Series: "O Come! Let Us Adore Him!"
(who was)
Part 3: "Sung to By Mary"
Text: Luke 1:46-47 with Luke 11:27-28
Introduction
We come today to our third message in our Christmas sermon series for this year – a series entitled: O Come! Let Us Adore Him! Last week we were in Matthew’s Gospel and saw something of what it meant for Jesus to be Named By Joseph. And this morning we are in Luke’s Gospel to hear how Jesus was Sung to By Mary.
Mary said in Luke chapter 1 verses 46 and 47: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” And so she begins her beautiful song – her prayer of thanksgiving.
When we read Mary’s words in the context of her story we make a remarkable discovery. You see, just a few verses before – in verse 43 – Mary’s cousin Elizabeth had said to her: “But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Elizabeth describes Mary as the One who is carrying the Lord Himself in her womb. And so when Mary sings, “My soul glorifies the Lord” she is singing to Someone who is at once the Lord of Glory, the God of heaven and earth, and also God made flesh and growing as a tiny baby in her own womb.
Pregnancy and childbirth are an awesome thing at any time, but we can only try to imagine what it must have been like for this young woman of faith to sing her praises to God – when God the Son was in her womb, sent by God the Father, conceived by God the Holy Spirit. The Lord to whom she was singing was in her womb and then later she could sing her praises to Him as He sat on her knee. And so we all draw near to this spectacle. We all bend our ear to this recital. As this virgin mother sings to this heavenly baby.
No wonder this has been one of the most celebrated themes in art down through the centuries: Mary and Jesus. The Madonna and Child. We could spend a lifetime visiting the galleries of the world, looking at all the artists’ impressions of this scene. It is a setting we will behold countless times again this month on Christmas cards and nativity scenes. We will see it on every envelope that brings us the greetings of the season this year as Australia Post has featured the mother Mary and the child Jesus on its Christmas stamps for 2005.
Together with Luke chapter 1 we have also read this morning from Luke chapter 11 and verses 27 and 28. More than thirty years have passed since Jesus sat on Mary’s knee. He is now a grown man, about His heavenly Father’s business – preaching the gospel of the kingdom. And on this particular day, we hear a woman in the crowd celebrating the scene of the Madonna and Child. We are told in Luke 11:27 that she calls out:
“Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
She is picturing Mary with the baby Jesus and saying what a wonderful time that would have been. It might seem like an odd thing to call out from the crowd, but according to the custom of the day this was a common way of paying a compliment. We do the same thing now when we say to someone, “Well, your parents must be proud of you!”
And yet how does Jesus respond? What is His comment on this subject? Luke tells us in the very next verse – Luke 11:28 – and this is what we want to concentrate on today. With everyone around Him – with everyone listening in – Jesus replies to this voice from the crowd by saying, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
This exchange between Jesus and this anonymous woman has been compared to an exchange of Christmas greetings – even an exchange of Christmas cards – long before they had been invented. This woman gives one to Jesus that has a picture of Him and His mother on the front. And He gives her one in return that has a picture of someone in church on it – someone hearing the word of God – someone hearing the gospel.
So let’s consider Jesus’ reply to this woman – His Christmas greeting as it were – in Luke 11:28 “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
When Jesus says “Blessed rather” He is using a word that is untranslatable in our language. There is no one English word that sums up its meaning. The New King James uses the words: “More than that.” The NIV, which we have here, uses the word: “Rather.” And the old King James says: “Yes, rather.” The Greek scholars would tell us that this word Jesus uses does three things at once. It Corrects. It Confirms. And it Conveys. And these are our three points, this morning. What Jesus Corrects, Confirms, and Conveys in his reply to this woman.
I. Corrects
Firstly, then, let us consider briefly What Jesus Corrects.
Jesus does not let this lady’s statement stand on its own. There is something in it that He resists – something in it that He corrects. Remember how the woman was paying a compliment? That’s how it was done in their culture. “The mother who brought you into this world must be such a happy woman.” “Look, you have become such a great preacher – such a spiritual leader. She must be proud of you!”
And Jesus reacts to this. He resists it. Because, as it stands, this is nothing more than sentimentalism. And isn’t this exactly what people do to Jesus? They want to reduce Him to being the nice boy of a nice lady. They are happy to see Him pictured as a baby on Mary’s lap. He looks so harmless and unthreatening. A baby isn’t about to challenge the way we think or the way we live.
And we should recognise for ourselves that we live in an age that is surrounded by sentimental Christianity. So much of what we see when we go into Christian bookstores or receive their catalogues is mere sentimentalism. It is not serious theology. It is not sound doctrine. It is watered-down, sugar-coated, catch-phrase Christianity available in assorted pastel colours.
And Jesus corrects this because He wants us to know that this is not what He stands for. He came to preach a robust gospel. He came to fight a great battle. He came to slay a terrible enemy. He came to deliver His people from sin and death and hell. Jesus came to conquer the world – to conquer your world and to conquer mine. He came to change, renew, transform, and transport us to heavenly glories. And there is nothing sentimental about that.
As you know we have begun to read through the Psalms responsively in our morning worship services. One of the blessings of doing this is that it forces us to look at every verse of these 150 songs and prayers. Left to ourselves we would pick out the verses we like – the ones that suit us – the ones we find palatable. We would try to reduce this book of Psalms – which is meant to be a diary for the soul – as we speak to God and He speaks to us – we would try to reduce it to mere sentimentalism. And yet we need it all – all the psalms – all the Bible – all of God’s Word. We need to face the facts – to meet reality – and to know the hard truths along with the soft comforts of the Scriptures.
And so – in love, in faithfulness, in strength – Jesus corrects our sentimentalism today.
II. Confirms
But then Jesus also confirms something in what this woman has said in Luke 11. And this our second point this morning: What Jesus Confirms.
Jesus does not dismiss what the woman has said out of hand. He does not reject it entirely. Understood in the right way, there is truth in what she says. And Jesus confirms that truth. “Yes,” He says – this is how Jesus’ response commences in the old King James version: “Yes.” There is something to be confirmed here. “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” “Yes,” says Jesus, “that’s true.” But, of course, it doesn’t go far enough.
As Protestants we feel uncomfortable when people start talking about “the blessed virgin Mary.” And we should be most uncomfortable with all the idolatry and Mariolatry, as its called, that developed in the medieval church. And yet we must not deny the fact that the Bible speaks of her as the blessed virgin Mary. That is part of the message of Luke 1. There was a young virgin named Mary chosen by God to be the means by which His Son would come into this world. The angel called her the highly favoured one. Her cousin Elizabeth addressed her as “blessed among women.” Mary herself said that “all generations will call me blessed.” And that is what this woman in the crowd said in Luke 11: “Blessed is the mother who gave birth to you.” And, of course, Jesus can agree and confirm this as far as it goes.
The Bible tells us that we are all blessed by the connections and associations we enjoy in this world. Mary was blessed to be associated with Jesus in a special way. And many others had their connections with Him also in the New Testament. In the Old Testament we see the advantages that came to the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God blessed those who blessed them and cursed those who cursed them.
And then, of course, we can look at the blessings in our own lives. Some of us were born into Christian homes. We know the blessings of the covenant. We have heard the gospel from our youth and we have been to Sunday School. Many of us here are a part of the Presbyterian Church and we share in the life and friendships of this congregation. And Jesus would confirm today that these are good things – these are wonderful blessings – but only as far as they go. Because being Jesus’ mother or being a descendent of Abraham or being born into a Christian home or going to Sunday School or even being a part of the Presbyterian Church will never save us.
And perhaps this Christmas when we go to church and when we are surrounded by our family and all the comforts and advantages of life, when we enjoy opening our gifts and the feasting of the Christmas table – we can know that Jesus confirms that these things are blessings. And we do well if we stop and thank Him for His goodness to us.
And yet in the New Kings James Version Jesus’ words are translated as “More than that.” It was a blessing for Mary to be Jesus’ mother, but she needed more than that and so do we. We need more than all the temporal blessings of Christmas.
III. Conveys
And this brings us to our third point: What Jesus Conveys. We have heard What He Corrects and What He Confirms. But let us also consider What He Conveys.
Jesus tells us that the greatest blessing anyone can enjoy is to hear the Word of God and obey it. Jesus is not talking about learning a list of rules – a lot of dos and don’ts. No, He is speaking about learning of the character of God and His plan and His acts in history. He is talking about knowing the gospel of God’s love in Christ for sinners and heeding the command to repent of our sins and to trust in Him.
What was it ultimately that Mary took comfort in? Was it her privileges and benefits in this world? No, she says in Luke chapter 1: “My Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” She confessed that she was a sinner who needed a Saviour, and she rejoiced to know that God would save her from her sins.
Mary knew that a day would come when she would stand alone before God, as we all will. And the fact that she was the earthly mother of Jesus would not save or help her one iota. Her only hope, her only plea, her only basis for acceptance with God was that she trusted in Jesus – not as her Son – but as her Saviour.
Mary didn’t say: “My spirit rejoices in my Church or my Presbyterianism or in all the privileges and benefits I enjoy in this world.” She didn’t even say: “My spirit rejoices in Jesus my Son.” No, but “in God my Saviour.” That’s where her happiness lies. That’s where her blessedness is to be found. It is not Christ in the womb that saved Mary. It is Christ in the heart by faith.
And that is what Jesus is conveying to us here in Luke 11. That’s what He wants to get across to us. “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” This is what it means to hear the Word of God – to receive the Word of life. It’s not Christ in the womb, but “Christ in you, the hope of glory” as Paul said in Colossians 1:27. In Ephesians 3:17 he prayed “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Ephesians 3:17). And in Galatians 4:19 Paul wrote: “I labour in birth for you until Christ is formed in you.”
Conclusion
What a remarkable thing it is that Mary brought Jesus into the world to die in her place – to die in the place of sinners. This is what she gradually came to see and to understand. Luke tells us repeatedly how Mary watched on as the events of Jesus’ life. He says that she treasured and pondered these things in her heart.
In Luke 11, the literal wording that the woman in the crowd uses is “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts you drank from.” This is what Jesus received from His earthly mother – as Mary nursed Him. But He came, in the fullness of God’s plan, to drink another cup from His heavenly Father. In Luke 22:42 Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” This is how Jesus is to be remembered - not only as a baby being nursed by His mother, but as a determined Saviour taking the cup of God’s wrath in the place of sinners.
You may remember how the ancient philosopher Socrates was condemned to death by the citizens of Athens and sentenced to execution by poisoning. John Stott, the famous Bible teacher, has compared the death of Jesus to the death of Socrates. He says: “Socrates in the prison cell in Athens, according to Plato’s account, took his cup of hemlock without trembling or changing colour or expression. He then raised the cup to his lips and very cheerfully and quietly drained it. When his friends burst into tears he rebuked them for their absurd behaviour and urged them to keep quiet and to be brave. He died without fear, sorrow, or protest. So,” asks John Stott, “was Socrates braver than Jesus, or were their cups filled with different poisons?” And that’s the point, isn’t it? There in the garden, with trembling but resolute hand, Jesus takes, as it were, that cup which is filled to the brim with the wrath of a Holy God against sin. And He goes to the cross and puts it to His lips and drinks every last drop in the place of sinners – even in the place of a sinner called Mary.
How do we know all the detail about Mary in Luke’s Gospel? Well, it was obviously because Luke had met her and interviewed her. But Luke is silent about Mary’s presence at the cross. No doubt when they came to that part of the story all that was in Mary’s heart was too much for her to speak. We have to learn of Mary’s presence at the cross through another Gospel writer – through John who was there with her.
But Luke picks up Mary’s story again in the sequel to his Gospel – in the Book of Acts. There we are told that after Jesus’ resurrection and His ascension to His Father’s right hand, the first congregation of the church – about 120 believers – similar to the number we have here today – they all went to the Upper Room in Jerusalem. And, Luke says in Acts 1:14 “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” There was Mary, still praying – still singing – to Jesus, knowing that she would one day be reunited with Him in heaven for all eternity.
Would you join Jesus and all His people there? Would you sing before Him in that great chorus? Then you need to sing with Mary today: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.”
