‘BLESSED IS SHE WHO BELIEVED’ – Luke 1:39-45
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on December 18, 2011 under 2011 |
Preached December 18, 2011
from
Luke 1:39-45
Theme: Blessedness in the things of God comes to those who first believe God’s promises about them.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
It’s a story of what happened immediately after the angel Gabriel had come to the young virgin Mary in Nazareth, and told her of how she would bear the Son of God in her womb. In Luke 1:39-45, we’re told;
Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord” (Luke 1:39-45).
There are many wonderful things that are told to us in this passage. But the thing that I most want to draw your attention to this morning is the closing statement that was spoken concerning Mary; “Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
To be “blessed” means to be happy. The word that’s used here is the same one that our Lord used in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . .”, or “Blessed are those who mourn . . .”, or “Blessed are the meek . . .” It means, “How truly happy . . .!” And that’s what is said of Mary in this passage—”Blessed is she”, or “How truly happy is she . . .” This exclamation of profound blessedness or happiness is specifically declared upon Mary as “she who believed” the things “which were told her from the Lord”. In other words, she is “blessed” as one “who believed”.
And notice carefully the reason why she was said to be “blessed” in her believing. It wasn’t simply because “believing” gave her happy feelings inside. Rather, it was because of something that was real, and objective, and that would prove to be empirically verifiable no matter what her feelings might have been. It was because—as she was told by this woman Elizabeth while under the prevailing influence of the Holy Spirit—”there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord”. The Lord had told Mary, through the angel that He had sent to her, that He was going to do something through her that was miraculous and unprecedented in human history—something humanly impossible. In humble faith, Mary believed what the Lord said. And in believing, she was truly “blessed”; because there would be a complete fulfillment of all those things that God had told her. Her faith in those things was, in fact, being validated in her hearing that very moment by her encounter with this woman Elizabeth!
* * * * * * * * * *
Note carefully the order of events. It wasn’t that Mary was “blessed” and therefore “believed”. That’s often the way most people expect it to go with the things of God—”Bless me first; and then I’ll believe the things You say!” Rather, God shows us here in His word that Mary humbly “believed”; and because she believed, she was “blessed”. That’s God’s way of working with us. That’s the pathway to a lasting, prevailing happiness in the things of God. And that’s what makes this morning’s passage something very practical to learn from during the week leading up to Christmas.
You see; Christmas time—perhaps more than any other time of the year—is a time when people all around us think a great deal about happiness. We all want happiness. We all truly need happiness. We even have it in our typical greetings to one another: “Merry Christmas! Happy holidays!” And in pursuit of that happiness, more and more ‘sentimentality’ is put into the season. There are more and more gifts being given, and there are more and more greetings sent, and there are more and more parties that are put on. There are even radio stations that, for the whole month of December, play nothing but Christmas ‘favorites’ twenty-four hours a day. There are all the festive sights and sounds and smells that we associate with Christmas time. And please understand—it’s not that those things are wrong. It’s just that, for many of the people around us, it’s through those things that the “blessedness” of Christmas expected to come. That “blessedness” and “happiness” is a thing that is being sought after as a thing in and of itself—almost as a “feeling” separated from “facts”.
And yet, at the same time, people aren’t being made all that much more happy by it all. I would never say that happiness doesn’t happen. It certainly does to some degree. I experience it and enjoy it too. But it’s not a happiness that lasts. As soon as the holiday is over, it’s back to life as usual. And sadly—for some people—even the sentimentality and supposed “happy feelings” of the Christmas season itself leaves them painfully frustrated and disappointed and depressed. I’m suggesting to you that this morning’s passage tells us something very important about true happiness in the season. It’s because the blessedness that is to come to us from the things of God—including the blessedness of Christmas—is not something to be pursued as an end in itself. Rather, it’s a byproduct of genuinely believing what God has said.
Among the many things that this morning’s passage teaches us, we find a vitally important spiritual principle. It’s one that we need both to embrace and declare this Christmas. The story of Elizabeth’s Spirit-inspired declaration to Mary teaches us that blessedness in the things of God comes to those who first humble themselves and faithfully believe God’s promises about them. Blessedness is a byproduct of believing.
* * * * * * * * * *
Let’s go back in this first chapter of Luke’s gospel, and get some of the background behind this remarkable meeting. And let’s begin with this woman Elizabeth.
In verses 5-7, Luke tells us;
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years (Luke 1:5-7).
Elizabeth was of the priestly line of Aaron. And her husband Zecharias was himself a priest from a very honored line of priests. They were outstandingly godly people. But they were also childless. Their chances of having a child in an ordinary way had come and gone. They were now in their older years.
But it happened that a great honor came upon Zacharias. He was called upon to burn incense at the altar in the temple for his people. All the people stood outside and prayed as he went in to the temple to perform his appointed priestly duty. And we’re told that, as he ministered at the altar of incense, a remarkable message was brought to him;
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (vv. 11-17).
As great an honor as it was to serve in the temple, the angel told the old priest Zacharias that God was bestowing an even greater honor upon him and his wife Elizabeth. She would bear him a son—even in their old age. That son, of course, we know as John the Baptist. The angel said that he would be “great in the sight of the Lord”. He would be set aside from birth for the Lord’s purposes; therefore, he would “drink neither wine nor strong drink”. What’s more, we’re told that something would be true of him that, as far as we can know, has never been true of another unborn child before him—that he would be “filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb”. He would be a fiery man—a man who served God in the spirit and power of the great prophet Elijah. And greatest of all, he would be the forerunner of the long-awaited Messiah—announcing Him to His people.
Imagine! Zacharias and Elizabeth were not able to have a child before this. But now, they are told that they would have a most remarkable child! Zacharias was not able to believe this; and to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure that I can blame him. We’re told;
And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time” (vv. 18-20).
His question, “How shall I know this?”, was an expression of disbelief—almost as if he were saying to the angel, “But I’m old, and my wife is old! What’s the likelihood that I will ever see the thing you described ever coming to pass?” Those words of unbelief were the last words he spoke for a while; because he was rendered unable to speak until those things were fulfilled.
But after he completed his priestly service—more than just a little bit stunned, we can be sure!—he went home to Elizabeth. And shortly thereafter, she conceived—just as the angel said. And it was this very child—this miracle child that was promised by God’s angel Gabriel—who was in the womb of Elizabeth when Mary came to visit her six months later.
* * * * * * * * * *
And so; let’s go on to consider Mary. Luke goes on to tell us;
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (vv. 26-34).
The child of Elizabeth and Zacharias was a priestly child, born of a priestly lineage. But that would not be true of the child that was being promised to this young girl Mary. He would be born of the royal lineage of King David. More than that, He would be called “the Son of the Highest”—that is, He would be born of human flesh in the lineage of David; but born as the Son of God in human flesh. He would be a king who would reign forever. And we should never forget the tremendous significance of the name that the angel said would be given to Him. He would be called “Jesus”—which means “Yahweh Saves”.
Now; we’re told that Mary struggled with this. Zacharias also struggled with the news that was given to him; but not in the same way. The struggle of Zacharias was one of unbelief—”How shall I know this?”; which was to say, “What is the likelihood that that will ever happen?” But Mary’s struggle was not so much over whether or not it could happen, but rather—if we may put it this way—over the ‘method’ of how such a thing will be accomplished in a virtuous young woman such as her. We’re told, “Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’” (v. 34). (I read a skeptic once who tried to argue that the virgin-birth of our Savior was a myth that developed because people in ancient times didn’t really understand where babies came from. Mary certainly knew—and was perplexed by how it could be that she—a virgin—could bear a child who would be the Savior.)
The answer she was given is one that is best simply read in reverent wonder:
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (v. 35).
But it’s then that Mary’s relative Elizabeth is again brought into the story. We read that the angel went on to say;
“Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her (vv. 36-38).
Note that there was no unbelief on Mary’s part in any of this. She truly believed this remarkable thing that the angel told her. In fact, she believed it so thoroughly that she humbly and willingly submitted herself to God’s declared purpose for her—even though it may bring scandal and talk upon her—saying, “Let it be to me according to your word.”
For Mary, belief in the promise of God came first. And the blessedness flowed from that belief.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; there is an important part of this story that God has wrapped in a veil of mystery. Precisely how or when it all happened is something that it’s not for us to know. But it must be that sometime between the hearing of these words from the angel and the time that she stepped into Elizabeth’s home—a distance of three days from Nazareth—God the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and overshadowed her, and caused the Son of God to be conceived as a human being and to begin to grow and develop in her womb from the substance of her own body.
But why did she go to visit Elizabeth? The angel didn’t tell her to do so. It would have taken an act of faith; because there was no other way that she could have known of—or even have guessed at—the fact that her old Aunt Betsy was pregnant unless the angel had told her. But Mary believed; and away she went over the hill country—”with haste”—to the place in Judah where Zacharias and Elizabeth lived. And as soon as Mary walked in through the door and greeted Elizabeth, the things that she had already heard and already believed from the angel became powerfully verified to her.
We’re told first that Elizabeth’s baby—John the Baptist—leaped in her womb. Later, Elizabeth said that he leaped “for joy”. John was born to Zachariah and Elizabeth specifically to declare the One who was then in the womb of Mary! No wonder he leaped for joy! We may ask how it could be that John—an unborn child in the womb—would know to rejoice at the presence of Jesus; and it helps to remember that Zacharias was told that his son would “be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (v. 15). Surely it was under the Spirit’s influence that he leaped for joy!
But John wasn’t the only one who was filled with the Holy Spirit! We’re told that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit at the leaping of John within her; and that “she spoke out with a loud voice”—or as it says in the English Standard Version, “exclaimed with a loud cry”—and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” The word “blessed” that’s used in verse 42 is a different one from the one used in verse 49. This one speaks, not to much of the feeling of being ‘blessed’, but the fact of it. Mary was being told that she was a woman who was highly honored and highly favored. And what a wonderful surprise that must have been to Mary! The angel had said essentially the same thing to her: “Rejoice, highly favored one . . .!” How else but through the Holy Spirit could Elizabeth know to greet her in the same way that the angel had greeted her? And how else but through the Lord could Elizabeth know that the young virgin Mary was pregnant; and that the fruit of her womb was also blessed?
What’s more, how else but through the Holy Spirit could Elizabeth know that the small life in Mary’s womb—just having been conceived—was none other than the Son of God that the angel said He was? How else would Elizabeth—a woman much older than Mary—know to speak to her as if Mary were in a position more honored than her? How else would she know to have said, “But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” How else but through the Spirit would she know that the child within her was joyful in the presence of the Child within Mary? How else would she know to say, “For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.”
And then came those great words of affirmation to Mary’s faith: “Blessed [that is, “how truly happy”] is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” The Child within her would be all that the angel from the Lord had told her He would be. Mary already believed it. But now, her faith had been affirmed and she was truly blessed in her belief. That’s why she broke into a great “Amen”—what we might call the second Christmas hymn ever sung in history:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever” (vv. 46-55).
We’re told that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for another three months—perhaps long enough to be with Elizabeth until John the Baptist was born. And then, Mary the faithful believer went home—bearing the obvious signs of the precious Son of God growing within her womb.
* * * * * * * * * *
So you see; it wasn’t that Mary was “blessed” and therefore “believed”. Rather, she sets the example for us this Christmas season in that she humbly “believed”; and because she believed, she therefore was “blessed”.
This reminds me of another story in the life of our Lord. After this same Jesus went to the cross, died for us, and was raised from the dead, He appeared bodily to many of His disciples. One of them, Thomas, wasn’t present to see Him; and therefore, he didn’t believe that He was alive. He told his fellow disciples, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).
Eight days later, the Lord Jesus appeared again to His disciples. This time, Thomas was present; and Jesus showed Himself to Thomas and said, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing” (v. 27). We’re not told that Thomas put forth his hand and did as the Lord offered; but we are told that he most definitely believed! He answered and said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” And that’s when Jesus said to him—and perhaps to all of us at the same time—”Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (v. 29).
Blessed are those who believe! May that be our story this Christmas; because true blessedness in the things of God comes to those who first believe God’s promises about them.
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