Deo Gloria
Sermon for December 19, 2021
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Luke 1:39-55
Theme: Rejoice in the News of Mary’s Baby!
- He is your Lord.
- He is your Savior.
The British tabloids were all atwitter. American news agencies were buzzing too about the exciting news: Prince William and Kate were expecting. The news started leaking out after Kate was admitted to the hospital. Rumors swirled that she was suffering with an acute case of morning sickness. Some were even speculating that she might be pregnant with twins. Eventually the Royal Family made it official, announcing to the public that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were indeed expecting. According to the official announcement, the royal family was delighted and the people of England were thrilled.
This morning we hear some breaking news in the verses of our text, exciting baby news: Mary is going to have a baby. And believe it or not, this news is even more exciting and more wonderful than the news about Prince William and Kate. After all, Mary’s baby is no ordinary baby. He is your Lord, and he is your Savior. Rejoice in the news of Mary’s baby!
Remember what happened just prior to this story? An angel appeared to Mary—the angel Gabriel–and told her that she was going to have a baby. Even though she was a virgin, God was going to work a miracle that would enable her to conceive and bear a child—and not just any child either—the Savior. “You are to give him the name Jesus,” the angel told her. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High”(vv. 31+32). Wow, this was exciting news, some truly wonderful news! The Savior they had been waiting for was finally going to come. And she was going to be his mother. And yet, that wasn’t the only happy news. The angel also informed her that her cousin Elizabeth was going to have a baby. In fact, the one they called the barren one was showing. She was already 6 months along.
Mary could hardly contain herself. She had to go and see her cousin Elizabeth. She had to tell her the wonderful news. So off she went, Luke tells us. She traveled south to a town in the hill country of Judah. There she went to Zechariah’s home and she greeted Elizabeth. And the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped. Every mother has felt her baby move. Sometimes the baby will poke mom in the rib or sit on her sciatic nerve or kick her in the bladder. Every mother has felt things like that, but this was different. As Elizabeth explains later, “As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy”(v. 44). Picture a football team and their fans jumping up and down and cheering and giving each other high 5’s after winning the state championship. That’s what John the Baptist was doing in his mother’s womb. He was jumping up and down for joy. Why? Because the news of Mary’s baby was such exciting news.
Elizabeth was pretty excited too. Did you notice the way she greeted Mary? We might expect her to say something like, “Well, Mary, what a pleasant surprise! How nice of you to come and visit!” But that isn’t what she said. Luke tells us that she cried out in a loud voice and exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!”(v. 42) Is that the way you greet pregnant women when they come over to your house? When your daughter-in-law comes over or your niece who recently found out that she is pregnant—do you say, “Hi, Susie,” or “Hi, Cherrie, blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear”? Of course not. Mary’s baby was different. Mary’s baby was special.
And Elizabeth tells us why in v. 43. “But why am I so favored,” she says, “that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Did you catch those two little words? “…that the mother of my Lord should come to me…” Mary was going to be the mother of her Lord. In her arms Mary was going to cradle the Lord of heaven and earth. Her son was going to be God’s Son, the holy Son of God.
How such an incredible thing could happen, Elizabeth didn’t even bother to ask. I’m sure Mary told her. I’m sure Mary shared with her what the angel had said, that the Holy Spirit would come upon her, that the power of the Most High would overshadow her. But Elizabeth didn’t even ask. She didn’t need to. She knew that God was able to do the impossible. All she had to do was look at herself. And she believed that in Mary the impossible would come true, that she would be the mother of her Lord. And she rejoiced in that wonderful news.
How about you? What do you believe about Mary and about Mary’s baby? Do you believe like Elizabeth that Mary is the mother of your Lord? Do you believe that Mary’s son is none other than the Son of God? Sadly, there are many Christians who don’t believe that anymore. Sadly, there are many Lutherans who don’t believe that anymore. They don’t believe that Mary really was a virgin or that her baby truly was the Son of God. But they don’t get ideas like that from the Bible. The Scriptures are clear. The prophet Isaiah foretold that a virgin would give birth to a son and that he would be called Immanuel, “God with us.” Likewise, the angel Gabriel told Mary that her son would be called “the Son of God”(1:35). And Elizabeth said it too, that Mary would be the mother of her Lord.
You know, it would be noteworthy if Mary had been the mother of some famous world leader like Alexander the Great, or some famous scientist like Galileo, or some famous doctor like the Mayo brothers. You and I might make a mental note of that just in case the question ever came up in Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit. But this is so much greater, so much more important. Mary was going to be the mother of God, the mother of your Lord and mine. The God who made the universe would soon be lying in Mary’s lap. The God who holds all things in his hand would soon be holding on to Mary’s finger. The God who provides for all creation would soon look to Mary to provide for him. Stop the presses! This is news, incredible news that ought to make the headlines, that ought to be the lead story on every evening news cast. God has come into our world. He has become one of us. He was born to a woman named Mary. Rejoice in the news of Mary’s baby!
And yet, there’s something else about Mary’s baby that is also revealed in this story, something even more significant, something that gives us even more reason to rejoice. Not only is Mary’s baby your Lord. He’s your Savior. Take another look at the words of Mary’s song. Notice that Mary refers to God as her “Savior.” Why? Because God was now going to send the Savior he had promised, a Savior to rescue her from her sins, a Savior to rescue all people from their sins. And her baby would be that Savior.
Notice too how Mary refers to her humble state and that God had not forgotten about her humble state. What is that makes us humble before God? What is that makes us beggars in his sight, lowly servants, undeserving of God’s grace and favor? Is it not our sins? Is it not the fact that we have disobeyed our Lord and broken his commandments time and time again? Is it not that we are guilty in God’s sight and we know we are guilty and deserve to be punished? Yes, it is our sins that make us humble in God’s sight, that make us lowly beggars. Mary was aware of her sinfulness, her humble state before the Lord. But she also knew that God had promised to do something about it, that he was going to send a Savior to take away her sins and lift her up from her lowly state. And her baby would be that Savior.
Finally, notice that Mary also talks about God’s mercy and that God had helped his people. “He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever”(vv. 54+55). Why does Mary speak about God’s mercy? Why is it so important that God has remembered to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants? Because without God’s mercy Abraham would never make it. Without God’s mercy Abraham’s descendants would never make it. Without God’s mercy Mary knew that she would never make it. Sinners cannot live with God in heaven. Remember what Mary said about God? His name is holy. God is holy. He is sinless, completely set apart from sin. And if you and I are going to live with God in heaven someday, then we need to be holy and sinless. The problem is we’re not. The Bible plainly says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us”(1 John 1:8). Don’t play games with God. Don’t try to pretend that you aren’t sinful, that you don’t need God’s grace and mercy, that you are good enough for God just the way you are. You’re only fooling yourself. The truth is you and I are sinners, sinners who are lost, sinners who could never make it to heaven on our own, sinners who on their own would end up separated from God forever in hell.
Our only hope is that God would have mercy on us, that he would take pity on us and help us in our lost condition. And he has. He has remembered to be merciful to people like Abraham and his descendants. He has remembered to be merciful to people like Mary. He has remembered to be merciful to people like you and me. Instead of condemning us because of our sins, in his mercy God sent someone to save us from our sins: a Savior who would take our place and suffer our punishment and die our death; a Savior who would wash away our sins with his own blood, that through him we might be holy and might live with God in heaven. And Mary’s baby would be that Savior. Rejoice with Mary in the news of her baby, because he is your Savior too.
A few years ago the people of England rejoiced over the news of William and Kate’s baby. Today you and I have even better news to celebrate, happy news, exciting news. Will anyone be dancing in the streets today or popping the cork off champagne bottles in celebration? I doubt it. But I’m sure God wouldn’t mind if we jumped for joy like John, or cried out in a loud voice like Elizabeth, or sang a song of praise like Mary. You see, a baby is about to be born, a very special baby. He is your Lord. And he is your Savior. Rejoice in the news of Mary’s baby! Amen.