Great Bible Truths Podcast Episode 153
Lessons from their lives Talk 19 – Mary
Welcome to talk 19 in our series lessons from their lives. Today our subject is Mary the mother of Jesus.
The passage we will be looking at is Luke 1:26-56. The version I am using today is the ESV. It would be good, if you can, to have your bible open in Luke 1. As it is a lengthy passage I won’t take time to read it all, but here’s a brief summary.
A young woman called Mary is pledged to be married to a man named Joseph. The passage makes it very clear that Mary is still a virgin. The angel Gabriel appears to her and tells her that she will conceive and give birth to a son and that she is to give him the name Jesus. Naturally Mary is puzzled by this and asks:
- ‘How will this be… since I am a virgin?’
The angel replies that this miracle will be accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon her and that nothing is impossible with God – no word from God will ever fail. Mary answers:
I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled
and the angel leaves her. Mary goes to the home of her cousin Elizabeth and as soon as Elizabeth hears Mary’s greeting the baby in her womb leaps for joy and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit. She exclaims in a loud voice:
42… ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43. But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44. As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfil his promises to her!’
To which Mary responds:
- …My soul glorifies the Lord
- and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
- for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
- for the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is his name…
Now obviously Mary’s experience is unique in human history.
The child she wants to bear was unique and so her experience will never be repeated. But that does not mean that there are no lessons that we can learn from it. We can learn certain principles which teach us what makes a miracle possible.
Now clearly it is God himself who makes a miracle possible and so we will begin by looking at the divine perspective. However, human cooperation is often necessary for the miracle to take place and we will consider the human perspective as well.
The Divine Perspective
Mary’s experience teaches us that miracles are possible because of:
Who God is
- For no word from God will ever fail. (Or, nothing will be impossible with God).
His favour (grace)
- But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. (Cf. V.28 highly favoured). Cf. Luke 4:18ff.
His presence
- The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’
His power
- ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’
- The angel answered, ‘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.
His promises
- You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32. 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 for ever; his kingdom will never end.’
Note: the personal promise to Mary – you will conceive…
The universal promise to us all – he will reign etc.
The human perspective
Mary has a very clear word from God
- In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth
Mary believes the promise
- Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfil his promises to her!’
Mary gives thanks to God
- And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord
Despite the great privilege that God has granted her, Mary remains humble
- and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
- for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
Mary submits to God’s will and dedicates her life to God’s service
- ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Then the angel left her.”