Nearly one-third of lottery winners eventually file for bankruptcy. And lottery winners have a higher rate of divorce than the general population. So that's one where you might want to be careful what you wish for. And let's look at a second one here. Oh, President of the United States, power, right? Authority, respect. And then you look at a picture before and after. You mean it's only been four or eight years? Is this the same person? When I look at what our president has endured for four years, and I say to myself, who in their right mind would embrace that? You have to really, really love your country to serve in a position like that. And then there's a third one. Here's one that young people, especially young boys, wow, if I could be a fighter jet pilot, that would be the greatest thing. That's what I want more than anything else. It's a roller coaster ride that never ends. Can you imagine? I go to work and ride a roller coaster. And what they don't realize is that that prestige and that glory is 1%. and the situation of being in a teeny tiny cockpit where you can't move, and the back problems that plague fighter jet pilots, many of them the rest of their lives, from enduring g-forces, and having a job where you're never ever in your entire career allowed to make one significant mistake, a job where Less than a second is the difference between life and death for you and others. Is that really all it's cracked up to be? So we have Jewish women who throughout the centuries wanted to be the mother of the Messiah. And none of them probably realized what they were wishing for. Many of them would probably reconsider if they knew the true price. And I want us today to consider the price of mothering the Messiah. You know, Christmas messages tend to focus on angels and on wise men and on shepherds, but seldom on Mary, and there's a very legitimate reason for that. It is a reaction to the Mariolatry of the Catholic Church, and we know We know that Mary was not sinless. We also know that she had other children. We know that she is not our mediator. She is not the queen of heaven. She is not the co-redemptrix. We know all those things from scripture, but let's remember that she did have the unique distinction of being the mother of the Messiah. And through the miraculous birth, she had that unique privilege that one lady in all of human history was to have. And the scriptures do say that future generations would call her blessed. So, the price of her privilege was profound. It serves as a very practical challenge to each of us, especially at this time of year. So let's turn to Luke chapter one. And we'll be referencing a number of different texts this morning. I might call on you to quickly rise to the occasion and read a verse or two. So have your Bibles in hand. But here, let's just remind ourselves of something we're very familiar with, but just to get the details back in our minds. Let's look here at Luke chapter one, and we'll just take verses 26 to 33. Gabriel the angel is coming to her in verse 26. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth. to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in under her and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. And when she heard him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. And he shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. And then turn also to chapter two, and we're gonna look at verses 34 to 35. And here we go. And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his mother, behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. There's so much here, but I want to focus on Simeon's phrase with the word sword. And his prophecy to Mary, a sword shall pierce thy soul also. And I've always taken that to mean that a sword would pierce the side of Christ, and we know that that was true. The Greek scholar A.T. Robertson writes, how little Mary understood the meaning of Simeon's words that seem so out of place in the midst of the glorious things already spoken. A sharp thorn in their roses, a veritable bitter sweet, but one day Mary will stand by the cross of Christ with his, let me see if I can pronounce this right, Thracian, I think that might be how you say it, Javelin, clean through her soul. It is only a parenthesis here and a passing cloud, perhaps passed over Mary's heart, already puzzled with rapture and ecstasy. And I thought Robertson really captured it there. I'm not sure how much attention she gave to it. I'm certain she did not perceive the level of difficulty that this change of life circumstances was going to bring upon her. The Bible exposition commentary makes this statement. The image of the sword was for Mary alone, and it spoke of the suffering and sorrow she would bear as the mother of the Messiah. The Greek word means a large sword, such as Goliath used, and the verb means constantly keep on piercing. and she was going to suffer pain upon pain, sorrow upon sorrow in mothering the Messiah. Now, let's begin today. We're gonna use alliteration. There we go, all right. So we're gonna use alliteration. The first one, Mary suffered disgrace. Her pregnancy robbed her of the respectability that she had in her community. It robbed her of her reputation. She had a stellar, untarnished reputation in her community and with her family, among her relatives. She suffered here unjust moral shame and social ostracism. Had it not been for divine intervention, even Joseph, whom she loved and who was soon to be her husband, he would have divorced her from the binding engagement that they had according to their culture and customs. She would have been left alone in disgrace had it not been for the dream that the Lord gave to her, to Joseph. So like all young women, she anticipated the joy of courtship, the joy of engagement, the fairy tale wedding that was to come. the ceremony, the joy of marriage itself and motherhood. These were all things she looked forward to like any other girl, and these dreams were shattered, forever altered by this angelic announcement. This was only the beginning of a lifetime of unjust shame and stigma for her. Barnes writes, Both to Joseph and Mary, this must have been a great trial. Joseph was ardently attached to her, but her character was likely to be ruined, and he deemed it proper to separate her from him. But of course, the Lord intervened. And another quote, the sufferings of both Mary and Joseph must have been very extreme at this time. One being forced to suspect the chief object of his affections and the other being compelled to rest under the unjust suspicions of loved ones because of a condition which God alone could explain. So Mary suffered disgrace. Mary also, oh, by the way, if you folks will give me a heads up at 10 after, because I'd like to end right about 10 after. We must never end later than a quarter after, but 10 after is the target. All right, Mary suffered displacement. We are primarily referring here to the flight to Egypt, but also of her trip to visit Zacharias and Elizabeth. So there were two occasions here. I've often read that passage and just thought that she took a trip for whatever reason, but the consensus is, if you study the passages, that probably it was her distress that sent her to Zacharias and Elizabeth. And there's a lot that we have to surmise and read between the lines. There's a lot of the details that simply are not recorded for us in scripture. But it would appear that both the flight down to Egypt and the trip to Zacharias and Elizabeth were a result of hardship that they were facing, a displacement, to use that alliterative word. Now, let's do go to Luke chapter one. I'm looking for a volunteer to read verses 39 to 44. Yes, go ahead, Mike. I can only imagine the sense of relief, the comfort that it would have been to Mary at this time to find her cousin and her cousin's husband who were understanding, who were of faith, who could see that God was in this and could accept the miracle explanation of it. And, you know, I think it serves as a picture of the balm that we can be to others, of what it means to a person who's suffering, a person who feels alone, a person who feels like they're misunderstood, to have someone who can lovingly wrap their arms around them and truly identify with their situation and be a spiritual help to them. And that's what we find here. And I'm sure that this was a tremendous, tremendous encouragement to Mary, And it suggests that there was a lot of tension with her family and in-laws. Now, one commentator wrote concerning her trip here to Zacharias and Elizabeth, fear of shame and unkindness made her an exile and this was the first act in a long and sorrowful drama of her life. Again, it's only a couple of verses, so let's take the time to read it, the flight to Egypt. Someone else, please volunteer. Matthew chapter two, verses 13 to 15. Matthew two, 13 to 15. As soon as you find it, raise your hand. Matthew, yes, go ahead, Alan. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and his wings, and he arrived, All right, thank you. And again, all of these are very familiar passages, I'm sure, to all of us. But this is the fulfillment of Hosea 11 in verse one. I called my son out of Egypt. But think about how this totally would have reordered, and actually, I'm sorry, not that you needed this, but there we go. This would have totally reordered, it would have complicated, it would have disrupted their lives. Just imagine that. Not just displaced within Israel, but actually needing to escape to Egypt for fear of the child's life. That's a displacement. And how would you feel if your government wanted to kill you or your child? if they were on the hunt after you. So Joseph and Mary would endure hostility for the rest of their lives. This displacement, there's a lot more we could say about that. You can imagine what that would be like. Not what she would have been expecting a year earlier as she was looking forward to a normal life with the love of her life. All right, let's look at a third area where Mary paid the price for mothering the Messiah. Mary suffered disconnection. I think the mothers in the auditorium will understand this better than any of us men will, but the very special relationship and heart that a mother has for a child That was to a large degree robbed from Mary with regards to her relationship to her son, Jesus. And it's understandable and it's right, but it's still a price she paid as a mother. And so we see in Luke chapter two this event that takes place at the temple. Jesus is 12 years old, and Mary and Joseph are beside themselves. They've left Jerusalem. They assumed that Jesus was with the relatives, and he's nowhere to be found. And you know the story. There's tremendous anxiety in the heart of a mother. Where is my child? And this event was only the beginning of the natural maternal distress that Mary would have to harbor in her heart for Jesus during his adult years. She had to accept that her firstborn was never really truly hers. And she hears from her son Jesus's words I must be about my father's business. And then we have the statement in Matthew 12 where they come to Jesus and say, hey, your mother and your brethren, they're looking for you. And Jesus replies, well, who are my brethren? And who is my mother? And so we see here that Mary understood that He was never hers. She had a stewardship for a time. But I cannot move on without applying this, which is really hopefully obvious to all of us. because we never really own our children, do we? We all understand that our children are a stewardship. We all understand that they will spread their wings and they have their own lives and the will of God and that even as they follow the center of God's will, we will pay a price in what our natural desires might be. And we think of, for example, when someone goes to the mission field, how hard that is for the grandparents who stay behind. And yet we embrace that as the will of God. And so to a degree, we can empathize and understand what Mary faced here as she had to accept that she could never have that motherly relationship that she would have wanted to have with a child who was truly hers. So she suffered disconnection. And she suffered discord. And this was no small matter. Again, we only get glimpses of this in the scripture. We can only surmise. But I can't help but point it out because I personally think that this was a significant matter of difficulty for her. And it was a matter of tension in the home as this human family, a mother, a father, other children, grew up with a perfect person. And that on the surface sometimes might seem a bit humorous, but in reality, that's a hardship. That is a major hardship. And so Mary suffered discord in her home. I'm not talking about discord between her and her son Jesus. I'm talking about her home. Mary's home could never be normal. Having a divine son created a very abnormal home relationship. And they paid the price for it, all of them. Contrary to the Catholic tradition, Scripture is unambiguous that Joseph and Mary had other children. They're actually named in Matthew 13. And the names are James, Joseph, Simon, Judas, and daughters that are unnamed. So this gave a whole new definition, really, to sibling rivalry. I just can't imagine as one of Jesus' half-brothers or sisters trying to deal with him, trying to argue your way, trying to blame your wrong on him, and Mary saying, excuse me, he's the perfect one, you're the sinful child. Mm, ouch. If you thought Joseph was an example of sibling rivalry and wow, the perfect child. So this, while it's tempting to make jokes out of it and to see the light side of it, this was a real hardship and sacrifice that affected their entire family life from beginning to end. There may have been resentment among the children. There probably was resentment. There was tension. There was disharmony. And it was a price that the family paid. And I don't know how they could have gotten around it. Again, it's surmising. The scriptures don't tell us hardly anything on this. But it is not surprising that Jesus' siblings did not believe on him until after the resurrection. We find that in John chapter seven. We can only imagine the challenges this presented to Mary as a mother, to her children. Wiersbe writes this, Christ's brethren, and here it's in parentheses because he was a half-brother, here are his half-brothers and sisters, the children of Mary by Joseph, Jesus was Mary's firstborn, indicating that she had other children. Christ's brethren did not believe in him at this time, although Acts 114 would indicate that after his resurrection, they did receive him. Wiersbe goes on to mention Psalm 69 verses 8 to 9 predicted their unbelief. and is another proof of the fact that Mary did bear other children. So, you know, it is amazing that the Catholic Church holds to some of these traditions in the face of such absolutely clear statements of scripture. All right, so then Mary suffered distress. That's an understatement. I only used the word distress because I had to keep with my alliteration, but it's a very weak word for what we're talking about here. She suffered distress. A very mild word for all that she experienced. And of course, what probably comes to your mind is the pinnacle experience of distress for a mother as she stood at the foot of the cross. Take a moment, just stop and pause. Can you picture Mary at the foot of the cross? What would that do to a mother? The price she paid, unimaginable. She suffered distress in witnessing the cross, her son's execution, She no doubt experienced continual motherly distress throughout his ministry. As you know, he was hounded by the political leaders, especially the religious leaders. They wanted him dead. We are very much aware that only by divine intervention was he protected from death prematurely in his ministry. You can only imagine the distress that she had as a mother to see the powerful forces at work against her son, those who rejected, who felt threatened by him. Matthew 12, 22 to 24, John 8, 48, verse 52. Some other scripture references I have here, but I'm gonna keep moving because of the time. Her distress culminated, of course, at the cross. when Jesus uttered those tender words to John in John 19, 25 to 27, where he speaks to John and says, now you take care of my mother. It's a remarkably tender moment. It's another great tribute to Mary that Jesus took thought of her during his darkest hour. as he hung on the cross. What greater tribute could she have as a woman and as a mother? And so on this day, she fully experienced the fulfillment of Simeon's prophecy that her soul would be pierced. And I'm sure that the emotional pain that she suffered was just as severe as if physically a sword or a javelin had been thrust through her. Now, I want to close today with two reasons to admire Mary. Of course, we've hit all these throughout the lesson, but I wanna zero in. There are really, in my mind, two outstanding reasons we ought to admire Mary. It's good to do a lesson on Mary, not just on shepherds and angels and so forth. First reason, God chose her. There was something, about her that was unique, apart from her lineage. Part of the reason is revealed in the angelic pronouncement in Luke 1. You've got this statement, thou art highly favored. You know, that's something if your peers say that. It's something if adults say that to a child, a teacher says it to a student. But when an angel says that that's God's viewpoint of you, wow. that says something. The Lord is with thee. Thou hast found favor with God. With no further explanation, we know that even as a young person, Mary excelled in her devotion to Jehovah. She was a godly young woman. We know that. An exceptionally godly young woman. We have her song where she actually speaks in Luke 1, 46 to 55, and I wanted to read that this morning, but we just are running short on time. But you know the song. You know where she speaks. She magnifies the Lord. It's poetic. It sounds like scripture. It's amazing. She references. at least 15 Old Testament texts when she gives that song that is recorded for us out of her own mouth. So we see her heart for God, her faith, her knowledge of scripture, her doctrinal breath. It's amazing. It's especially noteworthy that she uses the phrase, God my savior. And we find that in verse 47 of Luke chapter one. Now, this terminology, God my Savior, it's not foreign to the Old Testament, but it's unusual for Old Testament usage. And I believe it really distinguishes her as a true woman of personal faith rather than simply a proud Jew who trusted in the nation's covenant relationship with Jehovah. And the application, of course, to us is that we distinguish, of course, between those who have an outward connection with Christianity through baptism or whatever, or church affiliation, and those who know Christ through personal encounter and experience in a decision of faith. And that's the distinction we see between Mary and the other Jews, the majority of Jews. And then the second reason why I think that we need to admire Mary is by faith she embraced a radically different life than she would have otherwise had. This is, you know, remarkable. There is not one inkling of evidence in scripture that she ever regretted the role that God cast her in. And I hope this morning we have a greater understanding of what a woman of faith she was. She gave up all she ever hoped to be in her life for the privilege of being the mother of the Messiah. It was a price far greater than probably any of us have ever really contemplated. And we need to admire her for that. And it serves as a challenge to us regarding the will of God and the price we may pay in our obedience to God. Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Those are things to meditate on. But I want to close now with questions to ponder. Just look at these, read them. After all that we've looked at, do you really envy the life of Mary? Would you want to trade places with her? Is your ideal life full of disgrace, displacement, disconnection, discord, and distress? Of course not. No one would choose that for themselves. Were her sacrifices worth the privilege of being the mother of the Messiah? She would say yes. That's the important point, not what do we think. She would say yes. So does anyone who follows God's path to the end. Do our children really belong to us or are we just stewards of them? So we know the answer, that's a rhetorical question. So the challenge of this lesson is that all of us, and women especially, should have the parental heart of Mary. We need to recognize that The Lord has his own plans and purposes for our children. It may run contrary to our natural desires for our children. Missionary calling, of course, is a great example of that. Mary, she's an ordinary woman. This is a quote. I'm gonna bring this in now. She is an ordinary woman who responded in faith to a unique calling. In fact, it is her ordinariness that makes her so extraordinary. We are to remember her as blessed among women, representing qualities that, except from her bearing the Savior of the world, are open to any person. I couldn't help but use that as a closing statement and challenge. To any person. No woman here is gonna mother the Messiah, but every woman here, indeed all of us, we can live a life like Mary lived. And that's the challenge here.