Luke 1:26-31 - "Now in the sixth month the angel
Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin
engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the
virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one!
The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept
pondering what kind of salutation this was. 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 name Him Jesus. 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; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,
and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be,
since I am a virgin?” 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. And behold, even your
relative Elizabeth
has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now
in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.” 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."
When we think about the beginning of the human life of our Lord Jesus Christ our minds go back to that familiar scene in a manger in Bethlehem, but in reality the incarnation began 9 months before, in the womb of His mother Mary. 9 months before His lowly birth in Bethlehem the eternal God stepped out of His eternal glory into the womb of a young Jewish girl and underwent the same development process that is the beginning of all human beings. Mary carried the eternal God inside her body for a period of 9 months! That's such an amazing thought. The catholic church has put an emphasis on the virgin Mary that she never would have claimed for herself, and because of their extreme views, many Christians have neglected to look at the life of this young woman and therefore miss what a great example she sets. God never intended for Mary to be worshiped or considered a mediator that we have to go through to get to Jesus, but He did desire for us to learn from her, otherwise we would not have the account of her that we have in the Scriptures.
The account given above from Luke chapter 1 is the first time we meet Mary. Of course she is referenced, though not by name, in the Old Testament - "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." Never before and never again has such a miraculous thing happened. Mary, a virgin, was chosen by the Lord to bring the Messiah into the world. The first time we see Mary two things are apparent almost immediately, and that is her profound faith in God and her humility. Like I said, never before had such a miraculous thing happened, but when the angel told Mary that she would conceive and give birth to a Son, she said “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” and the angel said "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." And that answer was enough for her. She knew that God alone had the power to work this miracle and she surrender herself to His will no matter how difficult this event would make her life. She said “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” For the rest of her life people would look down on Mary and accuse her of fornication. We see an allusion to this In John 8:41, but we never see Mary pleading her own case or trying to defend herself. She had opportunity to exalt herself as the one who God chose to give birth to the Messiah, but we don't see her exalting herself either. Mary was humble, lowly and submissive. God was able to use her because she didn't exalt herself, but rather humbled herself. God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. God's will for Mary made her life very hard and uncomfortable, but her response is one that we need to learn from and apply to our own lives - “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”
As we continue in this first chapter of Luke we see an amazing proclamation of praise that flows out from the heart of Mary.
Luke 1:46-55 - "And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; And sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”"
In this outburst of praise we learn something else about Mary, and that is that Mary was a young woman who knew the holy Scriptures. In this short proclamation of praise, Mary either alludes to or quotes the Old Testament no less than 15 times! "My soul exalts in the Lord" is taken from both Hannah's prayer in First Samuel 2:1 and also from the prayer of the psalmist in Psalm 34:2. Several times she references Hannah's prayer in First Samuel chapters one and two. She also makes reference to Isaiah 45, 1 Samuel 1:11, Genesis 30, Psalm 126:3, Psalm 111:9 as well as other passages, and Mary didn't have a concordance to look up this verses like I just did. This prayer was spontaneous. These are the things that were in Mary's heart and when she prayed these are the things that flowed out. This young teenage girl was intimately acquainted with God and His word. In this prayer she also makes reference to God's promise to Abraham and she understands the implications of that. She knew Gods Word better than many Christians today and she had far less access to it than we do. Her heart was so full of Gods word that when people bumped into her Gods Word spilled out. From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. We need to grow to be more and more like Mary, so that when people bump into us, we spill Gods Word and His grace on them. We are so privileged to have our very own copy of Gods word, how much time do we spend pondering it?
Luke 2:34-35 - "And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” It was prophesied of Mary that a sword would pierce her own soul. Mary carried Jesus in her body for 9 months and gave birth to Him in a stable in Bethlehem. She watched Him grow up and loved Him as any mother loves her children. She realized that her Son was also her Savior, and she stood at the foot of the cross as Jesus shed His blood for our sins and for hers. This Child whom she loved died unjustly before her eyes and we can only imagine the pain that this caused her. A sword pierced her own soul as nails were piercing His hands.
Mary devoted her whole life to the Lord. She humbly submitted her life to His will and quietly endured the rebuke and disdain. She didn't exult herself, but rather she humbled herself. And she looked at Jesus and followed Him. She saw the events in His life and pondered them. She treasured them in heart. The life of Christ was precious to Mary and so she spent time just reflecting on Him and gazing at Him. May we learn to follow the example of this godly woman, the chosen mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and may we take time to ponder the wonder of His life, and treasure Him in our hearts as Mary did.
Luke 2:19 - "But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart."
When we think about the beginning of the human life of our Lord Jesus Christ our minds go back to that familiar scene in a manger in Bethlehem, but in reality the incarnation began 9 months before, in the womb of His mother Mary. 9 months before His lowly birth in Bethlehem the eternal God stepped out of His eternal glory into the womb of a young Jewish girl and underwent the same development process that is the beginning of all human beings. Mary carried the eternal God inside her body for a period of 9 months! That's such an amazing thought. The catholic church has put an emphasis on the virgin Mary that she never would have claimed for herself, and because of their extreme views, many Christians have neglected to look at the life of this young woman and therefore miss what a great example she sets. God never intended for Mary to be worshiped or considered a mediator that we have to go through to get to Jesus, but He did desire for us to learn from her, otherwise we would not have the account of her that we have in the Scriptures.
The account given above from Luke chapter 1 is the first time we meet Mary. Of course she is referenced, though not by name, in the Old Testament - "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." Never before and never again has such a miraculous thing happened. Mary, a virgin, was chosen by the Lord to bring the Messiah into the world. The first time we see Mary two things are apparent almost immediately, and that is her profound faith in God and her humility. Like I said, never before had such a miraculous thing happened, but when the angel told Mary that she would conceive and give birth to a Son, she said “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” and the angel said "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." And that answer was enough for her. She knew that God alone had the power to work this miracle and she surrender herself to His will no matter how difficult this event would make her life. She said “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” For the rest of her life people would look down on Mary and accuse her of fornication. We see an allusion to this In John 8:41, but we never see Mary pleading her own case or trying to defend herself. She had opportunity to exalt herself as the one who God chose to give birth to the Messiah, but we don't see her exalting herself either. Mary was humble, lowly and submissive. God was able to use her because she didn't exalt herself, but rather humbled herself. God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. God's will for Mary made her life very hard and uncomfortable, but her response is one that we need to learn from and apply to our own lives - “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”
As we continue in this first chapter of Luke we see an amazing proclamation of praise that flows out from the heart of Mary.
Luke 1:46-55 - "And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; And sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”"
In this outburst of praise we learn something else about Mary, and that is that Mary was a young woman who knew the holy Scriptures. In this short proclamation of praise, Mary either alludes to or quotes the Old Testament no less than 15 times! "My soul exalts in the Lord" is taken from both Hannah's prayer in First Samuel 2:1 and also from the prayer of the psalmist in Psalm 34:2. Several times she references Hannah's prayer in First Samuel chapters one and two. She also makes reference to Isaiah 45, 1 Samuel 1:11, Genesis 30, Psalm 126:3, Psalm 111:9 as well as other passages, and Mary didn't have a concordance to look up this verses like I just did. This prayer was spontaneous. These are the things that were in Mary's heart and when she prayed these are the things that flowed out. This young teenage girl was intimately acquainted with God and His word. In this prayer she also makes reference to God's promise to Abraham and she understands the implications of that. She knew Gods Word better than many Christians today and she had far less access to it than we do. Her heart was so full of Gods word that when people bumped into her Gods Word spilled out. From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. We need to grow to be more and more like Mary, so that when people bump into us, we spill Gods Word and His grace on them. We are so privileged to have our very own copy of Gods word, how much time do we spend pondering it?
Luke 2:34-35 - "And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” It was prophesied of Mary that a sword would pierce her own soul. Mary carried Jesus in her body for 9 months and gave birth to Him in a stable in Bethlehem. She watched Him grow up and loved Him as any mother loves her children. She realized that her Son was also her Savior, and she stood at the foot of the cross as Jesus shed His blood for our sins and for hers. This Child whom she loved died unjustly before her eyes and we can only imagine the pain that this caused her. A sword pierced her own soul as nails were piercing His hands.
Mary devoted her whole life to the Lord. She humbly submitted her life to His will and quietly endured the rebuke and disdain. She didn't exult herself, but rather she humbled herself. And she looked at Jesus and followed Him. She saw the events in His life and pondered them. She treasured them in heart. The life of Christ was precious to Mary and so she spent time just reflecting on Him and gazing at Him. May we learn to follow the example of this godly woman, the chosen mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and may we take time to ponder the wonder of His life, and treasure Him in our hearts as Mary did.
Luke 2:19 - "But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart."
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