The Announcement of the Savior (Luke 1:26-38)

Luke chapter one.

Before we read and get started, let's bow our heads and ask the Lord's blessing upon our time.

Father Christ is born.

What a glorious declaration that is.

It is as if we were to say that he is risen as well.

For the resurrection of the body depends upon the incarnation of our great God and Savior, the Lord

Jesus Christ.

A second person of the blessed Trinity became flesh for our sake so that he might redeem us and bring

glory to the triune God and to redeem a people for his own sake, for his own glory

and do us good all in that process.

And we thank you for that.

He is born.

He has died.

He was buried and he rose again.

And for this great and glorious gospel truth, we adore you and thank you.

And we pray now your blessing upon our study of your word and are looking at the gospel of Luke

and his record of what transpired there.

May you be honored through our time and our meditation here.

In Christ's name we pray, amen.

Well, it is Christmas Eve.

And so this morning's service, as well as the one tonight, kind of bring to a conclusion mini series

that we have been working through, looking at the Old Testament promises of a Messiah.

And today we're going to be in Luke's gospel in chapter one, looking at part of the fulfillment of that.

And I say part of the fulfillment because not everything that was promised in the Old Testament was fulfilled in the first

coming of our Lord.

Galatians 4, verse four says, "'When the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son

born of a woman, born under the law, so that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive

the adoption as sons.'".

When the fullness of time came, when the long expected culmination of all of those promises

came to the time, the ripeness of that time to be fulfilled, then God sent forth his son to be

born of a woman.

And we have been waiting now for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for 2 ,000 years, which seems

like a long time until you realize that prior to his coming, humanity had been waiting for 4

,000 years for the fulfillment of those promises made back as early as in the Garden of Eden, right

after the fall of man.

And one of the benefits of our brief survey of Old Testament history of the promises and the prophecies regarding

Christ is that it reminds us that God is always at work to accomplish his purposes.

He is always at work to fulfill his word and to bring to pass what he has promised to us.

And this is where we started back a few weeks ago in Genesis 3, verse 15.

And just to bring you up to speed with what we have looked at so far, we started with that passage, which is the

first mention of gospel truth and gospel promise.

It regarded the seed of the woman, and it was spoken in the context of the curse upon the serpent, where the Lord

promised that a seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent and he would be bruised, his

heel would be bruised as a result of that triumph.

And we looked there at the virgin birth of our Lord, the vicarious suffering that was promised there, and also the

victory over the serpent.

Then a couple of weeks ago, we looked at the indicators of the Old Testament that the seed of the woman would be fully man, and that

this was necessary in order for him to represent us and to live on our behalf for

the sake of our righteousness.

And we saw his humanity and his lineage and his suffering, and then in his eventual rule and reign as the promised

descendant of David.

Then last week, we looked at the indications from the Old Testament that the coming seed of the woman was going to be fully divine.

He needed to be God in order to pay the infinite debt of sin that you and I owe.

Even one of us in this room owes an infinite sin debt, and we have an infinite debt

of righteousness that we do not have.

So we needed one who was infinitely righteous, perfectly so, and impeccably so, and one

who was fully God so that he could provide for us the full righteousness that we need, as well as

pay the debt, the full debt of the sin that we had heaped up by our lawbreaking.

So he had to be fully man and fully divine.

And we saw that this one from David's line would be divine through his eternality,

his origin, his goings forth, Micah 5, verse two.

His names indicate that he would be divine.

He's the wonderful counselor, the mighty God.

And then we looked at his rule and his reign as an indication of his divine nature.

Now, you might expect with all of that in hindsight, you might expect that with all of those pieces on the table, with all of that

information about the Messiah that the Jews had, and I mentioned to you a couple of weeks ago, we could go back into the Old

Testament and go 100 different directions with the promises made regarding Christ.

All the stuff that we've looked at in the last three weeks, it's just scratching the surface of a wealth,

an embarrassment of riches when it comes to what is predicted and promised in the Old Testament.

So much that is there.

So you would think then that the Jews, having hundreds of years to meditate upon that,

to think it out, to reason it out, to put the pieces together, to kind of follow the trajectory of Old

Testament revelation with all the promises that unfolded over time, to examine Micah and Zechariah

and Isaiah and Jeremiah and all of the passages, all of the Psalms, all of the types and shadows in the Old

Testament, the sacrifices, the feast, the tabernacle, and all of that, the promises of the kingdom rule.

You would think that the Jews, with all of that information on the table, would have had a pretty consistent, pretty

comprehensive understanding of what to expect in their Messiah.

You would think that that would be the case.

They had hundreds of years to think about it, to put it together, to reason it out,

to consult commentaries, to pray about it, to study the scriptures.

But what was the early first century Jewish

expectation of a Messiah?

Did they have a unanimous understanding of what that would look like?

Not at all.

Not at all, actually.

You would think that they would, but they didn't.

There's an old adage that says if you ask three Jews for their opinion, you'll get four, yeah, if you ask three

Jews for their opinion, you get four opinions.

You wanna know what a Jew thinks?

Get prepared for two or three different opinions.

This was the same way in the first century.

With all that information, they had all kinds of different ideas of what that Messianic fulfillment would look like.

One thing that they all agreed upon, one thing that every Jew agreed together about was

that the Old Testament predicted a Messianic figure,.

That they got.

There's a Redeemer that is promised, Genesis 3,.

We get that.

You have the prophecies regarding the king and the kingdom,.

We get that.

Prophecies regarding sacrifice, atonement, we get that.

There's a Messianic figure coming.

What that looked like, how it would be fulfilled, that they did not agree upon.

And there were a number of different ideas of just how this would be fulfilled.

For instance, some Jews believed that the Messianic promises was just an idealistic

mythological kind of ideal.

It was an idea, it was a Messianic idea.

So they would take all the promises regarding the Messiah and they would say this is to be understood metaphorically or

allegorically, or he's kind of a symbol, like we have our symbols of deliverers and redeemers and

heroes in our own culture, like Superman, Iron Man, Batman, et cetera.

These are kind of cultural mythological figures that we look at as being higher ideals of higher virtues.

That's what the Messiah is, some Jews would have said.

He's just a mythological figure, kind of a Messiah figure, a redeemer figure, somebody to put your hope

in.

And not that these things are ever gonna take place actually, literally, physically in front of our eyes, but it's kind of an

idealized understanding of, it's like sacrifice and redemption,

anthropomorphized.

I always wanted to say that word, that's a big word.

Anthropomorphized, put into sort of human language and human ideals.

They would have said that the idea of sacrifice is to be understood allegorically or just kind of as a

spiritual metaphor.

The idea of a reign was just really a picture of God's ultimate sovereign rulership over all of

creation.

And the deity references in the Messiah in the Old Testament, those were just indicators that Yahweh was the one who was

going to sort of bring together this messianic idea of redemption and salvation that none of that should

be taken literally or historically.

Second, some Jews viewed the coming Messiah as a military leader.

They were expecting someone to come and to gather together the forces to lead a revolt against Gentile

nations, to put down Gentile powers, to crush the nations with a rod of iron, to establish a Davidic

kingdom and to make Israel the center of the world, world commerce, world worship, world ruler and

reign.

They expected that he would crush the wicked rulers of the earth and those who rage and plot together.

We can kind of understand why they would have thought that.

Psalm 2, ask of me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron.

You shall shatter them like earthenware.

Psalm 110, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

The Lord will stretch forth your strong scepter from Zion saying, rule in the midst of your enemies.

We can understand why they would expect a military, victorious, conquering king who would establish a

kingdom.

Why would they have expected that?

Spoiler alert, it's because that's what the Old Testament promised.

Some Jews would have expected that when the Messiah would come, those roles of the Messiah that are predicted in the Old

Testament would actually be fulfilled by more than one person.

They thought that there would be one figure who would come and fulfill the messianic prophecies regarding

sacrifice.

Isaiah 53, he would die, he would be crushed for our iniquity.

Psalm 22, there would be one who would come and they would gamble for his garments and they would pierce

his hands and his feet and he would suffer in the stead of his people.

They expected that.

But then they had these prophecies regarding one who would also rule and reign over David's kingdom and David's throne,

so they thought this must be two different people.

One who dies as a sacrifice, cannot possibly come and also reign forever, so therefore there's going

to be one person to come and to offer the sacrifice and another Messiah figure who would come and rule and reign from David's throne

forever.

We can understand why they would think that, can't we?

Because these are both things that the Old Testament predicted and promised that the Messiah would do.

Now with all of that background and all of that commentary, as needless as you might think that it is, I want you to

look at Luke 1, beginning at verse 26.

We're gonna look at how Gabriel announces the fulfillment of these promises to Mary.

Luke 1, we're gonna read verses 26 through 38 and that entire passage is going to be our

text for this morning, so we will get through all of this before we are done.

Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin

engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David and the virgin's name was

Mary.

And coming in, he said to her, greetings favored one, the Lord is with you.

But she was very perplexed at this statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.

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 name him Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High and the Lord God will give him the

throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his

kingdom will have no end.

Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I am a virgin?

The angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

And for that reason, the Holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age and she who was called

barren is now in her sixth month for nothing will be impossible with God.

And Mary said, behold, the bond slave of the Lord may it be done to me according to your word and the angel departed from

her.

We're gonna notice three things here between about Gabriel's conversation with Mary.

First, his arrival, second, his announcement and then his answer to her question.

That's gonna be our outline for this morning.

Notice in Luke chapter one, verse 26 and 27 that Luke tells us that this thing

happened, this announcement happened in the sixth month.

The sixth month of what?

Not the sixth month of Mary's pregnancy because Gabriel speaking in terms of future what was about

to happen.

So it's not in the sixth month of her pregnancy nor is it in the sixth month of her engagement to Joseph.

It is in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, which is mentioned in verses 24 to 25, which we didn't get to, but look

at verse 24.

After these things, Elizabeth, his wife became pregnant and she kept herself in seclusion for five months saying, this is the way

the Lord has dealt with me in the days when he looked with favor upon me to take away my disgrace among men.

Elizabeth was a cousin of sorts, a relative, a kin to Mary and Gabriel had already given an

announcement to Elizabeth who was on up in age in years and she had been

barren up until that point and Gabriel said, look, you're going to have a son, you're going to be pregnant.

And you remember Zechariah was a priest serving in the temple at the time and Zechariah was struck dumb,

speechless because he questioned that and had doubt and the Lord sort of struck him.

And then after John, this is the prophecy of John the Baptist's birth.

And then after John was born, then Zechariah got his speech back.

So this is in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy.

And this angelic assignment had to be one that for Gabriel was a choice assignment.

Keep in mind that humanity had been waiting for this for 6 ,000 years.

And I don't know how it unfolded, I hope to find out someday, I would love to have a conversation with Gabriel and find out what was it

like that day when you were finally told, all right, this is it.

You've been waiting for four millennia, the time has come, you need to go visit this woman, she is a

virgin and give her this message.

And Gabriel's commissioned to do that.

He gave the message to Elizabeth and now he's commissioned to go to Mary.

And where does he go?

To Tarsus, the educational center of the world?

Nope.

Does he go to Antioch, the commercial metropolitan center of the world?

Nope.

Caesarea, the sort of seat of Roman rule and authority there in Israel?

Not there.

And certainly not to Jerusalem, which is where you might expect for the spirit of God to find a virgin and impregnate her

in Jerusalem.

Not in Jerusalem, but to Nazareth.

Nazareth.

Now last week, we talked about backwater Hick towns that were of no significance and Bethlehem was certainly one of

those.

Nazareth was on that list as well.

Nazareth was on the list of places you didn't put on lists because it was that insignificant.

And the angel Gabriel is sent to a woman who is not yet with child,

she is a virgin, she has been engaged, but has not been married and she is awaiting

that consummation of the marriage in the due time as things would progress over the course of many months.

She is engaged to a man named Joseph and living in a town called Nazareth, which was on

nobody's radar.

In fact, Nazareth was the butt of jokes.

It was what you said to joke about things.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Remember that was an actual saying.

They talked about something coming out of Nazareth.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Nobody would have expected that.

And yet this is where Mary lived.

She is not the, she's not a princess, she's not an heiress, she's not wealthy.

She's living in an indescript little town up in Galilee, far away from Jerusalem.

And she is a virgin, which is going to fulfill the prophecy in Isaiah chapter seven, verse 14.

Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign.

Behold, a virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name

Immanuel.

This is how the prophecy of the seed of the woman would be fulfilled.

Seed of the woman.

You remember that is an odd phrase to see anywhere.

And it described one who would come from the woman, but not be the direct product of the seed of

the man.

So the Lord Jesus is described as the seed of the woman, for he would be conceived in a unique way,

born of the woman without the involvement of any human male seed.

And yet because he is Mary's child, he would be physically a descendant of David.

Now this is significant.

He would be physically a descendant of David, but he would not be legally a descendant of David because he would not be

the offspring of the Davidic line through Joseph.

But he could be, he could take the throne of David because he was David's

legal descendant by adoption through Joseph, but not the physical descendant through Joseph.

He was the physical descendant of David through Mary.

So one of the gospel genealogies traces the lineage of Jesus through Mary to David to show

that Jesus is the physical descendant of David.

Therefore, he had the physical right to take the throne, but because he wasn't Joseph's son, but only in an adoptive sense,

he had no legal right to take the throne.

And so in this masterful way, the spirit of God and the providence of God orchestrated a way to

make Jesus Christ, not the physical descendant of David through Joseph,

legally he was, so he could take the throne, but making the physical descendant through Mary.

So he is then the seed of the woman who has the legal right to take David's throne.

And this is particularly interesting when you remember that in Joseph's lineage, there was a king who was

cursed with a promise that nobody would sit upon, from his line would sit upon the throne.

And you take that king who bore that curse, the promise from God that nobody would sit from his line upon that

throne.

And you trace that down, you get to Joseph and you say, now this is a conundrum.

No physical descendant of that king can sit on David's throne.

Joseph is the physical descendant of that king.

And so how does the Lord work that out?

By making him the physical descendant of Mary who did not descend from that king, but from another part of David's line, but make

him the legal descendant through Joseph.

So he has the legal right to take the throne from Joseph, the physical right to take the throne from Mary,

all the wisdom, the knowledge and the providence of God.

Tell me that that is not a perfect plan.

That is a perfect plan.

Notice the angel's greeting, verse 28.

Coming in, he said to her, "'Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you.'".

She was very perplexed at this statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.

The word favored one or the phrase favored one, there is a translation of a word that means one who is granted great

grace or favor.

The fact that Mary is perplexed at this greeting is an indication of just what kind of a woman she was, a pious woman, a

godly woman.

She refers to herself down in verse 38 as a bond slave or a slave of the Lord.

She says, "'The slave of the Lord may it be done to me according to your word.'.

And the angel departed from her," verse 38.

She calls God her savior later on in this chapter.

She calls God her savior and understands her own sin and unworthiness.

So Mary is a humble woman, a pious woman, one who understood that she and her plans and

her reputation were all to be laid on the line in service to Yahweh and his purposes.

And so she is perplexed that the angel would come in and regard her as one who is divinely favored.

He said, and her perplexity is somewhat understandable when you remember that she's living in

Nazareth, hardly a place of divine favor.

She's not sitting on a princess's throne somewhere in Jerusalem.

She's not eating lavish banquets in the palace of a king.

She's not enjoying any of those things.

She's not even well known at all, probably not known too far outside of Nazareth.

And yet the angel refers to her as a favored one.

She's engaged not to a king, not to a prince, not to nobility in any earthly sense, but she is

engaged to a carpenter, not a king, a carpenter.

And the only thing that she could expect from such humble circumstances is simply to live out her days as

any other Jewish woman in Nazareth engaged to a carpenter would have lived out her days, in a small

house attached to a wood shop of some sort where Joseph did his thing and she'd kept the house and the

animals and they worked together and lived and died and died in ignominy, unknown.

That's what she could have expected.

So to have an angel show up and to somebody in Nazareth and say, you're divinely favored would

have struck her as quite odd for certain.

She is the most unlikely of persons to bear the one who is the creator of time

itself.

She is the most unlikely of persons to have such a noble calling and

such a noble task.

And this is the way the Lord works in exalting the lowly.

Psalm 138, verse six, though the Lord is exalted, he regards the lowly.

He sees the proud from a long ways away.

In Isaiah 66, verse two, on this one, the Lord says, I will look to him who is humble and contrite of spirit and who trembles at

my word.

That's the type of person Mary was.

James 4, verse six, says God is opposed to the proud but he gives grace to the humble.

Everything about the incarnation of our Lord is a testimony to humility.

It is a testimony to service and to sacrifice and to humility.

Mary was a humble woman who was surprised to find out that she could have any part at all in the fulfillment

of God's promises.

And so she wonders what can all of this possibly mean?

And now we look at Gabriel's explanation or his announcement in verse 30 through 33.

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 name him Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father,

David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end.

Now here, we see all of the themes that we've been looking at for the last several weeks all come together.

They all come to fruition.

You have the one who is the seed of the woman.

She is a virgin.

She is virgin and so Jesus is going to be virgin born.

That's the theme of Genesis chapter three.

We have the theme here of his humanity.

She's going to bear a son.

You have the theme of his deity.

He's going to be called the Most High God.

And you have the theme of his reign and his rule, which we've looked at for the last two weeks in that he is going to be given the throne of his

father, David, and reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end.

So all of it now comes together in this one announcement.

But you need to notice three important things about this baby.

First, he would be a son, verse 31.

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall name him Jesus.

That language is intentional by the angel because it is the same language that is used in the Old Testament

prophecies regarding the coming Savior.

In other words, Gabriel is recalling to Mary the language that was used of the Old Testament

concerning the coming Messiah.

Isaiah chapter seven, verse 14.

Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign.

Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son.

And she will call his name Emmanuel.

See, the very language that Gabriel is using is calling back to Mary's mind the very promises of the Old Testament

that she was to fulfill, where a virgin would give birth to a son.

Isaiah nine, verse six.

A child will be born to us.

A son will be given to us.

And the government will rest on his shoulders and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father,

and Prince of Peace.

She would know the significance from the designation, you will bear a son.

She would know the significance of what the angel was announcing to her just from the language that Gabriel was using.

She would bear the one who is the son of David because she knew that she was a descendant of David and she would bear the one

who is called the son of the Most High God.

This describes, again, the humanity of the Lord Jesus.

He didn't descend in a comet.

He didn't come down from a chariot of fire from heaven.

Not like a Superman figure of some sort from outer space, but rather he was born into human history as

a normal child, normal in the sense of nothing about his appearance would strike you as odd.

Normal in the sense that he came into the world as every other person has come into the world who has come into the world,

born fully man into humanity in the normal way through a typical labor.

This is the humility of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was the creator of everything,

he stepped into this creation and he lived among us for 30 years.

The one who knew everything, had unlimited knowledge, veiled that knowledge,

veiled that ability to access that knowledge so that he might learn the law and learn the culture

and learn to speak and learn to do math and learn to walk.

Our Lord Jesus had to learn all of that.

Normal humanity, untouched by sin, but fully man.

How low was our Redeemer brought?

The Lord the world's obeyed would stumble as he learned to walk upon the ground he'd made.

The one the angels bowed before would kneel to wash our feet and be at home among the poor, though he owned everything.

That's what we sang just a few minutes ago.

He would be known as Joseph's son, the son of a carpenter, the one born to Mary, Jesus of Nazareth.

That's how he was referred to.

He would be a son.

Second, he would be a savior.

This is contained in his name, Jesus.

Verse 31, behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall name him Jesus.

The word Jesus is the Greek form of the word Joshua, which means God will save or God saves.

And this is, in fact, the promise that the angel made, whichever angel it was that announced this to Joseph in a

dream, when he had considered this, Joseph, Matthew 1, verse 20, when he had considered putting away Mary, behold, an

angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child who has been

conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son.

Notice the language from the Old Testament prophecies.

In that vision, again, and you shall name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

He will give birth to a savior.

Luke 2, verse 11, when the shepherds appear out in the fields on the night of the Lord's birth, they proclaim

to the shepherds, today in the city of David, there has been born for you a savior who is Christ the Lord.

There is salvation in no one else, for no one else has done what is necessary to redeem mankind.

I said it earlier, we needed a perfect man who could live a perfect life, the life that we were required

to live, but we have failed to live.

And then we needed one who is perfectly God, infinite in his righteousness, to live that life so that he

might credit that righteousness to you and I, who have no righteousness.

And then we needed one who is infinite in his person, in his ability to save, one who is God in human flesh,

who could represent us on the cross and pay the infinite price for our sin.

You wanna know why there is salvation in no one else?

Not Muhammad, not any other religious teacher who has ever lived.

It is because nobody else has done what is necessary to redeem man.

If 100 other men had done what was necessary to redeem mankind, there would be salvation in 100

other paths.

But there's only salvation in one path, in one name, in one person, because only one person lived a

perfect life and died a perfect death and rose again so that he might redeem people.

And so if you are to be saved, you must be saved and can only be saved through Christ and Christ alone.

You need righteousness.

There's only one person who can provide that.

Your sin needs to be atoned for.

There's only one person who is atoned for it.

And therefore salvation for mankind is as narrow as the person through whom individual,

it was brought about, it was provided.

And that is in Christ and Christ alone.

He is uniquely qualified to save and thus he is the object of saving faith.

And we are commanded to repent and to turn from our sin and to place our faith in that one, the Lord Jesus

Christ, if we are to have salvation.

And reject him and you will perish in your own sin everlastingly.

He is the one who will bear the sin of his people.

He is the one who stood in our place.

He is the one who would redeem us from the serpent's dominion and his power.

And he is the one who has crushed the serpent's head.

He is the one who has fulfilled all of those prophecies concerning his coming.

Isaiah 53, as a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied.

By his knowledge, my righteous one, my servant will justify the many as he will bear their iniquities.

Therefore, I will allot him a portion with the great and he will divide the booty with the strong.

And listen to these words spoken, written 700 years before Jesus was born, because he poured out

himself to death.

He was numbered with the transgressors, yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors.

He'd be a savior, not only a son, but a savior.

And not just a savior, but also a sovereign.

Look at verse 32, he will be great and will be called the son of the most high.

And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end.

He will be great.

Alexander thought he was great.

You know why?

Because he was called Alexander the Great.

But as it turns out, Alexander the Great wasn't that great.

He certainly wasn't as great as Jesus the Great.

He will be great.

Julius Caesar, Nero, the pharaohs, Nebuchadnezzar, Artaxerxes, these are the men

upon whom we think, the world thinks, that history turns.

These are the men who ruled the nation.

Well, we serve one who will rule all the nations.

We serve one whose birth dates every event that came before it and every event that has come after it.

We serve one who reigns supreme in heaven right now, sits at the father's right hand.

And if anybody is great, it is Jesus the Great, not Caesar, not Artaxerxes,

not Nebuchadnezzar, certainly not Alexander.

The seed of the woman would be the one who would be attacked and hated by the serpent and he has been, Jesus, has

been hated by more people and loved by more people than any other figure of human history.

You know why?

Because he is the great.

He will be great and he'll be called the son of the most high.

Look at verse 32.

Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end.

We keep coming back to this idea of king and throne and kingship and rule and reign, et cetera.

Why is it that we come back to that?

Because salvation is tied up in this king.

Salvation is tied up in his rule and in his reign and him fulfilling the promises that God made

to David.

Notice the details of this sovereign's reign.

He will be given the throne of his father David.

That is, Jesus, again, is a physical descendant of David through Mary, legal descendant of David through Joseph.

And so this one, Jesus, will take the throne of his father David.

As David's descendant, he would fulfill the promises that were made to David.

Now, here's what's perplexing about the words of the angel.

It would have been perplexing enough to hear that his government, the government of David's kingdom would rest upon his shoulders.

In Isaiah 7 and 9, that would have been perplexing enough given that in Isaiah's day,

the Davidic monarchy had been non -existent for a couple hundred years.

But in, sorry, in Isaiah's day, the Davidic monarchy was coming to an end and they were prophesying the

extinction of that monarchy through the Babylonian destruction.

But in Mary's day, the Davidic monarchy had been non -existent for hundreds of years.

They had been, there was no throne in Jerusalem.

David's throne was not there.

David's kingdom didn't exist.

And so Mary hears that this one who was to be born of her would take the throne of his father David and reign over the

house of Jacob forever.

And that his kingdom would have no end.

That's perplexing.

By the way, this would have been a perfect place for the angel to inform Mary if there had been a change of eschatological plans.

It would have been right here.

This would have been the perfect place.

And I don't mean to pick on my all millennial and post -millennial friends, but this would have been the perfect place for the angel to say, hold on a second.

The whole thing we talked about, you know, hundreds of years ago, David, his kingdom, his throne, his government, et

cetera.

We're revamping that.

I know it was confusing when God said it'll be David's throne.

What he meant was the throne of heaven.

When he said David's kingdom, what he meant was a spiritual kingdom.

I know it's very confusing, but this is the opportunity to clarify.

We're not talking about a physical kingdom.

We're not talking about literal fulfillment of these promises.

No, no, we're talking about spiritual realities, talking about heavenly realities, metaphorical, allegorical, we need to allegorize these things.

This would have been the perfect opportunity for the angel to clarify that.

The angel doesn't.

He uses the very same language from the Old Testament.

Why?

Because the plan had not changed.

The plan was still the same.

The plan is still the same.

Just as David understood these promises, so Mary would understand these promises, and so it is that you and I are to understand

these promises.

I'll get off the all millennial, post -millennial thing here in just a second, but give me one more swing at the ball while it's up on the tee, okay?

All millennialists and post -millennialists, I love my brethren who hold that theology, but they make the very same mistake

that the early first century Jews did, but in reverse order.

See, the first century Jews took the promises concerning the second coming of Christ, and they said those must be

understood literally, for these things will literally happen.

And then you would ask them, what about the promises regarding the sacrifice?

What about the promises regarding suffering and dying?

Those need to be spiritual.

Those are spiritual realities, spiritual ideas.

Post -millennialists and non -millennials do the exact opposite.

They say regarding the promises with Christ's first coming, we need to take those literally because they were fulfilled literally, but

the ones regarding his second coming need to be understood spiritually or as heavenly realities.

It's the same hermeneutical, exegetical error made on two sides of the coin.

All of that was just on the side, where we were at.

Yes, Isaiah 9, verse 7.

Says, there will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom.

So notice what the angel says.

On the throne of David, he will reign over the house of Jacob.

There was no throne of David in Mary's day, but it would come through this line.

Jesus would come from David's line, and he would be the ruler who would come out of Bethlehem, Ephrathah.

Now, Mary understood exactly what Gabriel was promising.

Gabriel does not revise the promises, reinterpret their promises, renege upon the promises.

He doesn't suggest some unforeseen way that these things would be fulfilled in a spiritual sense.

He quotes right from the Old Testament the exact same promises using the exact same language because he wanted to communicate something.

That hope, what David believed, is going to take place through this child.

Mary had no way of understanding how that could possibly happen, and I will tell you how it will happen.

It will happen because he will not come and assume a throne that is already there.

He will establish that kingdom.

He will establish it.

He will be the first one to sit upon it, and because he is the king promised from David's line, it will be David's

throne, it will be David's kingdom in the city of David, and he will be known as David's king who rules

the throne of David in the city of David over the kingdom of David and the whole house of Jacob.

He's going to set it up.

He's not gonna just kind of assume the throne because somebody died ahead of him, and so he just kind of gets inaugurated.

Instead, he is going to establish that very kingdom and throne that was promised as

the descendant of David.

He will set it up.

He will establish it.

Mary would give birth to a king, and he is the long -awaited -for son from David's line.

He is the promised savior from the garden.

He is the redeemer.

He will save his people from their sins.

That's first coming, and he will establish David's throne and his kingdom and rule and reign over the house of Jacob forever

at his second coming.

Now look third at Gabriel's answer to Mary's question in chapter one, verse 34.

This raises some questions, as you might expect.

There's no throne.

There's no kingdom.

So Mary says to him in verse 34 to the angel, how can this be since I am a virgin?

Now, she's not wondering if it will be.

She's wondering how this could be.

She's not doubting.

She's not saying to the angel, I just don't believe anything you're saying to me.

She's just wanting clarification on one little particular detail.

Out of everything that he said, she wants clarification on this one detail.

How can this be since I am a virgin?

Now, Mary understands biology, so she understands how conception normally works and what precedes that and

how all of that functions.

Further, Mary apparently understood that this was going to be something that took place on her, in her,

before she is married to Joseph.

Even though Gabriel doesn't say that, the question that she raises obviously indicates she understood that this

was going to happen soon, that she understands that Gabriel's not telling her something that's going to happen 15, 20 years

from now, like your sixth child is going to be the one who will take David's throne or anything like that.

Mary understands that this is all going to take place before she comes together with Joseph, before she is married and the

engagement comes to fruition.

Gabriel has communicated some amazing things.

Your child will be called the son of the most high God.

He'll be called God.

That's pretty amazing.

She has been told that he will be great, that he will establish David's throne, which did not exist and was not

ruling Israel at the time,.

That he would rule forever,.

Something that seems inconceivable for a man born of a woman to do.

She is told that the government will rest upon his shoulders and that he will establish a kingdom which will have no end.

And what does she want clarification on?

Does she want clarification on how it is that David's throne would come back into existence when the monarchy had been nonexistent

for several hundred years?

Do you want clarification on that?

No.

Does she ask for clarification on how he can rule forever?

How can a man live forever?

That wouldn't make any sense.

She doesn't ask for clarification on that.

She doesn't wonder about how he's going to establish the kingdom when Rome currently ruled Israel and Jerusalem.

She doesn't wonder how it is that he will be called the son of God.

I mean, wouldn't that be blasphemy for them to call him the son of the most high God?

That doesn't raise her curiosity at all.

What does she ask?

How can this be since I am a virgin?

And again, I say to you, she understood everything about the promises and what the angel was saying, except for

that detail.

And notice Gabriel's answer.

Verse 35, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you.

And for that reason, the Holy child should be called the son of God.

The Holy Spirit would create the fertilization inside of Mary's womb, taking the egg

furnished by her normal, natural bodily processes.

And the Holy Spirit would create in that egg and upon that egg, some sort of a miraculous

conception.

Now, what I picture in my mind happening is that there is within the egg, the

DNA chromosomes, and it needs the other matching set of chromosomes provided to the other

complimentary, which they set of chromosomes provided by the male in order for that to match up and to create that helix.

So what I imagine happening is not the production inside of Mary of unfallen human seed, but what

I picture happening here, the Spirit, the word does not tell us, is that there is an instant

creation inside of Mary's womb of the corresponding match to every single one

of those DNA helix ends.

In order that what is created by her in the womb, by the Holy and created in her by the Holy Spirit

is both fully man, because it is the genetic material of Mary.

It is also the human genetic material unfallen, created out of thin air

by the Holy Spirit at the moment of conception.

It was a divine act of creation by the Holy Spirit, just as the Holy Spirit hovered over the

waters of creation and was an active agent in the creation of all things.

So the Spirit of God would come upon Mary and actively create in her, in that egg, what was

necessary to fertilize it with the one who would be both God and man.

Now, if you are sitting here today and you are thinking, because you are new here, and I know I see a lot of new faces, and you're

thinking this sounds crazy that this could happen.

Let me say something to you.

If Genesis 1 .1 is true, this is not crazy.

If God created everything, said, let there be light.

If in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, this is the most rational and

reasonable and true thing you've ever read.

Only if evolution and atheistic nonsense is true does this sound fantastical.

If God can create everything out of thin air, I'm just, not even out of thin air, sorry, out of nothing.

Thin air is something, right?

We're breathing it, it's something.

If God can create everything out of nothing, simply ex nihilo, by the word of his power,

if he can do that, he can fertilize an egg apart from human seed.

That's not just possible, it's logical, it's rational, it's necessary, it's

historical, and it happened.

Luke 1 .36, the angel gives Mary a proof or an evidence that what he is saying is true, what he's

saying is real.

He already did something that is beyond the natural in the womb of Elizabeth.

Then behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age.

John the Baptist was not virgin conceived.

This is normal process, but she was barren and she is in her old age, so that makes this something of a work of

God to do that already in Elizabeth's womb.

Verse 37, for nothing will be impossible with God.

That's it.

Genesis 1 .1, Luke 1 .37, those are your two evidences that this happened.

God created the heavens and the earth, and with him nothing is impossible.

Now all of the events of human history, all of them, that transpired prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ

in the womb of Mary, every event prepared the world for the arrival of this king.

The rise of every republic, the destruction of every dynasty, the coronation of every king, the march

of every military, all of it set the stage in this world for he who was the

God from eternity to come into human flesh and to be born out of the womb of a

virgin.

Everything that has happened in human history has set the stage that in the fullness of time, God would send forth his son

born of a woman so that he could redeem us who are under the law.

And since Christ has come and died and been buried and raised again to

everlasting life, and since he has ascended to the right hand of the Father where he waits until his enemies will be made a

footstool for his feet, and he will return again, this time not to make atonement, but this time to wage war

against his enemies and the enemies of the truth and to establish his kingdom.

He's coming the second time, not Jesus meek and mild in the manger, he's coming the second time with a

sword on his hip and his word from his mouth in a robe dipped in blood and he is going to wage war and

he is going to do everything that the Old Testament promised that he would do when he returns.

And listen believer, everything that is transpiring in this world right now, the rise of every republic,

the destruction of every dynasty, the coronation of every king and the march of every military is setting the stage in

this world for the arrival of that king and the return of that king.

And so we wait patiently, abiding until he comes.

We obey this king, we worship this king, he is the object of our faith, our trust, he is the

sole focus of our obedience, for this is a king who died for his subjects.

Most kings require their subjects to die for them, this king dies for his subjects.

Most kings rule and reign and live off of the backs of their subjects, this king gives life to

his subjects.

This king is Christ the Lord, Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord,

late in time behold him come, offspring of the virgin's womb, veiled in flesh the

Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity, pleased as man with men to dwell,

Jesus our Emmanuel.

Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king.

Let's bow our heads.

Our father we bow our heads and our hearts in awe and worship and wonder.

That's so great a savior, Jesus, the one who is great, the son of David, the son of the most high

God, who has every right to take the throne and to reign and rule the one who has fulfilled

everything promised concerning his first coming will come again and fulfill every promise concerning his second coming,

to take the throne of David, to establish it and to rule in justice and righteousness over the house of

Jacob forever.

There will be no end to his kingdom, to the increase of his government or to peace.

And we long for that.

And the literal fulfillment of your promises concerning his first coming,

encourage our hearts to wait even more for him to return.

May that blessed hope turn within our lifetime.

May we see him whom we long to see soon.

And may you be glorified through our steadfast faithfulness and obedience and trust in this king.

We glorify you, we thank you father for the precious gift of your son and the incarnation which has

secured our salvation everlastingly.

It is in Christ's name and for his glory that we pray.

Amen.