An overview for Sunday school workers who are teaching Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson for Dec. 22, 2024, Luke 1:26-38, with the title “Delivered From Sin.” A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO  One of my very favorite books is Mark Twain’s The Innocents Abroad, the story of his steamboat cruise to Europe and the Holy Land. It’s a very entertaining book, but he also shares some truly insightful things. After visiting Rome, Twain writes:

“In all seriousness—without meaning to be frivolous—without meaning to be irreverent, and more than all, without meaning to be blasphemous,—I state as my simple deduction from the things I have seen and the things I have heard, that the Holy Personages rank thus in Rome:  

First — ‘The Mother of God’—otherwise the Virgin Mary. 

Second—The Deity. (God)

Third — Peter.  

Fourth—Some twelve or fifteen canonised Popes and martyrs. 

(THEN) —Jesus Christ the Saviour—(but always as an infant in arms). 

I may be wrong in this—my judgment errs often, just as is the case with other men’s—but it is my judgment, be it good or bad.”

(Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, p. 273)

??? What do you think about Mark Twain’s observation here???

(From the paintings, statues, etc. in Rome, it appears to Twain that Mary has too high a place in their regard — even over God! — and Jesus is way down on the list, almost insignificant in comparison. And of course this is misguided and imbalanced. 

You could follow that up with a question like: ??? Do we see some of this today as well — have YOU seen it???

I’m sure there’s plenty of good discussion to be had about Mark Twain’s quote! But when you’re finished, then you can say: In today’s lesson we get a balanced, Biblical perspective on Mary from our focus passage in Luke 1:26-38.

OR for an alternative introduction, you might ask: 

??? Have you ever been present for an important announcement — maybe something at work, or a political announcement — or the calling/retirement of a pastor/kicking off of a new ministry or building???

Then after you/your group have shared these things, transition with: In today’s lesson in Luke 1:26-38 we’ll study one of the most important announcements in all history: the announcement of the coming birth of Jesus through the Virgin Mary.

CONTEXT:

We pause our study in Exodus for a Christmas lesson this Sunday before Christmas, as is the habit of the Lifeway editors. This Christmas lesson is from Luke 1. In context, Luke has introduced his book in the first verses of Chapter 1, telling how the Lord led him to research his work and share this Gospel. Then he begins the story in :5 sharing how the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias the priest while he was ministering in the Temple, telling him that he and his previously barren wife Elizabeth would have a son, to be named John, who would prepare the way for the coming Messiah. Verse 24 tells us the Elizabeth DID indeed become pregnant — which brings us to :26 and our passage for today. 

OUTLINE

I. The Unusual Meeting (:26-28)

II. The Promise of the Messiah (:29-33)

III. The Servant’s Response (:34-38)

TEXT:

I. The Unusual Meeting (:26-28)

1:26 “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin [a]engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 

— “the sixth month” is the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy as we see referred to in :36. 

— “The angel Gabriel.” Interestingly, “Gabriel” the angel is mentioned by name here. He is also mentioned specifically as appearing to Zacharias earlier in this chapter.  In :11 he tells Zacharias “I stand in the presence of God.” So he was evidently a very important/privileged angel — and of course he was here on an extremely important mission!

The only other angel of God mentioned by name in scripture is Michael the archangel, (Daniel chapters 10 &12, Jude 1:9, and Rev. 12:7) — unless you count Lucifer possibly in Isaiah 14:12.

So just what IS an “angel”? We have a lot of preconceived ideas about them — some of them right, others perhaps more from pop culture than reality. To me the best definition is one that comes from scripture — and thankfully God gives us just that, in Hebrews 1:14, where, speaking of angels, it says: 

“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”

So we see here the Bible gives us a very solid, specific definition of an angel: they are “ministering spirits” — so they are spirits — “sent out” (from God like Gabriel from God’s presence); “to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation” — that is, they help God’s people!  The Greek verb “angelo” from which we get the word “angel” means “to announce” or “bring tidings.”

In this case, the angel Gabriel is sent out from the very presence of God, with a most important message that he will give to Mary about her role in bringing the Messiah to earth to save God’s people. 

(??? You could ask: how does the Bible’s definition and description of angels differ from popular opinion???)

:27 “to a virgin” The Greek word “parthenos” means a maiden, a virgin.  This is vital, as it was prophesied in Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

The second part of :27 says this young woman was “engaged to a man whose name was Joseph.” The word “engaged” in the NASB is actually “betrothed,” not a word we often use today, but it had a very specific meaning in Bible times — and was a bit different from what we think of as “engagement.” 

biblehub.com = “In ancient Jewish culture, betrothal was a significant and binding agreement, often arranged by the families of the bride and groom. It was more formal than a modern engagement and required a legal divorce to break. The betrothal period typically lasted about a year, during which the couple was considered legally married, though they did not live together or consummate the marriage until the wedding ceremony. This period allowed the groom to prepare a home for his bride and the bride to prepare for her new life.”

So Mary & Joseph were “betrothed,” strongly engaged/promised to be married, but the marriage had not yet been consummated. The “requiring a legal divorce to break” part that Biblehub mentioned is seen in Matthew 1, when Joseph initially discovers that Mary is pregnant, and set about to divorce her privately. 

So this was their situation: they were “betrothed.”

AND NOTICE that :27 goes on to say “of the descendants of David.” “Descendants” is literally “house.” This is vital, because the Messiah was prophesied to come from the house of David.

This is why Matthew emphasizes in Chapter 1, “The genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham,” because the Messiah was promised to come from Abraham, of the people of Israel, and later specifically from the house of David:

— In II Samuel 7:12-16, God promises David that He would raise up a Descendant whose house and throne would be established forever.

— Isaiah 11:1 prophesies that Messiah will be “from the stem of Jesse,” David’s father. 

— Jeremiah 23:5-6 ““Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely, And do justice and righteousness in the land. 6  “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’”

So it was prophesied that the Messiah would come from the house of David. Every Jew knew that. This why Luke 2:4 famously that Joseph went to Bethlehem during the census, “because he was of the house and lineage of David.” 

So Jesus WAS indeed born into this house of David, fulfilling the prophecy.  

So this angel Gabriel, sent from God, comes to this Virgin Mary, betrothed to Joseph, “of the house of David” — and what what does he say to her?

NASB “Greetings”, KJV “Hail,”  is the Greek “kaire,” literally “Joy!” but was a common greeting. (Like “shalom”/peace)

And Gabriel called her “favored one” — Greek “karito-o”: one endowed or given grace by God. We might well translate: “graced one” — she is “one given grace.” 

This is important. As devout as Mary was, she didn’t “earn” this privilege. It was all of God’s grace that He chose her to carry His Son. She was a “graced one.”

And of course the application for us today too is that WE TOO do not become who we are in Christ by our own good works and deeds. It is all of His grace (Eph. 2:8-9). We are just “graced ones” as well, just like Mary. So emphasize to your group the importance of grace for salvation, and every good thing in the Christian life. It is all grace. 

An ILLUSTRATION of grace you may want to use, comes from the journal of John Lloyd Stephens, who trekked through Egypt and the Holy Land in the early 1800s. He’d been visiting Mt. Sinai, and was leaving the monastery there, when the monk shows him a great kindness: the monk said he had not left the convent for 3 years, but he led Stephens outside the walls of the monastery and on his way.  Stephens wrote: 

“The kindhearted old man intended it as an act of extraordinary kindness; I received it as such … I felt proud of his kindness—prouder than I should have been of a reception at a European court, or a greeting from royal lips—and my pride was the greater that I did not ascribe it to any merits of my own.”(John Lloyd Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petraea, and the Holy Land, p. 193)

Stephens’ words exactly describe God’s grace to us: we cannot ascribe it to any merits of our own. We are all “graced ones,” like Mary.

II. The Promise of Messiah (:29-33)

29 “But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 30 The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.’”

Verse 29 says Mary was “perplexed” at this statement and wondered what kind of greeting was this. The word “perplexed” here is “diaterasso”: “terasso” meaning “troubled” or “agitated,” and “dia” meaning “through” — so it was a deep-seated feeling she had here — as you can imagine!

Then he repeats again: “you have found favor with God.” Again this is “karis,” “grace.” She didn’t earn this, this is God’s grace, like we just talked about.

Then Gabriel gives the heart of his message in :31-33, and it’s all about the Messiah who is to be born through her. These verses list a number of things that Gabriel told Mary. 

A PARTICIPATION EXERCISE you could do: HAVE YOUR GROUP CALL OUT ALL THE THINGS THESE VERSES TELL US about the Messiah.

(Answers can include:

— He will be born of Mary “you will conceive …” etc.

— He will be  “a son.”

— “You shall call His name Jesus” (from the Hebrew Yehoshua, or “Joshua,” meaning “Yahweh is salvation.” You can see how significant this name for Him would be! He is literally God’s salvation. Matthew 1:21 says: “He will save His people from their sins.”

— :32 says “He will be great” (Greek “mega”!)

— “Will be called Son of the Most High” I.e., Son of God

— :32 & 33 both tell us He will rule/reign: “give Him the throne of His father David”; “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever”

— and :33 emphasizes that He will NOT just be a temporary ruler: “He will reign over the house of Jacob FOREVER,” and “His kingdom will have NO END.” 

So this is an amazing message: Mary is going to bear the Son of God, who will come to save His people, and establish a kingdom that will last forever!  These are amazing, amazing things, so you can imagine how Mary must felt to hear them — which brings us to our next point: 

III. The Servant’s Response (:34-38)

34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. 36 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. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”

??? You could transition to this point by asking: 

“Did you ever get some news that seemed too good to be true?”??? 

(When Cheryl & I were newly married and then had our first baby, I received a notice that we had won an ounce of gold or $500 — from a box of Kraft instant Macaroni & Cheese! I was like, are you serious? I kept waiting for it to be a scam, but it was not, and we did get the $500, which we really needed. But it was so amazing; it seemed too good to be true. 

You/your group can share your own stories. But then emphasize something like: multiply it many times over, and that’s how Mary felt receiving this news that she would give birth to the Messiah, the Savior of the world! 

So she did ask in :34, “How can this be, since I am virgin?”

And Gabriel explained to her that God’s power would overshadow her, and thus it would be God’s Son.

A good discussion question for your class here might be:

??? How did Mary’s response here in :34 differ from Zecharias’ earlier in Luke 1:18???

(In 1:18 “Zacharias said to the angel, ‘How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.”

Zacharias seemed to really express doubt that this could happen. He said, “How can I know this ‘for certain,’” (literally “according to what will I know this?” really indicating doubt, as we see in Gabriel’s response to him.

Mary on the other hand did say in :34 here, “How can this be since I am a virgin?” But it “seems” like her question was more “procedural;” “How can I have a baby since I’m a virgin” — this had never happened in the history of mankind!  But once Gabriel told her that God’s power would overshadow her and bring forth the baby, she was very accepting: “behold the bondslave of the Lord.”

Some might argue that Zacharias’ and Mary’s responses were not “that” different; but on the other hand, I think you can see some difference; Zacharias’ was more full of doubt; Mary’s more accepting. And definitively, the text specifically says that Gabriel told Zacharias that he would be struck dumb “BECAUSE you did not believe my words.” So that settles it. Zacharias did doubt the message. GOD knew the difference in their hearts, and His plan for each of them, according to His will, was worked out. God was glorified by Zacharias’ silence until the baby was born, which so many people saw — and He was also glorified by Mary’s humble acceptance as His servant.)

I think this also shows us that it’s ok to ask God a question, as Mary did. “How can this be, since I am a virgin.” That’s a legitimate question for sure! We too have legitimate questions, and I don’t think God will hold those against us either. 

ALSO: at the end of Gabriel’s message, he added: “For nothing will be impossible with God.” That’s a good word not only for Mary, but also for many of us today too. When we doubt or wonder if something can happen, let’s remember this verse: “For nothing will be impossible with God.”  

And even when some people call into question the doctrine of the Virgin Birth — this is the answer to them, just as it was for Mary. How can this happen? “For nothing will be impossible for God.” The question really is, do you believe there is a God? Because if you do, then you realize that any of the “hard” things we see in the Bible — like the Virgin Birth — can happen. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” 

But Mary’s response here is a fantastic one, truly a model for all of God’s people. Once the angel had explained it to her (the best she could understand it at this point!) she simply said: “Behold the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”

What a great response: I’m Your servant Lord (literally the word is “dula”, a “female slave.” In other words, Lord, I’m Yours. Do with me whatever You want to do. I belong to you. I’ll believe whatever You tell me to believe; I’m yours! 

We can all apply this to our lives, because this the attitude we should ALL have as God’s people. We’re His. We belong to Him. As Romans says, He is the Potter, and we are the clay. He has the right to do with us as He will. Romans 9:20-21 says: “On the contrary, who are you O man who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this?,’ will it? (:21) Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use?”

The point is: GOD MADE US. We belong to Him. We should have the attitude that He can do anything with us that He wants to. 

And that is even MORE so for us as Christians, as God bought us back from our sins with the blood of Christ. I Corinthians 6:19-20 puts it:  “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

As believers, we have been “bought with a price;” the blood of Jesus. We belong to God (like the old story of the boy who built a boat but had to buy it back from the pawn shop after he’d lost it: “You’re twice mine; I made you, and now I bought you back.”)

Even so we are twice God’s: He made us in the first place, and now He’s bought us back with the blood of Christ. We doubly belong to Him.

SO our attitude should be: whatever God wants to do with me, that is up to Him. We belong to Him.

Now: that gets hard in the course of daily life. We like our “rights” in America, and we also enjoy our privileges. But there are times when like Mary we need to say, “Lord, I am Your servant. Do with me what you want.”

We can think of tons of applications for this:  Lord, is it Your plan for me to glorify You by suffering, when another of Your servants has it easier?  

Think of Peter and John in John 21, when Jesus told Peter he would glorify Him by being bound and killed, and Peter asked Jesus about John: “Lord, what about this man?” And Jesus told him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? YOU follow Me.” In other words, Jesus was telling Peter, I have different assignments I have given to My servants, according to My will. YOU do what I have given YOU to do.  So for whatever assignment God gives us, we too should respond like Mary: “Behold the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” Lord, I’ll do whatever you want me to. I’ll go through whatever You have for me to go through. I’ll accept whatever role YOU give me: “starring role,” with all its burdens and responsibilities, or “servant role” with all its own menial hardships. 

It’s not our choice; it’s His. What WE are responsible for, is to be FAITHFUL in whatever role He has given us. You and I are not called to be the mother of the Messiah. He gave that to Mary. But He has given us other responsibilities, which are personal for us. Our role, when He has given to us, is to say like Mary: “Behold the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” Basically, it’s saying, “Father, Your will be done” in my life. Just like Jesus at Gethsemane. Not my will, but Yours.  And in that, Mary is a great role model for us all.  

Now, at the end of the lesson, if you have time after you’ve made some of these points, or at some other point as you are led to, you might DISCUSS divergent attitudes towards Mary: 

— ??? Is there a legitimate place for Mary as a role model?

— ??? Can it be taken too far? Although some religions/denominations assert that they do not “worship” Mary, but simply “venerate” her, that line is very thin! And in fact that “line” often gets crossed and becomes worship. Many of us have seen examples of that. Here are a couple (I will post on my blog) from my own experience; you can use them if you wish, or you/your group can share from your own experience.

This first picture is from a home in Bulgaria. It has several “icons” on the fireplace mantle. But zoom in and you’ll see that by FAR the biggest and most prominent, at the top, is Mary — with a much smaller Jesus. (Kind of reminds you of what Mark Twain said in the Introduction!) 

This second picture is an icon of Mary (again with a very small baby Jesus!) in a church in Chepelare, Bulgaria. The apples hung around the icon of Mary are striking: “What is with the apples?”, we asked? The answer the priest gave us is that childless couples would come to the church, and if they left Mary an apple, they believed they would have a child.  Of course this is just blatant pagan superstition, and should have no place in Christian worship. 

You might also consider the “Ave Maria/Hail Mary” prayer many Catholics use:

“Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

As an exercise you could post this prayer and ask: 

??? What do you see here that is concerning — particularly contradictory to Scriptural teaching???

(You might include in your discussion:

— Nowhere in scripture does the Bible teach us to address men in prayer, only GOD.

— I Timothy 2:5 tells us “there is one God, and ONE MEDIATOR between men and God, the Man Christ Jesus”. We do not need Mary, or anyone else, to intercede for us with God. Jesus alone performs that role. (This does not rule out praying for others, which is Biblical, but there is no example or command in scripture to call upon deceased saints to pray for us. It is just not Biblical.)

The Bottom Line: 

— Is there a place for Mary as a legitimate role model in Christian teaching? Absolutely. We should all respond like she did to God’s assignments. 

— But has her role in fact been taken too far by many? Absolutely. There are too many examples to believe otherwise.

— AND, on the other side of the issue: is it possible that many of US as Baptists NEGLECT Mary, because of the abuses of others? I think so. Years ago I preached a sermon on Mary during the Christmas season, and I had a long-time Southern Baptist come up to me afterwards and say “That is the first sermon on Mary I have heard preached in my entire life.” I was astounded. If that’s so, that is going way too far the other way! Mary is a key person in the New Testament, and we need to be careful not to neglect her legitimate place in scripture just because others have taken it too far.

As in so many other areas of the Christian life, the key is BALANCE. We need to keep Mary’s role in a good, scriptural balance. Don’t ignore her, just because others take her role too far. God chose her and graced her to bear the Messiah; and she had a model response to that assignment. But neither should we worship her. Mary would be the FIRST to tell us: it is not about me. I am merely God’s slave. Look to my SON! Worship HIM!  This Christmas season, let’s make it all about Jesus, who came to save His people from our sins!   

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