I AM THE LORD'S SERVANT

Luke 1:26-56

Key Verse 1:38 

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

Last week we learned about how the angel Gabriel visited Zechariah and told him that his wife, Elizabeth would give birth to a son. His name would be John and he would “go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”(v.17) John would be the forerunner of Jesus Christ. So the stage was set for the promised Messiah to enter the world. The passage today takes place when Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John the Baptist. 

Vs. 26 and 27 say, “²⁶In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.”

Here, we see the angel visiting Mary, a virgin from the small country village of Nazareth. She was most likely about 15 or 16 years of age and she was pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendent of David. It was through this Mary that God chose, by His amazing grace, to bring our Lord Jesus Christ, into the world; through someone so humble, yet so beautiful because of her faith and obedience to the Lord. 

Let’s look at vs. 28-30. (I will read.)

²⁸The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." ²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.”

What a wonderful greeting the angel brought to Mary! “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” But vs. 29 says that Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.” Also, the angel said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.” At first glance, it seems peculiar why Mary was so disturbed and afraid at the angel’s greeting. But let’s think about it for a minute. Mary would soon be marrying Joseph. This in itself probably created anxiety in her heart, wondering how her future with Joseph would be. And then on top of this, she received this heavenly greeting, which left many thoughts reeling inside of her mind like, “What’s coming next?”, “What is going to be required of me?”, “How is this going to affect my future?” Thinking about the possible answers to any of these questions was enough to trouble her and make her fearful.

But the angel reassured her. “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.” He also said, “³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³²He 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, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

I think at this time, Mary was in total awe of what the angel had just said. She probably just stood there for a while trying to process all these things in her mind. What kind of person would this Jesus be?

The name Jesus is Joshua in Greek, which means “the LORD saves.” Matthew 1:21 speaking of this event says, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  Jesus would be the One promised and anointed by God, the long awaited Messiah, who would come to save His people and set them free from the power of sin and all elements of darkness and death. Later in Luke, chapter 7:22, when John the Baptist was in prison, Jesus told his disciples, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” These were the signs confirming that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the one who would release His people from all their infirmities. 

The angel also said in Vs. 32, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” Jesus would be God in the flesh as  HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1:14&version=NIV" John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” So it is only through knowing Jesus, that we can come to know God the Father. And speaking of greatness, Jesus’ greatness would be completely different than worldly greatness. Throughout His life, He lived as a humble servant, doing without and making Himself nothing in order to take care of others. Though Jesus is the Son of the Most High, in His love for you and me, He willingly laid down His own life, pouring out his perfect, sinless blood to pay for the sins of the world. This is true greatness. 

Also, “The Lord God will give Him the throne of his father David.” In fulfillment of prophecy, the Messiah would be a descendent of King David. So Jesus is both the spiritual King and physical King, representing both God and man. “And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.” Jesus would rule over His people forever. In loving kindness, He will rule over all those who put their trust in Him, those who are Abraham’s descendents by faith. These will experience His rule in their hearts and over their lives. Jesus alone would have supreme authority over all heaven and earth, over everything created both in the physical world and in the spiritual world and “His kingdom will never end.”

Philippians 2:9-11 ⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Colossians 1:15-18 says, “¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 

God exalted Jesus to the highest place. Every knee in heaven and on earth will bow to Him. And in everything He will have supremacy. So, that poses a question. Is Jesus ruling in my heart? Is Jesus ruling in your heart? Are we bowing our knee to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Are we giving Him supremacy in our lives? Let us do it now, while we still have the choice. For when He returns in all His splendor and majesty, His rule will be over his enemies as well as over those who love Him. 

Upon hearing all these things, Mary asked the angel, ³⁴"How will this be, since I am a virgin?" ³⁵The angel answered, "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. ³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷For nothing is impossible with God." 

How did Mary respond?

Let’s look v.38 and read it altogether. ³⁸"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. 

Mary’s response is phenomenal. Mary submitted herself to God as His servant. Despite what was going on in her life at the time, she willingly took up the Lord’s mission. How could she do this? How could she suddenly set aside all the things in her life without hesitation? It was because she knew to whom her life belonged. Just as a painting belongs to the artist, so also, her life belonged to her Creator, for Psalm 139:13 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.” Mary also knew that the blessedness of being God’s servant was far superior to the blessings that could come from being Joseph’s wife or a good mother, etc.

Mary gave such a beautiful confession, one that God honored and blessed more than she could imagine. Though this blessed calling would require much sacrifice, especially in later watching Jesus suffer and die on the cross, it would also bring her so many joys and blessed experiences. In bearing the Savior of the World, it would be her son through whom all peoples of the world could be saved. She had God in the flesh grow up under her care and had the most blessed and privileged opportunity to know who God is so personally. It must have been a challenge to continuously remind herself that her son is really her Lord and God in the flesh. She could also enjoy watching Jesus grow and the character of God become more and more evident in Him as He became a man and took up His holy mission from God. And think about how elated she must have been and what a tremendous sense of triumph she must have experienced in her heart when Jesus rose from the dead defeating the power of sin and death once and for all. She could then look forward to the eternal kingdom of God with such hope and such joy, where she would be with her Lord forever. All these tremendous experiences and blessings in Mary’s life came to her because she understood her position as God’s servant. 

So if serving the Lord is such a blessing, why isn’t everyone doing it? Actually, before the fall of man, Adam and Eve walked and talked together with God in the Garden of Eden. They naturally knew that God was their Master and that they were His servants. They were filled with complete joy and satisfaction in working in the Garden as stewards over all creation. However, after the fall, things changed. Their relationship with God was broken. Adam and Eve forgot their position as His servants and tried to live outside of God’s will. They disobeyed God and abandoned their mission. As a consequence, they became so fearful. They lost their security, their joy and ultimately their lives. Because of sin, so many today are still blind to the blessedness of serving the Lord’s purpose for them.

Around the time God called me, I identified myself with the positions “physics student”, “martial artist” and “future wife of my first love”. I didn’t concern myself with who I should be before God. Then after having bible study for a while, God began to reveal Himself to me. I became increasingly anxious because I realized that if I was going to serve God, my life was going to have to change. I wondered, “What would I have to sacrifice? Who would I have to leave behind? What would my future be like?” I drove myself crazy thinking about these things. Then, one night as I was walking alone, God pointed me to the cross. He said to me, “Why do you think Jesus had to die on the cross? What was the meaning of His sacrifice?” And I said, “to save people, to save me from sin so we can have eternal life” Jesus’ sacrifice was life giving. He gave up His life so that many could be saved. And then it hit me. This is what a servant of God is called to do as well. God wanted me to also die to myself and to my own desires so that others might live. And He reminded me of John 12:24, which says, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” This gave me a whole new perspective and helped me to see the sacrifices I needed to make as life giving changes and not something I was losing. It was not easy making those changes, but I can honestly say that by doing so, I became so free. God was always there to strengthen and encourage me. And all the joys and blessings have far exceeded the difficulties. God loves to reveal His power and love to those who know Him. He glories in using His servants as His instruments of salvation. And what a joy to know that my life and your life in the Lord has eternal benefits, especially one day being able to see the Lord face to face in the Kingdom of God, sharing in His glory, and dwelling with Him forever. What an amazing and gracious God we have, who honors those who serve Him. 

This is the Lord’s will for all peoples of all generations. When a person repents of their sins and receives Jesus as their Savior and Lord, God uses them to reveal Jesus to those around them. So just as Mary brought Jesus into the world, so also we have the same opportunity to bring Jesus to all peoples of the earth. And in this way, God’s kingdom will continue to expand to the ends of the earth. So in a sense, to those who take up the blessed life as God’s servants, the Holy Spirit will come upon them and the power of the Most High will overshadow them. But we must repent of our sins, accept God’s love, and allow Him to be our Master and Lord despite our circumstances. It is God who gives us joy in serving Him and it is God who makes our lives beautiful in doing so. For Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

Now, let’s look at vs. 39-45. (Don’t read)

³⁹At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴²In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

After the angel left, Mary got ready and hurried to Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house. From Nazareth, where Mary lived, to the town in the hill country of Judea, where Elizabeth and Zechariah lived, it was about 80 miles. That’s like about from Irvine to San Diego. By the time she arrived at Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house, she must have been exhausted, but at the same time, excited to share the news. But before she could say anything, vs. 42-45 says that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. “⁴²In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

What a surprise! Mary did not even say anything, yet through the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth knew everything! This very much encouraged Mary and reassured her that she had made the right decision in coming to stay with this family. Elizabeth and Zechariah not only understood her, but could also share with her what the Lord had done for them in allowing Elizabeth to conceive at an old age, well, at least Elizabeth could; Zechariah was silenced. This family was certainly a source of blessing and encouragement for Mary at this time. Even baby John leaped for joy in Elizabeth’s womb upon recognizing baby Jesus who was just newly conceived in Mary’s womb. Her soul and spirit could take comfort and have peace knowing that both her and her baby were safe here. 

In fact, the Lord gave her so much joy that she sang a song. 

⁴⁶And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord ⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, ⁴⁸for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, ⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. ⁵⁰His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. ⁵¹He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. ⁵²He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. ⁵³He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. ⁵⁴He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful ⁵⁵to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers." ⁵⁶Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

What a difference from her response in vs. 29 when the angel first greeted her! At first, she was greatly troubled because she didn’t know what the angel’s greeting meant. But after submitting herself to God as His servant, she could say, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Now, from her inmost being, she glorified the Lord and rejoiced in God her Savior. Because of her faith in God’s word and her belief in His love as her Master, she could experience so much joy. She knew that her life was in the hands of a loving and faithful God. 

From her song, we can see that Mary realized she was not worthy of such favor and blessing, but she was so thankful to God for being mindful of her humble state. From now on all generations would call her blessed. She could see God as her Savior and as the Mighty One, who had done great things for her. She could see His righteousness and His sovereignty, His justice and His mercy that extends to all who fear Him. She could also see God’s faithfulness in sending the Messiah, the Savior of the World, as He had promised to Abraham and his descendents. She realized God’s mercy on all peoples and His great love to send a Savior to them. Her eyes were opened to God’s personal love for her as well as to His love and plan for all peoples. 

When we accept God’s sovereignty with a believing heart, and are ready to serve Him at any time and in any way, He is so pleased and opens our spiritual eyes to see his much bigger plan and purpose. What a privilege and blessing it is to serve the Lord! What amazing grace and honor the Lord extended to His servant Mary. And what amazing grace He extends to us. 

ONE WORD: “I am the Lord’s servant.”