The King is Coming

Liz Bowers
2 days ago
7 min read

Luke 1:26-38

Dear Christian,

Have you ever pondered the question, "What is one story you wish you could read again for the first time?" I would be torn between two stories, the Nativity story and the Easter story. Culturally in America, it is likely you don't have to be a Christian to know the basics of Christ's birth. It's so deeply embedded that sometimes it's hard to separate out fictional additions to the story from what Scripture actually says because we don't have fresh enough ears, eyes, or minds to discern the difference. Think about what you know of the wise men who brought gifts to Jesus or even the little drummer boy.

If you grew up in Church it's likely you've heard this story every year since your own infancy and are thinking about your Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas presents, the next relatives you have to visit, or any number of other things when your Pastor begins to drone on about this familiar story annually. I know I've certainly been guilty of this a time or two. Therefore, let's endeavor today to give ourselves that fresh look at this old story. Let's pray together that God opens our hearts and minds to marvel at the wonderous gift of His coming as a helpless infant just as fragile as you or I when we were that age.

Main Idea

God's plan for humanity's redemption is full of the unexpected showing just how true it is that "Nothing will be impossible with God."

Background Information

What do we know about Nazareth?

The world Jesus was born into was politically complex and unstable. Judea was ruled by Herod the Great, a client king of Rome, meaning that he ruled only by the will of the Roman Emperor. In the coming chapters, we'll learn more about how this helped shape the events of Jesus' birth and why his parents traveled all the way to Bethlehem when Mary was so close to the end of her pregnancy. As far as the world was concerned, Nazareth was a backwater hamlet of almost no significance. The Gospel of John records one of Jesus' disciples remarking on Nazareth before his call to follow Jesus...

Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” John 1:46

This is not a place where anyone was expecting the promised Messiah to be born. It was located 15 miles from the Sea of Galilee with no good water supply; only one inadequate well at the village center. Remember that the majority of travel would have been by foot or if you were lucky, by donkey or horseback, possibly by cart. Nazareth was 6 miles from the nearest major road. Absolutely no one was visiting this village by accident or for a great vacation experience.

Why is it important that Joseph, Mary's betrothed, was of the House of David?

This was a fulfillment of prophecy that the coming Messiah would be of the line of David. If the line of kings had been unbroken in Israel, Jesus would have been the legitimate successor for the throne. In fact, Jesus' heritage as a "Son of David" came from both Joseph and Mary as we've seen in the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew.

How was betrothal in Mary and Joseph's culture different from our own?

According to David Guzik's commentary on Luke 1 on Blue Letter Bible:

"There were three stages to a Jewish wedding in that day.

Engagement (a formal agreement made by the fathers).
Betrothal (the ceremony where mutual promises were made).
Marriage (approximately one year later, when the bridegroom came for his bride at an unexpected time)."

Betrothal was taken so seriously that a formal divorce would be required to call off the wedding. It was expected that the couple would be faithful to one another even during this time.

How were the Jews of Jesus' day expecting the Messiah to arrive?

Under the oppressive rule of one powerful nation after another, many Jews were expecting their Messiah to be an earthly Deliverer with military might, wealth, and power. They believed his role was to drive out the occupiers of their land and restore the golden age that Israel had experienced during the days of King David. Several false messiahs came both before and after Jesus attempting to be exactly this type of leader. Others expected the Messiah to be a prophet like Moses who miraculously deliver them from their earthly enemies, as Moses had delivered God's people from Egypt. It is safe to say the the Jews both then and many now did not expect the Messiah to be first and foremost the spiritual eternal deliverer not from political earthly oppression but the oppression of sin and death.

Greek Words to Know

parthenos - a virgin

charis - favor

Scripture Study

In many ways we can relate to the world of Mary and Joseph. Wherever we might be in the world, every day, ordinary people are busy worrying about putting food on the table, clothes on their bodies, and keeping a roof over their head. Add to that the turbulent political climate with new violent conflicts breaking out across the world seemingly every week. Many young people have come to the conclusion that starting a family of their own would be irresponsible if not morally wrong considering the state of things. Most of us realize in a world of social media "instant-fame" that only the 1% really achieve a status of worldly significance. We don't have a realistic expectation that our own lives might make a dramatic impact on the world for all eternity to come. If an angel appeared to one of us today, I bet that you like me would have many questions!

Take note that both Zechariah and Mary have roughly the same response to the greeting of the angel:

And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. Luke 1:11-12 (ESV, emphasis my own)

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. Luke 1:26-29 (ESV, emphasis my own)

Comparing this angelic encounters side by side is very interesting. For example, the angel does not greet Zechariah before his heart is troubled by the angel's appearance. Mary seems more troubled by the angel's words than by his appearance itself.

Gabriel's message for both Zechariah and Mary, is that something they had both considered impossible was going to happen by the will of God in their lives. Zechariah's barren wife would have a son even though they both were well past the age they would realistically expect to have a child. Mary was not yet in a position where she had that intimate relationship with her husband, to even desire having a child of her own in the immediate future.

Again, their response to their respective "good news" from the angel sounds very similar.

And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” Luke 1:18

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Luke 1:34

It's easy to breeze through this chapter and not understand why Zechariah was forced into silence for his question but the response to Mary's question is gentle explanation. So read those questions again... do you catch the difference? Essentially, Zechariah is asking, "Why should I believe you?" Mary seems to already believe what the angel has said is true, her question is focused on the mechanics of the event. "How is this going to work?"

This is why we see such a dramatic difference in the response of Gabriel to these questions.

And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” Luke 1:19-20

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, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Luke 1:35-37

Zechariah's question about trust is answered with Gabriel's own authority from standing in the presence of God and being sent with this news directly from God.

Mary's question is answered with a little more detail about how this will work and that doesn't really require her to do anything to change her current situation as a betrothed virgin woman.

Lastly, in this comparison, notice that both are given a sign to know that what the angel has said will come to pass. Zechariah is made immediately mute as the angel has declared. Mary is told about her cousin Elizabeth's miraculous pregnancy. We'll learn more about her response to this news next time.

Conclusion

The plan for Messiah's arrival was well underway with all of this good news delivered to the new parents. Yet the time, the place, the people, and the way which it came about were all unexpected. A barren old woman and a virgin girl had suddenly been brought center stage in God's grand plan to deliver the world.

Perhaps, that is the greatest reminder from this part of scripture. God's plan is not limited to human timing, perspective, or abilities. His timing is better than ours, His perspective reaches far beyond ours, and nothing is impossible with God!