Luke 01.34-45 What
we will see this morning in Mary and the Messiah part02…01. Mary’s Confusion (Luke 01.34);
02. The Sovereignty of God (Luke 01.35-38);
and 03. Mary’s Visit (Luke 01.39-45).
01. Mary’s Confusion (Luke 01.34)
The Greek word that is used for “virgin” here is the Greek word (1097) ginwskw ginosko ghin-oce’-ko and it basically
means “to know intimately”.
The original Greek here reads, “How can this be seeing I know not a man.”
Mary if you remember was engaged
or betrothed to Joseph, and though they were legally married; they were not
able to be with each other in this way until the time of the betrothal was
over. So Mary was perplexed at how this was to be accomplished without breaking
the Law of Moses, and thus being stoned for her unfaithfulness (Deuteronomy
22.20-21).
Gabriel specifically said that Zacharias (Luke 01.20)
had doubt, but the angel doesn’t say that here about Mary. Look at her response
to how Gabriel says it will happen and that her relative is pregnant as well (Luke 01.38).
Gabriel as well did not rebuke Mary, this shows us that Mary did not doubt the words
of Gabriel but merely wanted to know how such an event would be accomplished.
Luke 01.34 “virgin” G3933. paryenov parthenos par-then’-os; a maiden; by implication,
an unmarried daughter:-- virgin.
This
Greek word refers to a person who never had sexual relations and it would never
be used to describe a woman who was married. This Greek word paryenov parthenos was used
by the Greeks for the Parthenon, the Greek temple to the goddess Athena, which
the Greeks characterized as being a virgin. In the Greek Septuagint of Isaiah 07.14, the Greek word
used for virgin is the same one that is used in Luke 01.34.
There were other miraculous conceptions and births
throughout the Bible, but this one is different, for this one involved the work
of God and a virgin!
Abraham and Sarah (Isaac-Genesis 15.01-18.15; Genesis 21.01-08)
Isaac and Rebekah (Jacob and Esau-Genesis 25.21-26)
Jacob and Rachel (Joseph-Genesis 30.01;
Genesis 30.22-24)
Manoah and his wife (Samson-Judges 13.01-25)
Elkanah and Hannah (Samuel-1Samuel 01.01-28)
Zacharias and Elizabeth (John-Luke 01.01-25)
The Jews at this time all would know that a virgin giving
birth was in fulfillment of Isaiah 07.14 and Jeremiah 31.22, and that it was
a sign that the Messiah was now here! The fact that the Messiah would be virgin
born was a sign that He was the Son of God, for a virgin giving birth is
impossible unless it’s Divine!
To deny the virgin birth is to deny the Biblical proof that
Jesus is both God (John 01.01; John 10.30; John 20.28; Romans 09.05; Philippians
02.06; Colossians 02.09; Titus 02.13; Hebrews 01.08;
2Peter 01.02;
1John 05.20)
and man (John
01.14; Romans 01.03; Galatians 04.04; Philippians
02.07-08; 1Timothy 02.05; Hebrews 02.14; 1John 04.02;
2John 07).
02. The
Sovereignty of God (Luke 01.35-38)
The Sovereignty of God means that
He is ruling on the throne, directing all things, in control of all things and
working all things after His own will (Psalms 45.06; Isaiah 46.10;
Daniel 04.35;
Ephesians 01.11).
Luke 01.35 Gabriel tells Mary that her conception
of the Messiah will be a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit.
We again see the title “Most High” (see also Luke 01.32). In the Greek “Most High” is
G5310. uqistov hupsistos hoop’-sis-tos; which means “the Supreme God,
the omnipotent ruler of Heaven and earth”, and is the same word used in the
Greek Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word “elyon”, which is often used as a
name of God (El Elyon) throughout the Old Testament (Genesis
14.18-20; Genesis 14.22; Numbers 24.16; Deuteronomy 32.08; 2Samuel 22.14; Psalm 07.17;
Psalm 09.02;
Psalm 18.13;
Psalm 21.07;
Psalm 46.04;
Psalm 47.02; Psalm 50.14; Psalm 57.02; Psalm 73.11; Psalm 77.10;
Psalm 78.17;
Psalms
78.35; Psalm 78.56; Psalm 82.06; Psalm 83.18;
Psalm 91.01;
Psalm 91.09;
Psalm 92.01;
Psalm 107.11;
Isaiah 14.14;
Lamentations
03.35; Lamentations 03.38; Daniel 07.18; Daniel 07.22;
Daniel 07.27).
The God who created the universe out of nothing and sustains
it (Psalm
104.30; Colossians 01.16-17) through His Spirit (Job 33.04;
Genesis
02.07) would create life in the womb of Mary.
To deny that Jesus was both God and man is to “receive
another spirit” other than Jesus
(2Corinthians
11.04) and “be accursed” (Galatians 01.06-09)!
If Jesus had a human father, He then was just a man. And if
He was just a man, He couldn’t be our Saviour. And if He isn’t our Saviour,
then there is no eternal life and forgiveness of our sins. This is why Paul
stated that if Jesus wasn’t our Saviour, our faith is worthless (1Corinthians
15.17; 1Corinthians 15.19) and we might as well eat
and drink because tomorrow we die (1Corinthians
15.32)!
This miraculous conception and the Virgin Birth of Jesus
Christ was a necessary sign proving His deity and preexistence (Isaiah 07.14;
Isaiah 09.06;
Galatians
04.04; 1Timothy 03.16).
Besides fulfilling Scripture, and proving His deity, why was it
important that Jesus did not have a natural conception?
Bildad asks how can a man be clean who is born of woman in Job 25.04? David said that from the very beginning he was
a sinner (Psalms
51.05). Paul describes our sinful condition in Ephesians 02.03. Because of our
sin, we needed a Saviour. But an animal substitute was not sufficient, because
the blood of animals cannot take away our sins.
Hebrews 10.01a “1
For the Law, since it has only a
shadow of the good things to come…”
This is foreshadowing Jesus! Read the Book of Leviticus, and
the whole book points to the work of Jesus and His substitutionary death for
us.
Hebrews 10.01b “1 …and not the very form of things, can
never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make
perfect those who draw near.
Offering
the sacrifices can never make us free from the guilt of sin. By offering sacrifices all it did was to remind
the Jews how sinful they were (Hebrews 10.02-04). If the
blood of animals would have been good enough, the writer of Hebrews is saying
then that they would no longer have to offer sacrifices. All that the
sacrifices did was to cover their sins; it never took away the guilty
conscience that is within man. The writer of Hebrews here is referencing the Day of
Atonement (Yom Kippur), which you can read about in great detail in Exodus 30.10,
Leviticus 16.01-17.16 and Leviticus 23.16-32.
On this day, the High Priest would go into the Holy of
Holies to offer a sacrifice of atonement on behalf of the nation to cover the
sins of the nation from the previous year. The Hebrew word for atonement is (H3722) rpk kaphar kaw-far’; meaning to cover, to cancel, to purge away, to pardon and
to make reconciliation.
Hebrews 10.04 The
blood of the animals just merely covered our sin.
The perfect picture of this is after Adam and Eve sinned,
the LORD took and killed an animal and used the skin of that animal to cover their
nakedness (Genesis
03.21). This was the first blood sacrifice as the result of sin.
In order for our sins to be completely forgiven and
redeemed, we needed a kinsman redeemer (Leviticus 25.47-55; Ruth 03.01-04.13; Hebrews
02.11-18).
The Hebrew word for “kinsman” (H1350)
is lag ga’al gaw-al’; and
it means to redeem, to buy back a relative’s property. The Book of Ruth provides a great picture of this when Boaz “redeemed” Ruth
and Naomi (Ruth 03.01-04.13).
But of course an even greater example is that of
Jesus the Christ, our redeemer.
There are four requirements of a
Kinsman Redeemer:
01. The kinsman redeemer had to be a blood
relative
Jesus fulfilled this requirement in His incarnation, coming
to be a man in flesh to show us our need for a Saviour (John 01.14; Romans 01.03; Romans 08.03;
Galatians
04.04; Philippians 02.06-08; Hebrews 02.14-17; Hebrews 04.15).
02. The kinsman redeemer could not be in debt
Jesus came as a man, but He was without sin (Isaiah 53.09;
2Corinthians
05.21; Hebrews 04.15; Hebrews 07.26; 1Peter 02.22;
1John 03.05)!
03. The kinsman redeemer had to be able to
pay the price of redemption
The price of redemption was the sinless man taking our place
on the cross to appease the wrath of God (Matthew 27.54; Mark 01.01; Mark 03.11; Mark 15.39; Luke 01.35; John 01.34; John 01.49; Acts 08.37; 1John 05.13).
04. The kinsman redeemer had to be willing
Jesus came as a man willing to pay the price for redemption.
This is why He was born, to purchase with His blood the redemption of mankind
by His death (John
10.15-18; Philippians 02.06-08; 1John 03.16).
Besides fulfilling Scripture, and proving His deity, why was it
important that Jesus did not have a natural conception? Being
conceived by the Holy Spirit means that He is both God and man, thus being able
to be our kinsman redeemer, and fulfilling all the righteous demands against
sinful people.
Paul tells the Roman church (Romans 03.25) that the death of Jesus is the final sacrifice that
completely satisfied all of God’s righteous demands against sinful people, thus
averting His wrath from those who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour (Romans 10.09-17).
Paul says that the death of Jesus on that Roman cross was
Jesus becoming the blood sacrifice that paid for our sins, wiping out our
sinful debt (Colossians
02.14) and thus reconciling us back to God (Colossians 01.20).
The virgin conception and birth of the Messiah kept quiet
any naysayers from saying that the Messiah was not from God, but was conceived
naturally. For if Mary and Joseph were already married, the critics would
easily be able to explain away the deity of the Messiah.
Some have wrongly said that the reason that Jesus was
sinless was because He had no human father. But there is nothing in the Bible
that says that our sin nature is passed on genetically only through the father.
All mankind, men and women are born sinners because as Paul said “For as in Adam
all die” (1Corinthians 15.22) because “For as through
the one man’s (Adam’s) disobedience the many were made sinners” (Romans 05.19).
Luke 01.36 Gabriel
tells Mary news that she more than likely hasn’t heard, that her relative
Elizabeth is six months pregnant with a son!
The King James Version translates “relative” as “cousin”. The Greek word here is (G4773) suggenhv suggenes soong-ghen-ace’
and means either a relative by blood, or a fellow countryman.
We know that Elizabeth was from
the tribe of Levi (Luke 01.05) and that
Mary is from the tribe of Judah (Luke 03.23-38,
specifically Luke 01.30). We also
know that Zacharias and Elizabeth lived in the hill country of Judah (Luke 01.39-40). But, Mary and Joseph, though being both from the tribe
of Judah, lived in Nazareth (Luke 01.26), which
is in the North, in the territory of Zebulun. So the relationship between
Elizabeth and Mary was either that they are related because they were both
descendants of Jacob or the only other logical exclamation is that they were
related through their mother’s side. Either way it is not something that we need
to argue about or cause a church split.
Luke 01.37 The
LORD said the same thing to Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 18.14), as well as to
Jeremiah (Jeremiah
32.27). Gabriel telling Mary about the pregnancy of Elizabeth was to
show Mary that God does what is impossible for man, thus assuring Mary that
what was told to her about the Messiah being virgin born can really happen. The
power of God has no limit and is not bound by the laws of nature because He
created all things (Deuteronomy 03.24; Job 09.04; Psalm 89.13; Psalm 115.03;
Daniel 04.35).
Luke 01.38 Mary’s
response is very similar to that of Hannah’s in 1Samuel 01.11 and 1Samuel 01.18.
Hannah, the mother of Samuel, referred to herself as a “maidservant” in both verses.
The Greek Septuagint used the same Greek word for “maidservant” in 1Samuel 01.11
and 1Samuel
01.18 (G1399 doulh)
that is used here for “bondslave” in Luke 01.38.
It is interesting that both were humble women who when
spoken to, had faith that what was said to them will happen. Both of these
women also were willing to submit like a slave (“maidservant”) to the purposes
of God. Because of this, Mary, being pregnant out of wedlock, would have to
live with the scarlet letter of being an adulteress who should have been stoned
(Deuteronomy
22.20-21), trusting that God will take care of her reputation.
In fact, this is revealed in the Pharisees response to Jesus
saying that Abraham was their father insinuating that Jesus was born of
fornication and that Joseph was not the father of Jesus in John 08.38-42.
03. Mary’s Visit
(Luke 01.39-45)
Luke 01.39-40 Mary then immediately dropped
everything and made a trip to the Judean hill country to see Elizabeth.
The hill country of Judah is probably the city of Hebron (Joshua 11.21;
Joshua 20.07;
Joshua 21.11;
Joshua 21.13).
Hebron was a city of the priests (Joshua 21.13) located in Judah (Joshua 15.54),
and a city of refuge (Joshua 20.01-07). Abraham
liked to spend time in Hebron (Genesis 13.18; Genesis 23.01-20), and when
David was the king of Judah, he made Hebron his royal residence for seven and a
half years (2Samuel
05.05). Hebron is about 25 miles south of
Jerusalem, and about 100 miles from Nazareth. Hebron still exists today and it
is one of the most ancient cities in the world.
It could have been during this
trip to the Judean hill country that an angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph,
telling him that Mary was pregnant with the Messiah not by another man
but by the Holy Spirit in Matthew 01.18-25.
Luke 01.41 When
Mary greeted Elizabeth, a supernatural event happened. Here we see proof that
the baby in Elizabeth’s womb is filled with the Holy Spirit, and that he is
alive (Luke
01.15; Psalms 22.10).
Luke 01.42 “loud” G3173. megav megas meg’-as; [including the prolonged forms, feminine megalh megale, plural megaloi megaloi, etc.; compare also 3176, 3187]; big (literally
or figuratively, in a very wide application):-- (+ fear) exceedingly,
great(-est), high, large, loud, mighty, + (be) sore (afraid), strong, X to
years.
Elizabeth, being filled with the Holy Spirit literally
shouts out this message. “Blessed are you
among women…” is a Hebrew expression basically saying that Mary is
the most blessed of all women (Judges 05.24). Elizabeth said that that Mary
was the most blessed among women because she would bear the greatest child, the
promised Messiah, the Saviour of all mankind.
Luke 01.43 The
humility of Elizabeth was mirrored by the humility of her son years later (Matthew
03.13-14). Paul said we are to be humble in Philippians 02.03.
Philippians 02.03 “3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty
conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than
yourselves;”
To call Jesus Lord is to call Him
your master and God.
Despite the teaching of the Roman
Catholic Church, nowhere in the Bible do we see that Mary is given the title
“mother of God”. God is eternal (Genesis 21.33; Deuteronomy
33.27; Psalm 90.02; Isaiah 40.28; Habakkuk 01.12; Romans 16.26) so
therefore He could never have been conceived or born, but has always existed. Mary
was the mother of the human Jesus, not His eternal divine nature.
Luke 01.44 Elizabeth
tells us here that the movement of her baby was not a natural movement that she
had felt before. The baby inside of her leapt for joy because the mother of the
Messiah was there.
John would talk about this joy during his ministry in John 03.29.
Luke 01.45 A
final blessing from Elizabeth for Mary, saying that not only was Mary blessed
because she had the privilege of being the mother of the Messiah, but also
because of her faith, trusting in the promises of God.
Mary is not the mother of God, she is not the Dispensatrix
(dispenser) of all grace, she is not the Mediatrix (Me-de-a-tricks)
(mediator) or Co-Redemptrix (co-redeemer).
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