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THE SAVIOR IS ANNOUNCED:
An Announcement Met With Faith.
In the name + of Jesus.
Faith is a gift from God. It is God’s work, both created and sustained
by God. It has to be. If the teachings of the Bible were so obvious
and full of common sense, then everyone would believe it. No one would fight against it. But that is not the case. Sin has blinded people. Many argue that the Bible is full of
contradictions, errors, and lies. St.
Paul noted that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians
1:18). What unbelievers deem to be
foolish, we boldly confess and cherish. This
is to God’s credit, not ours. Faith is
God’s power, God’s working, and God’s gift.
Our Lord was at work in the heart and mind
of the Virgin Mary when the angel Gabriel came to her. He announced, “Listen, you will conceive
and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son
of the Most High. The Lord God will give
him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,
and his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:31-33). You and I are familiar with the fulfillment
of this announcement. If you’ve been a
Christian all your life, there is nothing either shocking or surprising about it. “He was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary.” We
confess it every week probably without a measure of doubt, and probably without
a measure of wonder. God has granted you
the faith to believe it, but it deserves to be pondered because it is so
marvelous and miraculous.
The Savior was announced, and it was an
announcement met with faith. Mary did
not reject Gabriel’s words, but she was certainly confused by them. For centuries, God’s people had waited for
the Messiah to come. Suddenly, Mary had
an angel appear to her to tell her that the time is now, and that the way the
Messiah would come into the world is through her. I wonder how many questions went racing
through Mary’s mind as she was trying to absorb this announcement. “Why now?
Why me? Why Nazareth? Why to a young maiden who is betrothed but
not yet married?” Of all the
questions that Mary could have asked, St. Luke records only one. “Mary said to the angel, ‘How will
this be’” (Luke 1:34)?
It was an announcement met with
faith. Besides all the questions Mary
could have thought, she must have also thought about the ramifications of
Gabriel’s announcement. She would be
pregnant outside of marriage. People do
not even bat an eye at such things anymore.
God’s order of marriage and then cohabitation and intimacy has
been cast off. Many, even Christians,
find it antiquated and see no reason to follow it. But for Mary and Joseph and the Jewish
population in 1st century Galilee, this pregnancy would have been
scandalous. What would Mary’s parents
think? Or the townsfolk? Or Joseph, her betrothed? The rumors and the gossip would follow her
for the rest of her life. If Mary had
thought, “I don’t need this!”, she did not say it. Mary had just one question: “How will this
be” (Luke 1:34)? She accepted the
angel’s word, and she accepted God’s plan for her in bringing the Messiah into
the world.
But Mary also knew how biology works. She was betrothed to a man, but she had not
been intimate with a man. Now, in the
past, the Lord had produced some births that were miraculous. The most prominent example is with Abraham
and Sarah. Both were old, and Sarah had
been barren her whole life. Yet, God
caused an 89-year-old woman to conceive from her 99-year-old husband. God also duplicated that miracle with Mary’s
elderly relatives, Zechariah and Elizabeth.
In both cases—Abraham and Sarah, Zechariah and Elizabeth—God had not
acted apart from the marital union. But
for Mary, this was unprecedented. How
does a woman get pregnant without any union with a man? Mary was confused. Mary did not ask in defiance, “How can this
be?” Rather, she asked in faith “How
will this be” (Luke 1:34)?
People have often wondered why the Virgin
Mary was chosen to be the one through whom the Messiah would come into the
world. Ultimately, the answer is: By
God’s grace. This was not a reward for holiness. The Lord had worked in Mary’s life so that
she would be the appropriate choice for this honor. Mary believed in God’s promises. God had worked that in her. Mary lived a chaste life, remaining virgin
pure as she awaited marriage. God worked
that faithfulness in her, too. Mary was
betrothed to a man of faith. So, when
the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and informed him what was going on with
Mary, Joseph, too, met that announcement with faith. He took Mary as his wife but was not intimate
with her so that there was no doubt the child was from God and not from Joseph. That was all God’s work. Despite the scandal of her pregnancy, despite
the townspeople whispering and gossiping, despite her reputation taking a hit,
Mary humbly accepted the role that the angel announced to her. “Mary said, ‘See, I am the Lord’s servant.
May it happen to me as you have said’”
(Luke 1:38). From beginning to end,
God was at work through Mary and Joseph to bring his Son into the world.
Mary had asked the angel, “How will
this be…” (Luke 1:34)? The angel
answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most
High will overshadow you. So the holy
one to be born will be called the Son of God’” (Luke 1:35). Once again, this was met with faith. We don’t hear Mary respond to the angel’s
words with, “Well, that sounds reasonable.”
Who would? This is a miracle. That means that God was acting outside the
natural order. Miracles are surprising;
they are not normal. Normal is that a
man and a woman become intimate and that produces a baby. If you heard that a young lady was pregnant,
you would not wonder if the Holy Spirit was at work again. And no one assumed that about Mary,
either. This was a miracle that had to
be revealed. Mary and Joseph amazingly
met the announcement with faith. They
took God at his word even when it defied reason and experience.
Faith is a gift of God; it takes God at
his word. It has to be God’s work in us
because we do not naturally believe what God says. In some cases, God’s word reveals what we
could not know—such as Mary’s child being conceived by the Holy Spirit and so
entering this world without sin. Faith
accepts this not because it is reasonable, but because the Holy Spirit works in
our hearts to assent to God’s word.
Faith accepts the mysteries that have been revealed by God. In other cases, God’s will does not need
special revelation. It is evident to all
people because God has written it in our hearts. Our consciences testify what is good and what
is evil. And even though such things are
evident, only by faith do we agree with them.
Only by faith do we confess them.
Only by faith do we acknowledge that they are good and strive to live
according to them.
Sin causes us to reject God’s word and
God’s will. Sin regards what is
spiritual or miraculous as absurdity. Even
believers struggle to honor God’s will.
That is why not even Christians bat an eye when a man and woman live
together before they are married. That
is why Christians will seek a divorce instead of sacrificing to make their
marriage work. Finding happiness trumps
God’s commands. It is why Christians defend
their sins rather than confess them and repent of them. It’s not that we don’t know God’s will; it is
that we don’t like God’s will. We want
to do what is easy, what gratifies our desires, and what makes sense to us. Because of our sinfulness, we consider the
right thing to be repulsive. But beware;
for this is what the Lord says: “That servant who knew his master’s will and
did not … act according to what his master wanted, will be punished severely”
(Luke 12:47). Repent.
The Savior was announced to Mary, and it
was met with faith. Faith willingly did
the hard thing because it was God’s will.
Do you think it was easy for Mary to carry this child? Do you think it was convenient to have her
plans altered like this? It did not
matter. In faith, Mary accepted God’s
plans for her. Faith recognizes that
everything God says and does is good, whether it is miraculous or mundane,
whether it is a promise or a command, whether it means a bounty or a burden. Faith always responds to God’s word with, “I
am the Lord’s servant. May it happen to
me as you have said” (Luke 1:38). Faith
takes God at his word, even when it means having to do the hard thing because
it is the right thing.
The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world
to bear the cross for us. He did the
hard thing because it was God’s will. It
was God’s will that Jesus bear a curse he did not deserve. It was God’s will that Jesus endure a hellish
torment he had not earned. And yet,
Jesus did it because God sent him to do it.
It was a payment he was pleased to make in order to redeem us. He is the Lord’s servant who has come to do
the work to save you.
Faith responds to God’s word as Mary did:
“I am the Lord’s servant. May it happen
to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38).
Faith clings to God’s word even when that word challenges us to trust
God or offends our senses. We might
still feel the weight of our sins. We
see the reality of the grave, but we know that Jesus has redeemed us and has overcome
the grave. He lives and reigns to assure
us of a resurrection to life everlasting.
And when you hear the absolution announced to you, it is an announcement
met with faith. Although the words come
from the mouth of the minister, you know that it is the voice of Jesus who
announces, “I forgive you.”
Faith clings to all of God’s word.
His promises announce divine peace and proclaim eternal salvation. His commands announce what a godly life
is. His Holy Spirit works in us not only
a love for the promises, but also a love for the commands. We are eager to honor our Lord with loving
obedience even if it is strange to the world.
Sin may argue, “Why bother refraining from sin? Everyone is doing it, and they aren’t hurting
for it.” Faith retorts, “I am a child of
God, and I am going to live like it, even if I have to do the hard thing, even
if I have to suffer for it.” Sin may be
repulsed by God’s word, but faith delights in it even if it is a cross to
bear. Faith never despises a cross.
The Lord Jesus Christ continues to guide us to a godly life and to preserve us unto eternal life. In faith, each of us responds to God’s word as Mary did: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it happen to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38).
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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