Luke 1: 26 – 38
‘Blessed’
A Christmas Story
“26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” 29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” 35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.” 38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Our story begins right after Creation. Our ancestors Adam and Eve sinned by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree after being tempted by Satan. As a result of their sins our Holy God pronounced judgment on them starting with Adam, then Eve and finally upon Satan.
In Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 we find this interesting prophecy, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
I want you to notice the part where our Precious Holy God states ‘between her seed’. Do you catch this important message? As you know our Holy Creator designed men to bare the ‘seed’ and women the ‘egg’ for reproduction of our kind. Here our Holy God Is pronouncing a miracle that says in effect that a virgin woman without the assistance of a man will bear a child.
So, this message was passed along through women that one of them will be specially selected to bring forth an anointed child sent from God for the benefit of all mankind. It was the dream of all women that they would be the one picked to be His Holy vessel to accomplish this salvation.
Now let us skip forward 4000 years and again see in part the fulfillment of the prophecy of Genesis chapter 3.
Luke 1, “26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” 29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” 35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.” 38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
I want you to make a mental note of two points.
1. Mary and Joseph lived where? The answer is in Nazareth. This place is 94 miles north of Jerusalem and over 100 miles from Bethlehem.
2. The angel will inform Mary that she is
‘Blessed’. This word has some nice religious impact. It means ‘happy’ We can all say that being picked by God out of all women who ever lived to be the one who would bring forth His Special Anointed Holy One would make Mary ‘Happy’.
Think with me how Mary’s happiness was drained away. Mary all pumped up from her experience with the angel sees her finance. He can tell that she is radiating in excitement and wants to share the good news with him. Her words go something like this, ‘Joseph you cannot believe what just happened to me.’ He encourages her to reveal her joy, ‘tell me, don’t hold me in suspense?’. Smiling away Mary responds, ‘An angel appeared to me. He told me his name even. It is Gabriel. He said that I was selected to be the woman whom God will use to bring into this world His promised ‘Deliverer’ The Holy Spirit will come upon me and I will bear this child. Isn’t this great Joseph?’
Now how do you think this news was received by Joseph? Was he joyful of this great news? Did he believe her? Was Mary’s joy dashed by the look on Joseph’s face?
We find out a little more information about this from the apostle Matthew’s version, “18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Joseph loved Mary but did not believe her story. He knew that others would think the same, but their way would be to kill Mary by stoning her. Joseph wanted to put her away from these people as Mary would being to show in her pregnancy.
Our Great and All Wise Holy God had already set in motion the right course. Mary would go to visit her relative and be away from all gossip and charges of others.
After our Lord sent Gabriel to speak with Joseph he understood and obeyed the Lord’s command and went and took Mary as his wife.
Meanwhile guiding all history to comply with His will our Holy and Great God inspired Caesar to apply new taxes and require all Israelites to return to their family inherited lands.
Luke 2, “1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Since Joseph and Mary were from the tribe of Judah and descendants of David they were to travel over 100 miles to Bethlehem. People can walk about 3 to 4 miles per hour. Figuring an 8-hour day it would take Mary and Joseph about 4 or 5 days to reach Bethlehem.
You know the story. It was not the manger scene like we have under our trees. Here two royal heirs of king David were destitute and went through all kinds of pain and turmoil. The location where they wound up staying was probably under a leave - to next to a stall. Our precious Holy Son of God came into the world born outside, wrapped in rags and placed in a feeding trough.
After our Lord Jesus was born Mary and Joseph was required to bring him to Jerusalem. When she was fit enough to travel the couple made the journey which would have only been less than 2 hours covering under 6 miles. On the eight day the baby boy was circumcised as required by the law. Mary could not enter the Temple area for a total period of 40 days where she was considered unclean.
Leviticus 12, “1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a woman has conceived, and borne a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean. 3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4 She shall then continue in the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled.
Luke 2, “21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. 22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD”?), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Now here are some vital information that is overlooked.
39 So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. 40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
{lease notice where the holy family went after leaving Jerusalem. Did they go back South to Bethlehem? No, they made the 94-mile North journey back to Nazareth.
Now, entering the story are the wise men.
Matthew 2, “1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’?” 7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” 9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.”
Now what is happening here. Our Precious Holy Spirit just mentions this without a specific time frame, “1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
We are going to find out that our Lord Jesus, with Mary and Joseph are back home in Nazareth living in their home.
Herod is disturbed about hearing this news about a new king so he sends for the religious leaders to find out what the prophecy has to say about this fact.
“3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
The religious advisors tell Herod that the prophecy says that the anointed king will be born in Bethlehem. It didn’t say any date of the birth. This is all the information he has to go on so he tells the Wise men to go and send back word to him when they locate the baby.
“9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
As soon as they left Herod they saw and rejoiced seeing the star. They followed the star north not south toward Bethlehem and it led them to Nazareth.
Now not hearing again anything from these visitors from other nations Herod was wroth with wrath so he ordered his soldiers to go to Bethlehem (this is where he thought the wise men went) to kill every baby under 2 years of age and expanded the kill zone to all the villages surrounding Bethlehem.
“13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” 14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.”
While the Jewish military were slaughtering all the babies in the Bethlehem area our Lord Jesus was safe 100 miles away.
In obedience to the angel’s direction Joseph took his family to Egypt. If you look at a map of Israel the best and quickest route would be along the Mediterranean Sea. It would be about 2025 miles to Egypt or take the family 81 days or close to three months to travel there.
Now some time had gone by and the family returned to Nazareth. After our Lord Jesus was born Joseph and Mary wasted no time in getting to know each other physically. In fact they wound up having at least 6 children – four boys and at least 2 sisters as revealed to us in the Gospel of Mark chapter 6, “1 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?”
I have heard some humorous teaching about how Mary and Joseph lost God. That is when our Lord Jesus was 12 He went and taught in the Temple and the family left the city and was heading home when they realized that they forgot to have Jesus with them. This situation is not unique. In our church there are a few families that have many children. On many Sunday’s I have had to call them at home and let them know that they forgot one of their litter.
Luke 2, “41 His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. 43 When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; 44 but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. 46 Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. 48 So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” 49 And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” 50 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.
Between this period and up to the time our Lord was in His late twenties Joseph died. We know this because at the wedding of Cana there is no mention of Joseph and our Lord Jesus is the man of the family.
John 2, “1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” 4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” 6 Now there were set there six water pots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” 11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. 12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.”
Our Lord’s siblings did not believe that He was the Messiah. He was just their brother. In fact they thought that he had some mental issues and wanted to take him home as Matthew points out in chapter 12 of his gospel, “46 While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. 47 Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.” 48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
This was so bad that at the cross our Lord Jesus did not tell any of his brothers to take care of Mary, but He assigned His cousin John to make sure she was cared for,
John 19, “25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.”
If I asked you the question again what does the word ‘Blessed’ mean? It means ‘happy’. So, in all that we just discussed about regarding Mary’s life would you say she was ‘happy’?
I think it would be best to hear from Mary herself as she spoke in the Gospel of Luke chapter 1, “46 And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. 50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. 54 He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, 55 As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.”
