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Luke 1:26-31

INTRODUCTION: We are starting a new message series for Advent this year called The People of Christmas. Over the next several weeks in preparation for Christmas we will be looking at the key people in the Christmas story: Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the wisemen. Of course, throughout all of this we will also be looking at the key person in the Christmas story: Jesus Christ – the Son of God, the Son of Man, born to be our Savior. Jesus is the reason for the season, and he is also the only reason these other people we will be looking at in our series figure so prominently in history as well.

So, today we are looking at Mary, the mother of Jesus. We will be looking at a number of Scriptures about Mary in the course of the message, but let’s begin by reading Luke 1:26-31. (Read Luke 1:26-31 and pray)

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We are looking at the people of Christmas, and today we are specifically talking about Mary. Who was Mary, and why is she so important to the Christmas story? What do we know about Mary, and how does that impact how we view the birth of Jesus at Christmas?

This morning we are going to look at six things the Bible tells us about Mary that reveal her important role in Christmas and in the birth of Jesus. What do we know about Mary? We know that: 1) she was descended from David; 2) she came from the town of Nazareth; 3) she was related to Elizabeth; 4) she was a virgin; 5) she was a godly woman; and 6) she raised a family.

As we look at these six characteristics of Mary, we will grow in our own understanding of Christmas and how God prepared so graciously for the birth of his Son on that first Christmas day. So, let’s get started.

1. She was descended from David (Luke 3:23,31; Romans 1:3)

First of all, Mary was descended from David. There are two genealogies for Jesus in the New Testament. One is in the gospel of Matthew, and the other is in the gospel of Luke. The genealogy in Matthew traces Jesus’ ancestry through his adopted father Joseph, while the genealogy in Luke traces Jesus’ ancestry through his birth mother, Mary.

The genealogy for Jesus in Luke begins in Luke 3:23, and notice carefully the wording of this first verse. Luke 3:23 says: “Jesus was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph…” (Luke 3:23) In other words, Jesus was not the physical son of Joseph, although he was the physical son of Mary.

And then the genealogy continues with the actual ancestry of Jesus through Mary’s side: the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, etc. When we get to verse 31 we come to the following names in the genealogy: “… the son of David, the son of Jesse.” (Luke 3:31) And so, Luke’s genealogy tells us that Mary was a direct descendent of David.

Why is it so important that Mary was descended from David? Because the Messiah had to come through the physical line of David. Joseph was also descended from David, but Joseph was not Jesus’ physical father, and so it was essential that Mary was descended from David, too. This way Jesus was an actual, physical descendant of David through Mary, as well as receiving the legal right of rule through his adoptive father Joseph (more on that later). The apostle Paul emphasizes this physical relationship with David in Romans 1:3 when he says of Jesus: “… who as to his human nature was a descendant of David.” (Romans 1:3)

And so that’s the first thing the Bible tells us about Mary. She was physically descended from David, which means that Jesus was also physically descended from David, which was essential for him to fulfill the role of the Messiah.

2. She came from the town of Nazareth (Matthew 2:23; Luke 1:26, 2:24)

And then the second thing we learn about Mary is that she came from Nazareth. (Luke 1:26) Nazareth was a small village in Galilee. It has a population of about 80,000 nowadays, but back then it was much smaller.

Nazareth was a small town, insignificant and completely forgettable. You blink and you miss it. Even if you’re riding a donkey, you blink and you miss it. It’s not even mentioned in the Old Testament. If you needed any supplies, you had to travel four miles north over back roads to get them from the neighboring city of Sepphoris. Nazareth was not a wealthy town, and so Joseph and Mary were probably both poor, as signified by their offering of a pair of doves at Jesus’ presentation in the temple. (Luke 2:24)

So, why is it important that Mary came from Nazareth? For a number of reasons. First of all, Mary and Joseph would return there after Jesus was born in fulfillment of prophecy. (Matthew 2:23) But it also means that Jesus was raised in humble surroundings in virtual obscurity. Jesus left the riches of heaven. He was born in a humble manger in Bethlehem and raised in the tiny town of Nazareth. Even if Jesus had been born and raised in the royal palace that still would have been a humble place compared to heaven. But God made sure that Jesus was raised in the humble town of Nazareth instead.

And so that’s the second thing the Bible tells us about Mary. She came from the town of Nazareth, which means Jesus was raised in humble surroundings.

3. She was related to Elizabeth (Luke 1:36,39-45)

And then the third thing we learn about Mary is that she was related to Elizabeth. (Luke 1:36) Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist, so that means Jesus and John were cousins!

Like Jesus, John the Baptist also had a miraculous birth. John’s mother was barren and unable to conceive. God sent the angel Gabriel to John’s parents and told them they would have a son. Just like God told Joseph and Mary what name to give Jesus, God also told John’s parents what to name John.

So, there are a lot of similarities between the birth of John and the birth of Jesus, but there is also one big difference. When the angel told John’s father, Zechariah, that they were going to have a son, Zechariah did not receive this word in faith as Joseph and Mary did with Jesus. But God still fulfilled his word to Zechariah and Elizabeth, and Mary went to visit Elizabeth in Judea soon after she became pregnant with Jesus. (Luke 1:39-45)

So that’s the third thing we learn about Mary. She was related to Elizabeth, who miraculously gave birth to John the Baptist. God used this connection as an additional sign to Mary that everything he told her about her child, Jesus, was true.

4. She was a virgin (Matthew 1:18, 22-23; Luke 1:26-27, 34)

And then the fourth thing that is important about Mary is that she was a virgin. We first see this in the gospel of Matthew where Matthew tells us: “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18) Matthew specifically says that Mary became pregnant before she and Joseph came together, which is another way of saying she was still a virgin when Jesus was conceived in her womb.

A few verses later Matthew emphasizes that this was in fulfillment of prophecy. Quoting Isaiah 7:14, Matthew writes: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ – which means, ‘God with us.’” (Matthew 1:22-23)

We get more details about this in the first chapter of the gospel of Luke. In fact, Mary being a virgin is mentioned three times in verses 26-34. We read in verses 26-27: “In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.” (Luke 1:26-27) That’s twice in one verse! And then it is mentioned a third time in verse 34 where Mary asks the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34)

Of course, this is an amazing miracle of God that a virgin would conceive and give birth to a child. It is part of the beauty and wonder of Christmas. You might wonder, why is it so important that Jesus was born of a virgin? I can think of four reasons.

   1) To fulfill prophecy (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18)

First of all, to fulfill prophecy. We’ve already seen that Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, and so Jesus being born of a virgin not only fulfilled prophecy but also designated Jesus as the Messiah sent from God.

   2) So Christ would have both a human and divine nature (John 1:1,14)

A second reason was so that Christ would have both a human and a divine nature. As the eternal Son of God, Jesus was and is and always will be divine. (John 1:1) He is of the same essence as God the Father, co-equal and co-eternal with him. But in the incarnation Jesus assumed also a human nature which he received from his mother Mary. (John 1:14) With God as his Father and Mary as his mother, Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. He is the God-man who came to save us from our sins.

   3) To solve the sin problem (Luke 1:35)

Which brings us to the third reason Jesus was born of a virgin, which was to solve the sin problem. All of us born into this world by a human mother and father inherit a sin nature. But Jesus was not born of a human father.

It’s a mystery how this all works, but the Scriptures say the virgin birth is part of the reason why Jesus was born without a sin nature. When Mary asked the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” the angel answered her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon 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.” (Luke 1:35)

Mary conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, and as a result, he was born as “the holy one,” that is, one without sin. So, that’s the third reason Jesus was born of a virgin – to solve the sin problem. Jesus was born as the holy one, without a sin nature.

   4) To solve the genealogical problem (Jeremiah 22:30; Matthew 1:11)

And then the fourth reason Jesus was born of a virgin was to solve the genealogical problem. You might wonder, what is the genealogical problem? Well, the genealogical problem goes back to the days of King Jehoiachin in the Old Testament.

Jehoiachin was one of the kings in the line of David leading up to the Messiah. But Jehoiachin sinned against the Lord so badly that God sent the prophet Jeremiah to him with the following message against him: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.’” (Jeremiah 22:30)

Jehoiachin sinned against the Lord so badly that God broke the birth line from David through Jehoiachin to the Messiah. No child or descendant of Jehoiachin would ever sit on the throne of David. Jehoiachin appears in Joseph’s genealogy in the gospel of Matthew where he goes by his alternate name of Jeconiah (Matthew 1:11). Joseph was a direct, physical descendant of Jehoiachin, which means that none of Joseph’s physical sons could ever be the Messiah.

So, here’s the genealogical problem. God promised David that the Messiah would come from his birth line. The royal right to rule was passed from father to son. But the royal birth line from David was broken with King Jehoiachin. So how can the Messiah be born in the line of David and still receive the royal right to rule?

The virgin birth solves this problem in an amazing way. Joseph and Mary were both physical descendants of David but through different lines. Joseph was in the royal line of David. Mary was in a non-royal line. And so, Jesus was a physical descendant of David through his mother Mary, and he received the royal right to rule through his adoptive father Joseph.

Jesus fulfilled God’s promise to David that the Messiah would come through David’s physical line, and he kept his promise that none of Jehoiachin’s physical descendants would ever sit on the throne of David. And so, the virgin birth not only solves the sin problem. It also solves the genealogical problem.

That’s the fourth thing you need to know about Mary and the Christmas story. Mary was a virgin when she conceived and gave birth to Christ.

5. She was a godly woman (Luke 1:28-38)

And then, the fifth thing that is important to know about Mary is that she was a godly woman. Now, we need to be careful here. There are those in the Roman Catholic church who teach that Mary was sinless and that we should even pray to her. And although we should certainly respect Mary as the mother of Jesus, that goes too far in reverencing her. Here in the Protestant church, we perhaps make the opposite mistake and don’t reverence her enough. So, we don’t want to go too far and call Mary sinless or pray to her, but we should recognize that she was a godly woman.

How do we know this? Well for one thing, the Bible tells us she found favor with God. (Luke 1:28) Secondly, Mary’s response to the angel was one of humility. (Luke 1:29) Thirdly, Mary also responded in faith. (Luke 1:30-34) She believed the angel right away. She was just curious as to how God would make this happen. Contrast Mary with Sarah in the Old Testament who laughed when God said she would have a child or with Zechariah in the New Testament who asked God for a sign. Fourthly, we see Mary’s submissive obedience to God in Luke 1:38: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38)

We see additional faith on Mary’s part when she goes to visit her relative, Elizabeth. (Luke 1:39-45) We see her joyful praise in the words of the Magnificat, Mary’s beautiful song of response when Elizabeth prophesies over her. (Luke 1:46-56) We see her prayerful meditation on God’s work in her life when Luke tells us how Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19,51) And then we read of the suffering that Mary would experience as the mother of Jesus when Simeon told her in the temple: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Luke 2:34-35)

In many ways the Scriptures tell us that Mary was a godly woman, and we can recognize that and celebrate that without going overboard by worshiping her or praying to her or calling her sinless. That’s the fifth thing we learn about Mary from Scripture. Mary was a godly woman.

6. She raised a family (Mark 6:3)

And then the sixth thing we learn about Mary is that she raised a family. (Mark 6:3) After Jesus was born, she raised other children. We know that she had at least seven children including Jesus. The Bible tells us Jesus had four brothers and at least two sisters. The brothers’ names were James, Joseph, Judah, and Simon. The Bible doesn’t tell us what his sisters were named, although according to tradition their names were Anna and Lydia (apocryphal work History of Joseph).

CONCLUSION: So, what can we learn from Mary as the first person of Christmas? In closing, let me try to distill everything we’ve just learned about Mary into one sentence for you this morning:

“God chose a humble, prayerful, submissive, believing woman in the birth line of David to be the virgin mother of Jesus and give him his human nature as the Son of God become man.”

What should our response be to all this? We should marvel at the miracle of the incarnation that Jesus was born of a virgin. We should worship Jesus as the eternal Son of God who was born as a man so he could live a perfect life and die on the cross for our sins. And we should follow Mary’s godly example as we seek to be humble and submissive to God in our own lives.

© Ray Fowler

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