mortal kings.
    8. Mary is told that her son will reign forever.
    9. That is a lot of responsibility. She is to be the mother of the future, eternal king of Israel. Wow!
  • Now, we see how this will happen.
    1. Luke 1:34–35 (ESV)
    2. 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
    3. 35 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.
    4. Mary does ask how this can be because she is a virgin. The angel then explains that “The Holy Spirit will come on 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.[2]
  • In verses 36-37 we see a miracle has already been performed.
    1. Luke 1:36–38 (ESV)
    2. 36 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. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 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.
    3. In these two verses we see that her cousin, who was elderly, was pregnant.
    4. Then, I love verse 37, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
    5. Do you doubt God?
    6. Do you find it hard to believe in the virgin birth?
    7. Do you find it hard to believe that Jesus later would turn water into wine (John chapter 2)?
    8. Do you find it hard to believe that Jesus would heal many people (Luke 4:38-44; 7:22; etc)?
    9. Do you find it hard to believe that Jesus fed 5000 (Luke 9:12ff)?
    10. Do you find it hard to believe that Jesus raised a dead man to life (John 11:43)?
    11. Do you find it hard to believe that Jesus was resurrected and still lives (Luke 24 and other passages)?
    12. Nothing is impossible with God. God can do all things. I am convinced that we all struggle with faith sometimes, even pastors. But why do we want to believe in such a little God? If He is God, He must be greater than we are.
  • In verse 38, we see Mary’s great obedience
    1. Mary doesn’t say, “Well, Gabriel, I really, really, really thank you for considering me for this task. I mean, like, I know that I am a true and godly young lady, and that is likely why you chose me, but, you know, I, like, I’m not up for this. I mean, I am still young, and I don’t want the public humiliation, and well, just ask someone else.”
    2. No, Mary accepts. Now, could Mary say no? We can’t answer that. But we do know what she says, “I am the Lord’s servant.”
    3. How is your obedience?
    4. At a certain children’s hospital, a boy gained a reputation for wreaking havoc with the nurses and staff. One day a visitor who knew about his terrorizing nature made him a deal: “If you are good for a week,” she said, “I’ll give you a dime when I come again.” A week later she stood before his bed. “I’ll tell you what,” she said, “I won’t ask the nurses if you behaved. You must tell me yourself. Do you deserve the dime?”
    5. After a moment’s pause, a small voice from among the sheets said: “Gimme a penny.” [3]
    6. God may not be calling you to give birth to His son (which is good if you are a man because that would be a bigger miracle than the virgin birth), but maybe God is calling you to buy Christmas presents for a neighbor’s children.
    7. Are you resisting something that God is telling you to do?
    8. Maybe God wants you to apologize to someone you offended this past week.
    9. Be obedient. Be God’s servant as Mary was.

So, I know, my questions were unfair. God knew what type of person Mary would be when He chose her to be the mother of the Christ. Still, we as Protestants must recognize that Mary was a blessed woman who must have been godly to be the mother of God.

Mary was obedient when she was told that she will be the mother of Jesus. Praise God! Mary did not know what we know now.

Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy
Has come to make you new?
This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you

Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Will calm the storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy
Has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby
You kiss the face of God

The blind will see, the deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak
The praises of the Lamb

Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy
Is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
That sleeping child you’re holding is the great, I Am

[1] Stein, R. H. (2001). Vol. 24: Luke (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (82). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

[2] The New International Version. 2011 (Lk 1:35). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] Swindoll, Charles R. Read in Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN 1998. Page 413. Exerted from Lewis and Faye Copeland, 10,000 Jokes, Toasts, and Stories.

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