We are going to continue this morning in our new series in the Gospel of Luke called Kingdom Comes. You can turn with me to the Gospel of Luke. If you've got your own Bible, I encourage you to follow along. If not, we'll have the text up behind us. We are still in chapter 1. If you have a Bible but you're not real familiar with where Luke is, look about probably 3/4 of the way through. Once you hit the Gospels— Matthew, Mark, then Luke— if you get to John or Romans, you've gone a little bit too far. That's where we're at. We're gonna start in verse 26.
Before we do that though, let's bow our heads and pray together. Lord, it is our heart's cry that your kingdom would come. Lord, we rejoice in the knowledge that your kingdom has already arrived in your Son. Lord, we want your kingdom to hold sway in our hearts. As we await the return of Jesus. And so now, as we look to your word, we pray through the power of your spirit that you would do that. Bring our hearts into submission, into joyful rest in the knowledge and power of your kingdom. For the glory of Jesus. Amen.
Well, have you ever received unexpected news? Maybe it's a phone call. Maybe it's a letter out of the mail. It's a summons to court. Maybe it's jury duty. What about news that's unexpected and totally life-changing? It's a diagnosis of cancer. And suddenly time just stands still, right? Maybe it's a call into your boss's office and it's the announcement that they're downsizing and you will be part of the first cuts. All of a sudden, your future looks completely different than it did that morning or even minutes before.
I experienced something like that. Hannah and I experienced something like that several years ago. We had gone, many of you know a little bit of the story, across country to the pastor's college to continue my education. We had finished up seminary. We were doing one more year of pastoral training. With the thought that we were going to return back home to Minnesota and then I would spend my ministry in Minnesota and I had a phone call set up with Rick Gamache, our friend from the Twin Cities. We were going to talk about plans. I thought the phone call was to talk about my salary, what I was going to be doing, what my roles and responsibilities would be and about 5 minutes into the phone call I could just tell by the tone of his voice, 'Something isn't right here.' And then he dropped the bomb on us. The economy had imploded. There wasn't a permanent position for me in Minnesota anymore. It was completely unexpected news. It was news that floored us in the moment. I sensed grace from God and I was able to walk through it with Rick and he was thankful for that, but then I had to go and tell Hannah. I had to relay the unexpected, what seemed at the time unbearable news. News. It was hard. We had our future plotted out in front of us. We knew what we were going to do. We had been on Realtor.com and Zillow. We've been figuring out where we're going to buy a house for the first time. And just like that, our future had changed. One unexpected announcement. Everything seemed uncertain.
Well, that's what we see in this morning's text. Those kind of life-rocking announcements don't just happen to us, they happen to people in the Bible.
They happen in Luke 1:26. Look with me now. Hear God's holy and authoritative word. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, 'Greetings, O favored one! The Lord is with you.' But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And 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 call his name Jesus.' And he will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, how will this be since I am a virgin? And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son. This is the 6th month with her who was called barren, for nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. And departed from her. The Word of the Lord. May He write its truth upon our hearts.
6 · The pastor identifies the passage's traditional name (the Annunciation) and introduces Luke's comparative structure: Gabriel appears to Zechariah (an established priest) and now to Mary (a nobody adolescent), signaling that Luke is highlighting contrasts
Well, today's passage is a well-known one. It's one of those passages that's so well known it even has its own tagline. It's called the Annunciation, right? That's what that passage is known as. The official announcement of the incarnation of the Son of God, the Word now being made flesh to be called Jesus. Now we'll see in several places this morning, Luke in chapter 1 and 2 is intentionally drawing comparisons. Comparisons specifically between the birth narratives and the birth announcements of John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah. We see the first difference is just in the announcement that the angel Gabriel, instead of coming to an established member of the Jewish society, a priest like Zechariah like He did last week. Now, He comes to an adolescent, Mary.
7 · The pastor contrasts Zechariah's doubt with Mary's, noting that both experience doubt but respond differently: Mary is troubled by the greeting itself and asks 'how' this can happen, revealing faith seeking understanding rather than unbelief demanding proof
We looked last week at the fact that upon the angel's announcement, Zechariah has this massive battle with doubt, doesn't he? And we said by way of preview, we're going to see doubt from Mary as well, but she deals with it in a fundamentally different way. And so the comparison continues. They both doubt, but they do it in profoundly unique ways, in completely separate ways. Look at verse 29. 'But she, Mary, was greatly troubled at the saying,' at the angel's announcement. 'And she tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.' Isn't that interesting? Like an angel appears before her and she's trying to figure out, 'Why is he greeting me like this?' Not, 'There's an angel here.' 'Why are you calling me highly favored one?' Mary goes on to say, 'How can this be after he says you're going to conceive and you're going to have the Messiah? I'm a virgin.'
8 · The pastor argues that the stark contrast between Zechariah and Mary is that Zechariah — who had prayed for a son and should be overjoyed — demands proof and disbelieves, while Mary — who has every reason to be terrified — simply accepts the word and seeks understanding
When you compare Mary and Zechariah, it's an amazingly stark contrast, isn't it? Zechariah, we read earlier in chapter 1, and his wife Elizabeth, they've longed They've prayed their entire life for a son. We talked last week about the difficulty, the long-suffering nature of infertility. Gabriel comes to Zechariah and the announcement is, 'Your prayer that you've been praying for all these years that's even lapsed now into improbability.' Maybe they've even stopped praying it because she's so old, she's past those years. That prayer, Gabriel says, it's now going to be answered. It should be the zenith of joy in Zechariah's life. For Mary, the prospect of the angel's announcement would have been totally different. It would have been terrifying. She's barely a teenager. If you look back at the time this is taking place, a Jewish girl in this day and age usually on average would have been betrothed, so given away and committed to marriage, betrothed at the age of 12 or 13. We don't know exactly Mary's age, but we can guess she's probably somewhere in that 12 to 13, maybe 14 age range. It's incredibly young. Here the angel comes with this announcement and all of a sudden all the fears of childbirth are thrust in front of Mary. All the fears of being a young, unwed mother. As soon as Gabriel speaks, those fears rear their head. I want to talk about the fear of man. You think Mary's worried about people's opinions in this moment? What are they going to say? What's going to be the reaction of our neighbors? What's going to be the reaction of my parents? What's going to be the reaction of Joseph? Of the two, Mary is the one that we should expect to push back against the announcement. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. I'm not ready. Can you say that again? Can you speak very clearly, very slowly, enunciate, and then do it all over again and explain why this is happening to me? I didn't pray for this. You would expect Mary to be the one to push back, to chafe at the announcement itself, right? But when we compare the two of them, it's Zechariah who disbelieves the angel's words. It's Zechariah who demands the angel's identity. We're told the angel's Gabriel. He doesn't tell Mary that, and Mary never asks. She just takes it at face value. It's an angel. God sent me a message. Zechariah the priest says, 'Who are you? Let me see your business card.' He's the one that calls for proof. And he's the one that responds specifically saying, 'How can this be?' 'this be so? My wife is old, she's barren. How is this possible?'
9 · The pastor defines the nature of Mary's doubt as 'faith seeking understanding' — a forward press toward belief rather than a retreat into unbelief — captured in the shift from 'How can this be?' to 'How will this be?'
Mary responds to the announcement with faith seeking understanding. She has her doubts. There are things that are hard to swallow in the announcement, but she immediately believes and is seeking to understand. She presses her doubts forward towards belief. So instead of saying, 'How can this be so?' What does Mary say? 'How will this be so?' I'm beginning to see. Help me see more clearly. It's a profound difference.
10 · The pastor argues that Luke emphasizes Mary's virginity twice to signal that this is not merely a miracle (like the many Old Testament barren-womb openings Zechariah would know) but an unprecedented, physically impossible event outside the created order
Zechariah is the priest. He's the religious leader. And he's been promised his barren wife's womb is going to be opened. Now that, that's a miracle. Postmenopausal women don't have babies. It's a miracle, but it's not unprecedented, is it? If we look back over the biblical storyline, there have been many women who God has stepped into their lives, women who shouldn't be able to have children, who've never been able to have children, and He's brought them a child as an answer to prayer, as an answer to His promises. Zechariah would know these stories. Elizabeth isn't the first sterile woman that God has made pregnant, but Luke contrasts it with Mary. You notice how he introduces her? He doesn't say her name at first. What's the first two ways he refers to her? She's a virgin. She's a virgin. He's underscoring the fact that that she has never been intimate with a man. This isn't just a miracle, Luke is saying. It's not just a miracle. This is something unprecedented. This isn't like Elizabeth. It's not like Sarah, Abraham's wife. No, this is a totally new thing. This is a physical impossibility.
11 · The pastor contrasts Zechariah's incredulity at a precedented miracle with Mary's faith in an unprecedented one, underscoring the irony: the priest doubts what God has done before; the nobody teenager believes what God has never done
Women pray for God to battle infertility all the time, but There's a normal created way that it still comes about, right? This is outside the bounds of the normal created way that women get pregnant. And it's not just her virginity, it's her total lack of status. She's a nobody teenager from a nowhere town in a backwater area. But where Zechariah is incredulous that God can do even what he's done before, Mary fights her doubts with faith. She believes that God can accomplish even something this astounding.
12 · The pastor applies the Zechariah-Mary contrast to the congregation, calling them to recognize that doubt is universal but that there are two ways to doubt: disbelieving doubt (Zechariah) and believing doubt (Mary), with the latter presenting an opportunity for faith to emerge stronger
Everyone faces times of doubt, don't they? If we're honest with ourselves, every single person in this room has faced times where unbelief has been pressing in on them and faith is hard or faith is uncertain. Maybe you're in the midst of something like that right now at this moment. Your faith feels weak. It feels feeble. Maybe it's faltered. The picture we get from Luke about Mary is Luke instructing us, 'This is how you doubt well.' The command isn't, 'Never doubt.' God knows our frame too well for that. What Luke shows us is that there's an opportunity every time doubt rears its head. Zechariah doubts poorly and he doubts proudly, but Mary's reaction is inherently humble. Both are doubters. The disbelieving doubter and the believing doubter will experience the opportunity every battle with uncertainty presents. Every time you battle uncertainty, there's a similar theme. There's an opportunity within it, an opportunity for your faith to come out on the other side purer and stronger and deeper.
13 · The pastor steps outside the expositional flow to address the congregation's pastoral posture toward doubters, urging them not to weaponize Mary's example but to extend mercy, noting that even Zechariah eventually sings God's praises
And here's the mercy of God. It's not just Mary's faith that's going to go through that. We're going to see Mary's song next week. But a few weeks after that, we're going to see that Zechariah also gets to sing praises to the Lord. That's God's mercy. It's a mercy He extends to us too. The last thing I want is for us to look at Mary and Zechariah's example and then to walk out of here insensitive to those who are in a bout of doubt push them towards Mary in a harsh way. I can't fathom why you're struggling with unbelief right now.
14 · The pastor applies Jude 22 to the congregation's communal life, calling them to be merciful with doubters while also pressing one another toward faith that seeks understanding
Sweet little verse in a short little letter. Jude 22: Brothers, be merciful with those who doubt. Be merciful with those who doubt. Let's be merciful with each other. Let's be understanding with each other. With that brother or sister who you're having the umpteenth conversation about their struggle with this particular issue and their difficulty in believing and hoping in it. Well, let's not fail to see the example and to press each other and to press ourselves towards faith that seeks understanding. Even in the midst of uncertainty.
15 · The pastor pivots from the theme of doubt to the theme of Jesus' greatness, warning that the series' focus on the kingdom must never eclipse the King Himself, who is the central figure of Luke's Gospel
The other thing Luke highlights for us right away in chapter 1 is the greatness of Jesus. Now, the title of our series is Kingdom Come, right? I obviously stole that from the Lord's Prayer. Not an original phrase, which is okay. It's okay to steal inspired phrases, right? So our series is called Kingdom Come. It's a theme in Luke's Gospel. It's something I want us to see. I want us to consider together. It's about this arrival of the Kingdom and how the arrival of the Kingdom, the onset of the Kingdom of God, sets up new parameters and a new dynamic for God's people. That's the claim of Luke's Gospel upon us. There are new ethics we're going to see. There's a new way of living. Jesus flips all sorts of cultural conventions on their head as He describes the Kingdom to people. I want us to pay attention to all of those dynamics, the new dynamics of discipleship that Luke's Gospel presents to us. What does the coming of the kingdom look like and what does it mean for us? But here's what I don't want. I don't want us to become so focused on the nature of the kingdom that we lose sight of the King. 'Cause that's possible. It's a subtle little shift, isn't it? But it's a dangerous shift. And Luke doesn't want that either.
16 · The pastor conducts a detailed comparison between the announcements of John's and Jesus' births, highlighting stark contrasts in location (temple vs
Look at verse 32. And he, Jesus, this child you're gonna have, Mary, he will be great. He will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. It's a really stunning phrase that seems really ordinary because we've read it so many times. But to Mary, it's mind-blowing. She's still trying to get over the fact that she's a virgin and she's about to have a baby. And now Gabriel is going on to say, you're not just going to have any baby. You're going to have this baby, the long-awaited baby. The comparisons between John and Jesus are continuing. If you study it and you look at it, there's all these things that Luke is doing here. But he's not trying to highlight the similarities. And there's plenty of similarities, right? I mean, shoot, they're cousins. Miraculous ways in which their mothers are getting pregnant. That's not Luke's point. Luke's point is, don't look at the similarities, look at the differences. John's birth gets announced to a priest with a lineage. Like Zechariah has like a title and there's all this stuff we learn about him. A priest in the order of Abiathar. You know, it's like, wow, big deal. He's known in the community. Where does the announcement come? Right? It happens in Jerusalem, in the holy city, and not just in the temple, but in the inner sanctuary of the temple. You couldn't pick a bigger place for the announcement of John coming on the scene. Jesus' birth gets announced in the sticks. The next-door neighbors don't have all their teeth. That's the place where this announcement happens. It happens to an unmarried girl who, by definition of being young and unmarried and from Nazareth, has zero status in this society. She's the definition of a nobody. John's parents prayed for his birth. For years, they've hoped for this and desired it. Jesus' birth springs on Mary completely unawares and completely unwanted. It's totally by divine initiative. There's a response. Zechariah and Elizabeth asking God for a baby. Here, Mary, it's God completely bursting on the scene and something totally unexpected. We get the description of John. John is going to be great before the Lord. In the presence of the Lord, John will be considered great. But there's that qualifier. He's going to be great before the Lord. It even goes on later in Luke to say he's going to be the greatest ever born of a woman. Jesus. Gabriel says, will be great without qualification. He will be great. He will be the Son of the Most High. John's mission is going to be temporary. He's going to proclaim and declare the way of the Lord. He's preparing the way for another. Jesus is totally different. He is the long-awaited Messiah. John is the new Elijah. Elijah, like the prototypical prophet of the Old Testament. But Jesus, Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the one who all the prophets, Elijah on down, pointed towards and anticipated. John, it says, is going to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke makes the point, Jesus isn't just going to be filled with the Holy Spirit, He's conceived by the Holy Spirit. And then he goes on to say He's going to be conceived by the Holy Spirit and then you're actually going to call Him holy. John gets filled. Jesus is on par with. John will turn the hearts of many in Israel back to their God. The point of the comparison here and the contrast It isn't to downplay what John is going to do. He's going to turn the hearts of the people back to their God. People who haven't prayed in years, people who haven't considered God, who are so entrenched in their sin they don't even know the way back. In his ministry, John is going to take their hearts and bring about repentance. And they're gonna return to the Lord. But Jesus is greater. Jesus is the very Son of God, the one those hearts will be turned towards. He's the Messianic King who will sit on David's throne, and his ministry and kingdom will know no end.
17 · The pastor articulates the central hermeneutical claim of the series: Luke's Gospel, like all Scripture, exists to display the unfolding of God's redemptive purposes centered in Jesus Christ, and every part of Luke must be read Christotelically — everything points back to the greatness and supremacy of Jesus
Whatever we do in Luke, we can't lose sight that Luke wants us to see the kingdom. He wants us to see the nature of the kingdom. He wants us to react to it. There's a call upon us. But over all of that, he wants us to see Jesus, to see the greatness of Jesus. Luke's Gospel, like all of Scripture, has one central theme: the unfolding of God's Redemptive purposes. And that one theme has one central figure, Jesus Christ, and it has one essential goal, that Christ would be seen as supreme and seated at the right hand of God the Father as He redeems all the universe. Again and again as we walk through Luke's Gospel, we're going to return to that. No matter where we look, everywhere we turn, every healing we witness, every parable we hear, We're supposed to see and relate it back to Jesus. The Messiah has arrived. He's gonna confound our expectations. He's gonna shatter assumptions. He's gonna confute categories. And he's going to utterly exceed all our expectations.
18 · The pastor shifts from Jesus' greatness to the sovereign power of God that orchestrated the entire plan, signaling a move toward Gabriel's final word to Mary
Luke highlights the greatness of Jesus, and he also highlights the sovereign power of God in setting all of this in motion. We see this answer.
19 · The pastor unpacks Gabriel's final word to Mary — 'nothing will be impossible with God' — by vividly picturing Mary as a 12-year-old trying to process an announcement that adults couldn't comprehend, underscoring that this word of divine omnipotence is meant to be her lifeline through 33 years of unexpected, uncharted circumstances
Look at Gabriel's final words to Mary. He said all this crazy stuff to her, right? So she's got this announcement that's just blown her mind. And it's just this pregnant final sentence. I'm turning your world upside down, Mary. Nothing is going to be the same. You're not even sure what to do as you walk out of this room. But hear this final word. Nothing will be impossible with God. Don't ever tell someone Don't ever let someone tell you that a high view of God's sovereignty, a high view of God's power, isn't inherently practical. There's a reason why that's the last thing Gabriel says to Mary. It's meant to be this substantial word of comfort to her. When we think of Mary, how do you think of her? I tend to think of Mary kind of one of two ways. I think of Mary either as the soon-to-be, about-to-be mother of Jesus. She's 9 months pregnant. She's just gotten off the donkey. She's just stepped into the stable, right? Or maybe she's just had him, so she hasn't been on the donkey for a while now. She's wrapped him in swaddling clothes and she's a brand new mother. That's one picture of Mary that I have. Or I have the picture of Mary later on. She's no longer the scared 13-year-old or 14-year-old girl. She's an adult. She's the adult mother of Jesus. And I'm picturing Mary now in the midst of His ministry or maybe Mary as she's watching the crucifixion. It's this adult woman. Those are the pictures I have of Mary. One where she's had 9 months to digest the incredible thing that's happening in her body. And another where she's now 33 years into the ministry of this Man. But this is a 12-year-old Mary. I mean, think of the 12-year-olds you know. There's lots of things we don't let 12-year-olds do because of the level of their maturity. She's 12 and she's just been told, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.' Adults don't even know what that means. What? There isn't a chapter in What to Expect When You're Expecting about what that is like. I don't think Nazareth has a Barnes Noble, but I'm positive they don't have a book that says, What to Expect When You Aren't Expecting But God Makes You Pregnant Anyway, subtitle: And How to Tell Your Family and Fiancé the News. That book doesn't exist. Mary gets this news And it's just total, 'Oh my goodness! I don't even know what you're saying to me! What is that greeting? What'd you call me?' Like she can't even process it properly. In the back of Mary's mind, she's just trying to figure out, 'Holy Spirit's going to come upon me? Like, is there going to be a buzzing feeling?' And Gabriel doesn't give her the whole picture, does he? We've read the rest of the Gospel. We've got an idea. Mary hasn't read the rest of the Gospel. Over the next weeks, we're going to watch Mary, and there's going to be this constant refrain. She's awestruck with wonder. She's constantly pondering. Luke says she's storing things up in her heart. Because then everything that happens is just details that she didn't know about. Things she didn't expect. Shepherds? Oh, okay. Magi? Oh, okay. With gifts? Oh, great. Wait a second, we have to fly to Egypt now? Didn't you release your people from Egypt? Incredible things happening to her. Gabriel's not going to be right next to her side the whole way through. She doesn't have this this built-in angelic commentator explaining to her the countless incredible things she's going to encounter over the next 33 years. But she does receive two massively substantial assurances. Nothing is impossible with God. And you, Mary, have found favor with Him.
20 · The pastor asserts that God's sovereign power is not merely a theological abstraction but the only handhold Mary has, and that handhold is secure because God Himself is gripping back, having already planned for every contingency
The reality that God is in total control over this entire situation is really all that Mary has to cling to. But what a tremendously sure handhold it is. This is the only thing she has to handhold onto, but that grip, it's grasping back. It's God's way of saying, 'Mary, I know I just rocked your world, but don't worry, there is nothing I can't do. There's no problem I can't handle. There's no contingency I haven't thought of and planned for.' God's sovereign power is the surest footing Mary's faith or your faith could ever be built upon.
21 · The pastor returns to his earlier personal story of losing the expected job, adding the detail that a prophetic word had forewarned them but they had dismissed it, and that realizing God had known and planned the upheaval all along transformed his theoretical belief in God's sovereignty into a practical, faith-building reality
When we heard that news, we got the phone call, and we're not talking salary and responsibilities, we're talking, 'I don't have a job for you. We sent you across the country and now you get to come home and be unemployed.' It rocked us. It wasn't until later that week that I remembered a month prior we had received a prophetic word from someone. And they had said, 'You're gonna find out news. It's gonna be upsetting and it's gonna be a curveball. You're not gonna go back to the place you were expecting to.' It went on and on and on. At the time, Hannah and I were like, 'What in the world is that? That doesn't fit.' Look at our plan. We have it planned out. It's right here. Like, in a month we graduate, we're looking at houses, and then we go back and then we settle in. So we just kind of discarded it. It's a subjective prophetic word. This isn't Old Testament prophecy, right? And then a week later, we remembered and we went back to the notes somebody had taken for us and we read it and it was just this tender moment of realizing God knew. He had known and he had planned it. And there was this, this holy faith-building moment of realizing the only thing that changed from 5 minutes prior to the phone call to 5 minutes after was that God let us in on the plan. Nothing about our future had changed. Nothing had shifted. God was sovereign. Now I had believed theoretically. I would have nodded along and underlined and highlighted in the textbook of my seminary class, 'God is sovereign.' Yep, I'm there. But that went from theoretical to here and now, practical and real. In a moment. God is sovereign. And that truth made all the difference in the world. Just like it's a rock for Mary, it's a rock for us.
22 · The pastor unpacks the second assurance Gabriel gives Mary — 'you have found favor with God' — explaining that this is not merely forgiveness but empowerment, the promise that God will strengthen her for the impossible task ahead
And God goes further. He assures Mary, not only am I sovereign, I'm sovereign and you, Mary, have found favor. The angel's announcing to Mary she's found favor. She's found grace with God. It's not just an announcement of forgiveness. That's not what's happening here. Not that she's receiving special mercy, even though she is. It's an announcement that she's going to receive— she's found favor, she's found grace. God is going to impart empowerment to her. The application of God's grace and favor, the angel is saying, is going to strengthen you, Mary, for the task ahead of you. God is sovereign. He's omnipotent. He's all-powerful. Nothing is impossible for Him. And that God, that all-powerful God, has planned all this. He's mercifully announcing it to you ahead of time. And He's going to empower you for it along the way. Everything to Mary.
23 · The pastor cites J
I love J.C. Ryle, one of my favorite dead pastors. Commenting on this passage, he says, 'Faith never rests so calmly and peacefully as when it lays its head on the pillow of God's omnipotence.' That's a helpful phrase. Faith never rests so calmly and peacefully as when it lays its head on the pillow of God's omnipotence. Mary can walk out of there filled with faith, not because she's the world's most mature 13-year-old, not because she had this all planned out. And let's be honest, ladies, it's probably no difference between you now and a Jewish girl 2,000 years ago. She's been planning the wedding, she's been planning how things are gonna go. Where they're gonna build their first house in Nazareth. She has her plan of what it's gonna look like, but she can walk out in faith knowing the plan has been obliterated because she knows God is in control.
24 · The pastor presents Mary's response in verse 38 — 'Let it be to me according to your word' — as the immediate fruit of her faith in God's sovereignty and promise-keeping, emphasizing that she submits without knowing every detail
And so she's able to respond with the submission of faith. That's our final point. We see Mary respond like this in verse 38. And Mary said, 'Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.' That is a remarkable statement. It's not Zechariah the priest who says that. It's Mary, the quasi-educated girl. Her world has been flipped upside down. But because of her ability to rest in the sovereignty of God, to take God literally at His Word— I mean, how long is this announcement taking? It doesn't seem like it's taking very long in Luke's accounting. I don't get the sense like Mary had time to bring out coffee and tea for Gabriel and they hung out and talked about it. It's like, boom, it's happening. And in the midst of it, There's faith. She hears nothing will be impossible with God, and she responds right there immediately with this kind of faith. She doesn't know every detail. In fact, most of it is shrouded in mystery, but she knows the awesome power of her God, and she knows His unflinching, impeccable record of keeping His promises.
25 · The pastor argues that Mary's faith is bolstered not only by the ancient promises (Genesis 3:15) but also by the immediate sign of Elizabeth's pregnancy — God's recent faithfulness gives her a handhold for trusting His new word to her
The cool thing about this is you realize this is the fulfillment of centuries-old promises to Israel, right? Millennia-old promises going back to Adam and Eve. She's going to bear a son and he's going to crush the serpent's head. That's talking about Jesus. Jesus, now the long-awaited Messiah, is coming. So these long, old promises are coming true. And what does God say? And just so you know they're going to come true, I'm going to be there with you. I just promised Elizabeth. And she's already pregnant. There's this immediacy of promise and fulfillment for Mary to hang her hat on. So she responds essentially, okay, Lord, if you say you can do it and you say that you'll be with me in it, then I'm your servant. I surrender everything to your word. I surrender everything to your will for me. Let it be as you have said.
26 · The pastor confesses his own conviction that simple faith like Mary's — 'You said it, I believe it, I submit to it' — is purer than the educated, theological response, and that God's sovereignty becomes practical only when it moves from theoretical to here-and-now
This is convicting for me as a pastor. It's not the religious guy, the educated guy, the theological guy that has the right response. Maybe you're somebody who's read a lot of books or mature person in your faith, and you can kind of have that sort of almost snobbish, snide view of people with a simple faith. There's a purity to Mary's simple faith. You said it, and I believe it, and I submit myself to it. It's only when God's sovereignty and His loving kindness. His omnipotence and His compassion move from theoretical to here and now, that we can respond with faith to the circumstances of this life. It's one of the most practical doctrines of the kingdom.
27 · The pastor contrasts Mary's later veneration with her present moment of faith under uncertainty, emphasizing that she asks no further questions and accepts God's word at face value despite the stakes
Later in history, Mary is going to be honored, right? Later in history, Mary's going to be revered. But not now. Now it's uncertainty and mystery. Her reputation's at stake. Her future is at stake. But there's this meek, humble, awesome faith. She doesn't ask a single other question. Her only question is, 'Why are you calling me favored?' And from that point on, there's no more questions. She accepts God's Word at face value.
28 · The pastor identifies Mary's 'Let it be to me according to your word' as the thesis statement of the Christian life and the defining posture of kingdom citizens — submission and faith in the face of uncertainty, trial, and divine call
'Behold, I'm a servant of the Lord.' That statement is really the thesis statement of the Christian life. To be a disciple is to hear that Word and to take it and to make it your own. 'Behold, I am a bondservant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to Your Word.' That's what it looks like to be a disciple of Christ. Frail little Mary is a rock of faith and obedience. That's the nature of the kingdom. That's the posture that the kingdom citizens take. Whatever uncertainties I encounter, Whatever trials assault me, whatever curveball life throws my way, whatever call the Lord places upon us, whatever step of faith Christ is asking us to take, whatever obedience His word requires of us.
29 · The pastor calls the congregation to personal reflection: identify the specific place where God is calling them to step out in faith, sacrifice status or ease, and then respond like Mary with submission
And I want you to think for a moment, where is God calling you to step out in faith? Where right now in your life, maybe today or this past week or in the past month, is he calling you to greater obedience? Where is he prompting a sacrifice to your status, a sacrifice to your ease, or a sacrifice to your preferences for the sake of the kingdom? Find that place. Think of that place right now and as you leave here this morning and ponder it. And then respond like Mary.
30 · The pastor narrates his yard work the day before, praying for the congregation and the sermon, setting up the introduction of a hymn that captured his heart as he meditated on the text
It was one of those ridiculously nice Kansas January days. I even took a screenshot of my weather app on my phone and tweeted it to make fun of all my Minnesota friends. So I was out doing yard work yesterday. Nice thing about Kansas winters is the yard work you don't get done in the fall, you usually have like a second window to take care of your procrastination in January. So I was doing that. I was out there. It was beautiful. I had to take off my sweatshirt. And when I do yard work, I get a little weird. I put in my headphones and I listen to music and I sing along, and it's usually like worship songs, and I sing way too loud. I don't know if I'm in tune or not. Every once in a while I glance around. Sometimes I think the neighbors see me and wonder what's going on. I don't care. I was out there for 5 hours. I think the most tired part about me coming in was my vocal cords. But as I was out there, I'm thinking of this message. I'm thinking of this text. And I'm praying for myself and I'm praying for us as a church. How can we hear this, Lord? Like, where would you press this in? Where are we being called to respond like Mary in faith to an unexpected announcement? In faith to an unexpected difficulty, in faith to an unexpected sacrifice. And this song comes on my playlist, it's one of my favorites, but particularly yesterday it just struck me.
31 · The pastor frames the hymn as a song Mary could sing, reflecting both her initial submission and her later grief at the cross, and as a song that presses the congregation toward Mary's posture of faith and submission
There's 6 verses to it. I asked Hannah, 'Is it okay if I do all 6 verses?' She said no. I'm gonna ignore her counsel. I'm gonna save 2 of them for the benediction. It's a sweet, precious song, and it's meant to tell a story. But I think this would be a song Mary could sing. It reflects how she's responding, and it reflects how she would even add extra revelation to it after she's seen her son die. She's seen the promised one that she bore for 9 months and walk through life, hang on a tree, and give his life in this unexpected way to fully inaugurate the kingdom. I think it presses upon us how to respond like Mary in faith and in submission.
32 · The pastor leads the congregation in a hymn of total surrender to Christ, echoing Mary's 'Let it be to me according to your word' and pressing the congregation toward joyful submission in the face of loss, trial, and sacrifice
Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow thee. Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be. Perish every fond ambition, all I've sought or hoped or known, yet how rich is my condition! God and heaven are still my own. Let the world despise and leave me, they have left my Savior too. Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like them, untrue. O, while Thou dost smile upon me, God of wisdom, love, and might! Foes may hate, and friends disown me; Show Thy face, and all is bright. Man may trouble and distress me; 'Twill but drive me to Thy breast. Life with trials hard may press me; Heaven will bring me sweeter rest. O 'tis not in grief to harm me while thy love is left to me! O 'twere not in joy to charm me were that joy unmixed with thee! Go then, earthly fame and treasure! Come disaster, scorn, and pain! In thy service pain is pleasure. With Thy favor, with Thy favor, loss is gain. I have called Thee, Abba, Father. I have stayed my heart on Thee. Storms may howl and clouds may gather; all must work for good to me.
33 · The pastor prays that the congregation would rest in God's sovereignty, submit to the kingdom's call, take up their cross in faith, and embrace sacrifice knowing that in Christ are treasures forevermore
Lord God, let us rest our hearts on Your sovereign goodness, that nothing is impossible with you, and that in your Son Jesus we rest and stand secure. That for all those who love you and are called according to your purposes, from Mary to the people in this room, you work together all things for our good. So God, I ask that you would grip us with your word. Send your Spirit in the fullness of his power. Lord, help us to joyfully submit to the call of your kingdom. Help us to in faith take up our cross. Help us to in faith embrace and endure sacrifice and difficulty. Knowing that in you are treasures forevermore. I pray this in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.