Luke 1:26-56 "The Blessed Virgin" How should we think about Mary? Perhaps the better question is: do we ever think about Mary? Protestants usually don't think much about Mary except at this time of year! And yet Mary's song clearly says that all generations will call her blessed. We are commanded by the Word of God to call Mary "blessed" So the question for us is how should we call Mary "blessed"? Luke is providing an orderly account for Theophilus. Theophilus would have heard the amazing claim that a virgin had given birth to Jesus, and Luke now explains the story but as usual, biblical narratives are not just telling a story, they are also preaching sermons. 1. The Virgin Will Conceive (1:26-38) Last time we heard about Zechariah and Elizabeth an elderly couple past the age for childbearing. And yet God gave to them a son, even as he gave a son to Abraham and Sarah and many other barren women in the OT. Today we come to opposite end of the spectrum: a virgin a young woman, probably in her teens, preparing for her wedding. Unlike Zechariah and Elizabeth she has her whole life before her and is no doubt looking forward, like every bride, with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. In the sixth month In verse 24 we hear that Elizabeth had conceived and kept hidden for five months. Now, in the sixth month since Elizabeth had conceived, 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. Nowhere does the Bible say that Mary herself was descended from David. Some have suggested that the genealogy in Luke 3 is Mary's genealogy, but as we'll see when we get there, that is not very likely. But both Matthew and Luke say that Joseph was of the house of David. We do not know much about Mary's own descent. All we know is that she was related to Elizabeth and we do know that Elizabeth was a Levite of the house of Aaron. So there is probably Levitical blood in Mary, but we do not know even that for certain, because it could have been that Elizabeth's sister married Mary's uncle, or something like that. Does that raise problems for Jesus' claim to be the son of David? No, because he was the legal son of Joseph, even though not the biological son of Joseph. But we'll come back to this in Luke 3. And he came to her and said, 'Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!' Now, if an angel of the Lord showed up and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you," how would you respond?! Predictably she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And Gabriel replied, 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. In this announcement we hear the fulfillment of the whole of the Old Testament: first, the fulfillment of the promise to Eve the seed of the woman (Gen 3:15); second, the fulfillment of the promise to David, that he would never lack a son to rule on his throne (2 Sam 7:14); and third, the promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob of an eternal inheritance. All of the promises come to fruition in Jesus, the son of Mary, and the son of God. Mary is understandably confused. Zechariah had questioned Gabriel six months before, and was struck dumb for his unbelief. But Zechariah's question revealed unbelief since Gabriel had told him (a priest in the temple) that God would do once more what he had so often done for his fathers namely, enable a barren woman to bear a son. Zechariah asks "how shall I know this?" Suggesting that the word of Gabriel is insufficient. Mary simply asks, "how will this be, since I am a virgin?" Mary believes that God will do it, but she is a bit confused as to how she is supposed to conceive without having a man involved in the process! 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. How is a virgin birth possible? We don't know the details. All we know is that the power of the Most High overshadowed Mary, and the Holy Spirit came upon her even as the Holy Spirit came upon the prophets in days of old. The gift of the Holy Spirit prior to Pentecost was given only to those who had a special role in redemptive history. But hearing the Word of the Lord from the angel, Mary responds: Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. This is a faithful response to the Word of God. "Let it be to me according to your word." 2. "Blessed Are You among Women" (1:39-45) Having heard about Elizabeth from Gabriel, Mary then arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. God had promised that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb (1:15). John now demonstrates the presence of the Holy Spirit by leaping in his mother's womb! Notice that it was the voice of Mary that caused John to leap in the womb. It does not say that the proximity of Jesus made John leap in the womb, but the voice of Mary. Certainly it was because Mary was bearing Jesus in her womb that John leaped in Elizabeth's womb, but it was Mary's voice that triggered the response. When he heard the voice of the blessed virgin the one who was "greatly favored by God"-- the mother of our Lord he rejoiced. We should not shrink from this conclusion! It does not mean that Mary "speaks today" in some mystical way. We hear Mary's voice in the same way that we hear Elijah's voice, Samuel's voice, or any of the prophets. We hear it in the pages of Scripture. But when John heard Mary's voice, he leaped in his mother's womb, and when Elizabeth heard Mary's voice, her response was the same: She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?' Elizabeth marveled that such a blessed woman would visit her! In doing so, Elizabeth makes it clear that she views Mary as the superior. It was an old-fashioned custom that the greater should not visit the lesser rather, the lesser visits the greater! And yet Mary did not exalt herself, she showed respect to her older relative, and came to visit her. For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. Three times Elizabeth declares Mary blessed. She is blessed among women. She is blessed because the fruit of her womb our Lord Jesus Christ is blessed. And she is blessed because she believed the Word of the Lord. We do not bless Mary for her own sake, but for the sake of the blessed fruit of her womb Jesus. Did Mary give birth to God? That's not the best way of saying it. But it is true. 1) We bless Mary because she was the Theotokos the God-bearer. She bore in her womb the eternal Son of God as he became flesh and dwelt among us. She is the only woman in human history who had one of the Trinity in her womb. As the old hymn put it: "to show God's love aright, she bore the world a savior" Mary had a unique privilege: she was the one woman who gave birth to the Seed of the Woman that would crush the head of the serpent. Even as the curse came upon the human race through the failure of a woman, so also redemption comes to the human race through the faith of a woman. 2) And so we also bless Mary because she believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. We bless her because of her uniqueness in salvation history (bearing the Son of God), but also because she is an example of faith. So while she is unique, she is also one of us. She was one who believed God's promises and faithfully walked before God. 3. "All Generations Will Call Me Blessed" (1:46-56) We hear Mary's faith expressed in her song in verses 46-55: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. We hear echoes of Hannah's song in 1 Samuel 2. Plainly Mary remembers how Hannah gave birth to Samuel, and rejoiced in God's great goodness, giving thanks to him for providing a son who would be God's instrument in establishing his kingdom. Now Mary's song blends echoes of Hannah's song with allusions to several Psalms, proclaiming the great mercy of God to his people. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever. What is the difference between Hannah's song and Mary's song? Hannah and Mary both look to God's faithfulness to the poor as signs of redemption: Hannah says "He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor." (1 Sam 2:8) Hannah's song looks forward: "He will guard the feet of his faithful ones... The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king..." But Mary puts her song in the past tense: "He has shown strength... He has scattered... He has brought down... He has exalted... He has filled... He has helped..." Hannah's song looks forward at the dawn of the kingdom. Mary's song looks backward at the fulfillment of the kingdom. Because Mary's song sees with the eyes of faith that this child in her womb is the one who will bring all things to their fulfillment. Conclusion And of course, we must never forget Theophilus! Luke is recording this history for Theophilus (and for us). Mary was probably singing in Aramaic the common language of the day. As we'll see throughout Luke's gospel, the use of quotation marks is probably misleading in English translations, because in English we expect that quotations will be exact. There are no quotation marks in Greek. When the gospel writers record dialogue, they frequently paraphrase. And even if they quote verbatim, why do they include this particular story? this particular song? So it is important to consider what Luke is saying to Theophilus here. The three times when Elizabeth says "blessed are you...blessed is the fruit of your womb...blessed is she who believed..." echoed by Mary's, "From now on all generations will call me blessed" plainly suggest that Luke wants Theophilus to call Mary blessed! Matthew's gospel tells the story of the announcement of the birth of Jesus from Joseph's perspective. Luke is the only one to tell the story of Mary. And Luke does this because he wants to make sure that the church never forgets the blessed virgin! We who love God should always remember the woman in whom the promises were fulfilled. So how should we call Mary blessed? I believe we actually do a pretty good job of this. When we recite the creed each week we confess that Jesus was "born of the virgin." We remember Mary every week! And there are dozens of songs (especially Christmas related ones) that speak of Mary as the blessed virgin. The apostles do not call us to worship Mary or pray to her. But they do say that we should call Mary "blessed." We should give thanks to God for the blessed virgin who believed the promises of God, and by the grace of the Almighty bore the Son of God!