An Amazing Announcement!

Luke 1:26-38 On the night of our Savior’s birth, there were a number of babies born all over Palestine.  But there was only one baby that a star from heaven shined upon.  There was only one baby that was worshiped by shepherds.  There was only one baby that had an angel choir sing his welcome into the world.  That one baby was named Jesus.

That we know why:  the star shone and the shepherds worshiped and the angels sang that night is because the angel Gabriel made an amazing announcement nine months earlier.  The Bible says that:

In the sixth month 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.  And he came to her 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.

            Thousands and thousands of years before this amazing announcement, another announcement was made, to a woman named Eve.  The Satanic serpent deceived her and she disobeyed God and ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  And the Lord God made this announcement to her:  Because you have done this… 

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.  Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

And so it was that Adam knew his wife and she conceived and bore a son named Cain and she conceived again and bore a child named Abel.  Her firstborn son was a murderer and his own brother, the victim. 

Immediately in the life of Adam and Eve we see the terrible effects of sin and so it has been repeated throughout human history. 

But along with the announcement of sin’s consequences, God also announced his grace—he promised that there would be another woman—one who would give birth, not to one more victim of Satan’s work, but a woman who would give birth to Satan’s conqueror.

Adam and Eve did not understand the fullness of what that promise meant, but it was enough for them to know that what they had destroyed by their sin, God himself would make right. 

He would not abandon his people but would remain with them and sustain them and give them hope.

For the generations who followed them, God renewed this promise again and again and added to it as the years went by so that God’s people could know more about his plan to save the world through the offspring of a woman.  The patriarchs and Moses and the judges and the prophets knew of, spoke about, and added to this promise from God to save the world through the child of a woman.

Isaiah promised that a virgin would conceive and bear a son and he would be called Immanuel—God with us.  Malachi promised that he would have a forerunner, one who would prepare his way.

And so it was that the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and promised him that his son would be this forerunner of the Messiah.  Six months later, this same angel Gabriel appeared to Mary with an amazing announcement:  that the Lord was with her and he had favored her in a very special way:

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.”

            From the promise of God in the Garden of Eden that a woman’s offspring would be the destroyer of Satan- to the promise of Isaiah that a virgin would bear a son who would be Immanuel, the God who is with us—the faithful people of God had been hoping for and longing for and looking for the birth of their Savior. 

And so when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to make his amazing announcement, those promises took on a specific shape in the womb of Mary. 

Her baby would be the fulfillment of God’s promise to save the world.  He would be named Jesus—the Lord saves—because he would save his people from their sins.  And Satan’s rule would be overturned by the rule of this gracious king.

This child is why a star would shine over the manger in Bethlehem.  This child is why shepherds would fall to their knees in worship at the manger.  This child is why heaven would open and angels would sing:  because our great need for salvation and life would be met in God’s gift of his own Son.

Jesus was sent into this world to be our savior from sin and death.  His holy life and bloody death on the cross would be our way back to God.  Our sins would be laid on him and his righteousness given to us so that what Adam and Even had in the very beginning: a life and relationship and fellowship with God-- could once again be ours.

Jesus was sent into this world to be our king and we his people in an everlasting kingdom.  The sinful attempt of Adam and Eve to rule their own lives-- and every one of man’s attempts to do the same ever since then-- would be done away with by our true king who desires to bless us and protect us and provide for us in this life and lead us safely into everlasting life.

Jesus was sent to be our Savior and King and so he is, but not because he was Mary’s Son, but because he is the Son of the Most High, the only-begotten Son of the true and living God of the universe who has taken upon himself our flesh in the womb of his virgin mother:

Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, 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.

            Mary was betrothed to a man named Joseph.  In the eyes of the law they were considered married and it would have taken a divorce to separate them.  But they were not yet living together as husband and wife.  That would come after betrothal—sometimes years later.

This point is this:  Mary was a virgin and yet a child would be conceived in her womb and she would give birth to a son.  The conception and birth of Jesus would happen in this miraculous way because Jesus was not like every other child.  This child would be holy and the Son of God. 

The amazing announcement from Gabriel was that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her. 

The words that Gabriel used to describe how the Virgin Mary would conceive God’s son is the exact same language that Moses used in the Old Testament to describe how the glorious presence of the Lord would fill the tabernacle so that the Israelites could know that in that place God was present to meet them and forgive them and lead them to the promised Land.

            Unlike every other child who has ever been conceived, Jesus was holy, unbroken and unstained by original sin so that he could be a perfect, spotless sacrifice on the cross, acceptable in God’s sight for the salvation of the world. 

Unlike every other child who has ever been conceived, Jesus would not be born into this world as God’s enemy, under the dominion of Satan, but instead he was God’s Son, the Savior of the world.

All of this was accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin because “nothing will be impossible with God.”  What a comfort these words are!  And we see how true they are in the lives of Mary and Elizabeth for not only did a virgin conceive a child-- but so did an elderly woman who would give birth to the Messiah’s forerunner. 

Because we are frail people living in a broken world, there are all kinds of things we regard as impossible.  But the conception of Jesus in the womb of a virgin and the conception of John the Baptist in the womb of an elderly woman remind us that the power and goodness of God transcends the limits of our lives and this world.

What that promise means for us (that nothing is impossible with God) is hope—hope that there is a salvation greater than our sins—hope that there is a another life when this live is over—hope that there is a God of love and power who is greater than any challenge we face in this life.  Our hope and confidence in God is what gives us the strength to live our life as his servants and build our lives on his word like Mary did:

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.

Many Christians get Mary wrong.  They exalt her far beyond what she was or they diminish her in response.  What Mary is for all of us is a shining example of how the believer responds to the grace and love of God and a model of faith for us to follow.

There was no hesitation in accepting God’s will for her life.  There was no sorrow over hopes and dreams she may have had for herself.  There was no concern about what others would say about her and the story of an angel’s amazing announcement and the conception of a child without a human father.  She simply trusted God’s Word and yielded herself in faith to his will.

As we follow her example, our life’s journey will take the same path—to the cross where our Savior died for the sins of the world- to the empty tomb and the promise of the risen Christ that we have eternal life- to the mount of ascension where we discover where that life will be- and finally to Pentecost where the Holy Spirit was given as the guarantee of God’s promise to dwell with his people.  May God grant us a faith like hers that believes the angel’s amazing announcement that Jesus is our Savior and King!  Amen.