Sunday, December 23, 2018 – Luke 1:36-38
The Announcement of the Birth of the Son of Man to Mary,
Pt. 6,
Mary the Picture of a Wonderful, Faithful Servant of the Lord.
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
The
Gospel of Luke
II. The Identification of the Son of Man
with Men, Luke 1:5-4:13.
B. The Announcement of the Birth of the Son
of Man, Luke 1:26-56.
Vs. 36-37
Luke 1:36-37, “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. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Gabriel, in
grace, continues to provide Mary information about her pregnancy to further
bolster and strengthen her faith. Interestingly, even though Mary did not ask
for a miraculous sign or confirmation as Zachariah did in doubt and
unfaithfulness, the angel provided her with something to build her confidence
and sustain her hope and faith through the difficult days to come.
Gabriel tells
Mary that her “relative,” SUNGENES,
that means, “blood relative or related,” (we do not know if she was an aunt,
cousin, or even a sister in-law), was also pregnant, “conceived,” SULLAMBANO.
This too, was
part of the grace plan of God for Mary’s benefit. What had happened to
Elizabeth was an extra assurance to Mary that all the words spoken to her would
be fulfilled in their time. In God’s grace, He provided this information to
Mary so that she could gain faithful assurance in His Plan.
In addition,
Mary was given a task to perform that would leave her open to false charges and
accusations, as Mary would become pregnant prior to completing the marriage
contract with Joseph. It would have potentially brought great ridicule, or even
death, upon her from the society. As such, it was grace on God’s part that she
was informed of the one person who would understand what God was doing. In
addition, it gave Mary a chance to escape to her relative’s home that was near
Jerusalem and avoid any unwarranted shame, cf. vs. 39-45, 56.
Our Father in
heaven knows what we can take and what we cannot take; He is never slow in
giving full assurance, even when we might be “slow of heart to believe,” Luke 24:25.
Then, in vs. 37, Gabriel assured Mary even further
by stating, “For nothing will be
impossible with God,” PARA THEOS OUK PAN RHEMA ADUNATEO. Literally it
states, “for God not any thing will be impossible.” It was a common religious
saying among the Jews and early Christians, Gen 18:14; Job 42:2; Jer 32:17, 27; Mat 19:26; Rom 4:21.
Gen 18:14, “Is anything too difficult
for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next
year, and Sarah will have a son.”
Job 42:2, “I know that You can do all
things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”
Jer 32:27, “Behold, I am the LORD, the
God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”
The Noun
RHEMA means, “a thing spoken, word, saying, thing, matter, or event.” Here it
has the dual connotation of, “What God says He will do,” and “Nothing is
impossible for God to do.”
The Verb ADUNATEO,
ἀδυνατέω, “to be impossible,” is in the Future, Active, Indicative. Its root is
DUNAMIS for “inherent power or ability.” With the negative prefix it means,
“without power, without ability, or impossible.” When referring to persons ADUNATEO
is used to speak of a “lack of strength or being unable to do something.”
Linked with the Greek negative Particle OUK it means, “not without power, not
without ability, or not impossible.” ADUNATEO is only used here and Mat 17:20. In Mat 17:20, it is used for
those who have faith the size of a mustard seed.
Mat 17:20, “And He said to them,
‘Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have
faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from
here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you’.”
In other
words, God is omnipotent and able to do all things, including cause two women
to become miraculously pregnant in highly unique ways. The 1901 American
Standard Version reads: “For no word of
God shall be void of power.”
Therefore,
this is a statement of faith that we should live by every day. Many times we
limit God as to what He can and cannot do; we put Him in a box. But, our God is
the all-powerful, all-mighty, omniscient God, where nothing is impossible for
Him to perform in time or space. We have to remember that and call upon Him
with that assurance in our times of need, as Gabriel is reminding Mary of this
same grace principle for her to apply in faith.
This phrase
also means that every single word or item noted by Gabriel will be fulfilled,
not merely the general content of the promise. The purpose is to build Mary’s
faith in God’s ability to do what is humanly impossible, not only for now, but
throughout the rest of her life, as she will face many daunting challenges
throughout her life.
“The moment you admit the existence of
God, you must deny the impossible. With God it’s nothing that a barren woman
and a virgin woman would both conceive. In fact, that’s just like God!” (Christ-Centered Exposition.)
Vs. 38
Luke 1:38, “And Mary said, ‘Behold,
the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.’ And the
angel departed from her.”
Take note of
how both Elizabeth and Mary responded to the miraculous activity of God. Mary
felt stunned, surprised, humbled, and curious, but never once did she say,
“This is impossible! I do not believe what I am hearing.” Nor did she object,
“There is no way I am going to stand before the people of Nazareth and listen
to them call me a harlot or my son illegitimate. I refuse to spend the rest of
my life defending myself and my honor!”
Instead, we
see Mary’s willing acceptance from faith in God’s Word and His plan for her
life. She considered herself rightly as a DOULE, “servant, bond slave,” (the feminine of DOULOS), “of the Lord,” KURIOS. Cf. Hannah in 1 Sam 1:11.
1 Sam 1:11, “She made a vow and said,
‘O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant
and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your
maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life,
and a razor shall never come on his head’.”
Mary also
replied, “be it done to me according to
your word.” “Word,” here is
RHEMA once again, and “be it done,”
is the Aorist, Middle Deponent, Optative of the Verb GINOMAI that means, “to
be, to come into being, to be made, be done, etc.” The Optative is rarely used
in the NT; only 70 times. It is said to be the Mood used when the “speaker wishes to portray an action as
possible,” (Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics).
Therefore,
Mary is not just resigning to the fact of occurrence of the things told to her,
she implies a desire that they should happen. It indicates her full acceptance
and participation in the matter, as well as her excitement about it. In great
faith, she not only believes the promises, but prays for their fulfillment. In
faith, she not only bowed to the will of God, but she whole heartedly and
enthusiastically accepted it.
Here, we see
that faith leads to servanthood, which she was and would continue to be. Mary
has the exemplary attitude of God’s servant, despite what this might cost her
in reputation from those who do not appreciate what really happened. Therefore,
we see that a right appreciation of the Lord, leads to a correct assessment of
self.
Mary’s
response is one of the greatest testimonies in Scripture of faithful, humble
obedience. Her submission to the message is most touching. Even though the
angel said that she was highly “graced out,” (favored), she said that she was
the “bond slave of the Lord,” in His hand to do with her according to His will.
It reminds us
of what Isaiah said in Isa 6:8, “Here I
am. Send me.”
It reminds us
of what Esther said in Esther 4:15, “If
I perish, I perish.”
It reminds us
of what Ruth said to Naomi in Ruth 1:16,
“Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.”
It reminds us
of what Job said in Job 13:15, “Even if
he kills me, I will hope in him.”
It reminds us
of what her Son would one day say in Luke
22:42, “Father, … not My will, but Yours be done.”
This is how
faithful people respond to God’s plan, even when they do not understand it. The
only way a person can genuinely say what Mary says is to believe that God’s
plan is better than their plan for themselves.
Even though
she knew she would be accused of adultery, an offense punishable by stoning to
death, Deut 22:13-21; cf. John 8:3-5,
she willingly and graciously submitted to the will of God, as Mary’s believing
response was to surrender herself to God as His willing servant.
She
experienced the grace of God, Luke 1:30,
and believed the Word of God, and therefore, she could be used by the Spirit to
accomplish the will of God. She belonged totally to the Lord, body, Luke 1:38, soul, Luke 1:46, and spirit, Luke
1:47.
While not
understanding all the particulars, she responded with immediate belief,
complete submission, and total trust in her Lord. Luke also records no
hesitation from Elizabeth in believing the Lord could accomplish a miracle.
Both she and Elizabeth lived in the horizontal dimension, but they never forgot
the vertical. They lived in the realities of a broken, sinful world, but they
remained open to the intervention of God’s grace.
What an
example for us to follow, Rom 12:1-2.
Like Mary, we cannot truly be servants of Christ unless we accept His plan for
our lives. Faith is nothing more than responding to God’s grace in your life.
He cannot be your Lord, if you insist on ruling yourself. If he is Lord, then
you are a servant, a glad servant of God. This is how faith replies to grace. Do
you have this kind of faith? Mary and Elizabeth did, and I pray that you do
too.
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