passage for this time of the year and what we want to do God willing is just kind of work our way through loop one at the time we have but as we do I'd like for us to do so against this thought my way of a title I'd give you Mary did you know and many of you will recognize that that is not original with David Morris it's actually a song that was written by Mark Lowry If you're familiar with Mark Lowry, you wonder, how did a song like that ever come from him? Because he's quite a humorous. And I don't mind that. funny with it and that's good, but he wrote that song and it's such a perceptive song and the questions that it asks of Mary concerning the child that would be born. Mary, did you know that your baby boy will walk on water, will one day rule the nations? Questions like that that point to the reality of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ beyond the mere idea of him being a human child, a human baby born. More than that, we have the reality of who he is in his fullness of person, the deity that marks him. And yet the song asks that question, Mary did you know that the I understand, I haven't seen this myself, but a couple of my sons were saying that there's been some interaction on some reform websites with the song, basically spoofing the song in the sense that Mary did know. Well, I'm convinced she did, but I don't think that's the idea of the song. The song is for those who are listening to declare the reality of who Christ is in his person. And I like the fact that it does that in the way of here's a mother bearing a child, but in bearing that child, there's a greater realization of who he is. in the glory of his person as God and man. And that's what I want us to look at in Luke chapter one this morning, to think about that reality. And I believe as we do, we'll see that indeed Mary did know, she had some sense of who this child she would bear would be, in part because of the annunciation to her. But then I also want us to think about even the words that we find that give the announcement of Gabriel to Zacharias, the father of John, and how those words, along with even the Benedictus of Zacharias at the end of Luke 1, how those words point to who this child is. And as we do that, we'll look back a little too to the Old Testament to get a bit of a background to that. But let's pray together and ask our God's blessing on his word. Father, we bow before you in the name of our Savior with thanksgiving for the privilege we have to come before thee in his name and to, Lord, open your word. Thank you that it is given by inspiration and is profitable to us for doctrine, for correction, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness, Father, that we may be fully fitted to serve you as your people, as men and women of God. We pray, Father, you'd use your word this morning to that purpose in our lives and to the glory of your son, the glory of your name. Father, we thank you for the privilege of being back with our brothers and sisters here at Word of Life. And we pray that you'd make this day to be a day of glory to you and of good to all of our souls. In Christ's name, amen. Well, again, we think about that question, Mary, did you know, and by way of the focus we're giving, particularly to point out the reality of the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. that marked him in his humanity, something the scriptures certainly speak of without any question, without any hesitance. But it's something that as we look at the subject this morning in the light of Luke one, I want us to not start there. Well, let me start there just by reading the prologue, the preface to Luke verses one through four, as Luke gives the occasion for his writing this book, Luke chapter one, verses one through four, For as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. I love this setting forth of Dr. Luke's purpose in the gospel. He speaks of those things that have most surely been believed among us. Things that were without controversy or without contradiction among the people of God in the first century. And things that should be in this 21st century still received without controversy or without contradiction. We bow to and believe what God's word declares because these are the things that are most surely believed among us. But Dr. Luke also writes, as that fourth verse points out, The one particularly he's addressing, because he uses the word most excellent, as our King James translates it in the Greek, it's kratiste, in the evocative, it's sometimes used of Roman officials. And the idea that Theophilus was maybe a Roman official of high standing for whom Luke particularly wanted to present the Lord Jesus Christ in his person and his work for his benefit and as well a wider audience as well. I know in my young years, Dr. Dale Moody, who was on the faculty of Southern Baptist Seminary, not DL, but Dale, Dale Moody came to the church that I grew up in Fayetteville over a number of years when we'd have January Bible study, which was a regular thing among Southern Baptists. And Dr. Moody mentioned on one occasion in speaking about the books of Luke and Acts, that he believes Seneca who was a Roman official, but also a Roman philosopher, that Seneca is Theophilus, the name means lover of God. Anyway, that's a moot point because we can't tell for sure, but in any event, we've got this book that Luke writes, and specifically, not only does he write about the things that are most surely believed among us, but he also writes that this man and others, we as well, might know the certainty of those things. We might be absolutely sure, absolutely aware of what God has given us. And I love that purpose, as it's stated there. As we move on, we find some announcements. But before we look at those, I wanna ask you to think with me, first of all, about the anticipation that frames what Luke and the gospel writers announce about the coming, the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ. What would be called in the Pauline letters, particularly the epistles, the epistles. The epistles, his epiphaneia, and that word, epiphany, you know, is associated with the coming of the wise men as far as the church calendar goes. But epiphaneia is used of our Lord's first coming and our Lord's second coming. It means his appearance, his manifestation. The word advent is often used from our Latin side of our English language to speak about this season of the year. And epiphaneia would have that same idea, the idea of his presence, his coming, his appearance. And in that appearance, the anticipation of the Old Testament with regard to Messiah's coming was that Messiah, the son of David promised by God, would be God. Now, because of time, I won't ask you to turn to the passages, but David's own expectation his own anticipation of the one who would be born of his loins in line would be God. And we see that in Psalm 110.1, when David gives us the words that God gives him to hear of a conversation between the father and the son. And we read there in Psalm 1101, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. And what's important is who's speaking to whom there. The Lord Jehovah is speaking to the one whom David calls his Lord. Who was David's Lord? Jehovah. So you've got Jehovah talking to Jehovah. Well, the Bible says in Deuteronomy 6, 4, the Lord our God is one Lord. If Jehovah's one, how could Jehovah be talking to himself? Because in the unity of his being, there's a plurality of persons. Not three gods, not two gods, but one God, and yet two persons, at least in Psalm 110. We have an anticipation of the Trinity there, but we also have the anticipation that Messiah, who will be the son of David, will also be himself full deity. That's why we can sing with truth and ardor at this time of the year. The words of Mr. Wesley, veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity. And David anticipated that in the Old Testament. But Isaiah did as well, for Isaiah speaks about the virgin birth of our Lord in Isaiah 7, 14, and he says, Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. Immanuel in Hebrew means God with us. And that's the expectation of the prophet of that child that would be born of the line of David. And in Isaiah 7, the house of David is particularly addressed in that prophecy of the virgin birth. So the child who would be born that David anticipated to be God, Isaiah anticipated would be God as well. And he says that later in 9-6 when he says, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. As a human, he's the child born. In his deity, he's the son given. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, prince of peace, there against the anticipation of his deity. And Jeremiah as well spoke about that, among others, in anticipation of who this child would be. Mary, did you know? Well, he would be deity. And the way that Jeremiah speaks of it is he speaks of a prophecy of Israel's coming salvation in Jeremiah 23, 5 and 6. He speaks of how God would raise up a righteous branch to David. And in his days, Judah would dwell safely and Israel would be saved. And he says this in verse six of Jeremiah 23, this is the name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. In other words, Messiah would bear the name Jehovah our righteousness. And I'm glad that that's the case because No other could be the righteousness that we as sinners need, but one who is both fully God and fully man, who bears in himself the very name of the I Am. So that's the Old Testament anticipation. There are other scriptures we could speak of, but when we come to Luke 1, like the other gospel writers, Luke frames his Gospel against the background of the Old Testament promises. The idea of promise and fulfillment informs the New Testament. And the Gospels bear this. Some say that Mark is the least theological of the Gospels, but when I read Mark, as soon as he opens, he's quoting scripture and giving us this theological background about Messiah. And John does the same, obviously. Many say John's the most theological, but I believe he's equal to the rest because all of them focus on the Old Testament awareness of Messiah and his appearance, and all of them announce that. Matthew seems to get often the prize because he's writing for a Jewish audience. But Mark and Luke as well, even though they're writing as it were for a Gentile audience, and Luke himself being a Gentile it appears, they still have this framework of promise that the Old Testament brings. And that's seen especially in Luke 1. So that leads us to think about the announcements. The first announcement is that of John's birth. Let's just read about it together. in the words of verses five and following of Luke one. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abiah and 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. And they had no child because that Elizabeth was barren and they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass that while he, that is Zacharias, executed the priest office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without or outside at the time of incense. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord 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 unto him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John, and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb, and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God and he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias 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. And we'll stop there. We wanna think about the announcement particularly here as it comes from one whom we learn after this Sadly, Zacharias challenges him. I can't say that I blame Zacharias. He's an old man, Elizabeth's old, and they don't have any children. And now he's being told he's going to have a son in his old age. It's not uncommon in scripture. That's part of what we see in the birth narratives in the Old Testament, in Genesis, Judges, and other places. First Samuel, we see women who were not the mothers becoming mothers by the grace of God, by the work of God. And here, this is going to happen to him. But this angel Gabriel speaks these words. I've told you before, I love how God does birth announcements. And it's amazing in the Bible how oftentimes we do birth announcements. You know, we've had grandchildren lately and appreciate your kind comments about our grands. They are grand, we're loving them. It's been so good to enjoy them. But birth announcements, if they're sent out, are usually sent out after the arrival. But God so often does birth announcements before the conception. And that's what he does here. Zacharias is puzzled because he knows Elizabeth's not expecting. He knows she hasn't had any children. He knows they're really childless. And yet this angel, this created celestial being appears while he's exercising his duties as a priest. And he's specifically told, you're going to have a son. And that son's role, as Gabriel pictures it here, is going to be that of a forerunner of Messiah. But as Gabriel speaks specifically of it, notice his words in verse 16 and verse 17. I'd like to couple them together in our understanding. As John's birth is announced, Gabriel says about him in verse 16, and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. The God of Israel, again, Jehovah, many of them had turned from him, and John's work as a forerunner was going to be to turn them to the Lord their God. But then notice what Gabriel goes on to say in verse 17, and he, that is John, shall go before him. in the spirit and power of Elias, 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 before the Lord. Excuse me. Now, notice verse 16 and verse 17. He'll turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he, John, shall go before him. Who's the him here? Him is a pronoun. A pronoun takes the place of a noun. I know you don't wanna go back to grammar school with me, but let's do a little grammar real quick. A pronoun generally has an antecedent. And here, the him before whom John will go is the Lord God of Israel. Now, what does that mean? That means that John, who was the forerunner of our Lord, would go before one who would be the Lord God of Israel, to whom John would turn the hearts of the people. Now that's a clear statement of the deity of Christ. It's a clear statement of who Mary's boy child would be. Mary, did you know? And Gabriel knew. And I think Gabriel would have known clearly because the one whom Mary will conceive later, whose birth will be announced by Gabriel to her before conception. Gabriel had seen that son in his pre-incarnate glory with the father. And he was announcing here the birth of John, who would be the forerunner as the one who would go before the Lord God of Israel. Now that may not be a major point in your thinking, but it's something to wrestle with. It's something that those who deny the full deity of Christ have not considered because words are stubborn things like facts. Somebody said facts are stubborn things. Words are too. And God who gave his word by inspiration to us, God carefully gave those words to those holy men of old whom he moved by his spirit to pen those words. And here we have this testimony on the lips of Gabriel that John would go before the Lord God of Israel. So we have a witness to the one who Mary's poor child would be. He's none other than the Lord God. Well, Zacharias, of course, meets that with some degree of unbelief. How shall this be? Whereby shall I know this? Verse 18. And so the angel gives him a sign. Let's just pick up with reading again at verse 19. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God and am sent to speak unto thee and show thee these glad tidings. And behold, thou shalt be dumb or mute and not able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed because thou believest not my words which shall be fulfilled in their season. I a lot of times like to comment on the fact that here a man is struck dumb for about nine months. Struck mute, you know. We men like to kid you ladies about talking, but we men seem to be the ones who are more apt at that. And here's a man who, because of his unbelief, is not going to talk for nine months. He's going to learn to use a tablet. We'll find that later at the end of Luke 1. But he's not going to be able to talk. Why? because he failed to receive God's word and faith and trust. Because here's a promise that really is something that Israel, faithful Israel, had anticipated. And that's something that I didn't really make a comment about earlier, but I believe when we talk about Mary did you know, when we talk about Zacharias and about Mary and about Elizabeth, there was the anticipation within the godly remnant of Israel. The elect remnant, as Paul will call it in Romans 11, there was within Israel an Israel. And that Israel within Israel, which was believing Israel, elect Israel, that remnant looked to God for the fulfillment of His promise. They were expecting that. They were anticipating in their lives in the first century what? God's prophets had anticipated that we spoke about briefly by way of the Old Testament promise. They were looking ahead, knowing that God would do that. And Zacharias is a priest who was among that remnant. He should have rejoiced at the word, but instead he met it with unbelief. Now again, I'm not going to throw stones because I can understand it from a human perspective, but The very announcement should have carried with it weight, gravitas, as Mr. Cheney used to like to say. It should have carried a weight with it that I think should have washed over Zechariah in such a way as to say, hallelujah, Lord, but instead, how shall this be? And a man who was a priest who would have spent time in the word, I believe, he should have remembered how it was. Abraham, Manoah, Hannah, These wonder births of the Old Testament, no difficulty for God, but as it is, he gets nine months of silence. I hope Elizabeth enjoyed it. I don't know. But anyway, that's free, no extra charge. But as we follow up, let's just pick up in verse 21. And the people waited for Zacharias and marveled that he tarried so long in the temple And when he came out, he could not speak unto them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned unto them, that is, made motions and remained speechless. And it came to pass that as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men. I'm sure Zacharias shared, probably by a tablet, the news to Elizabeth of what had happened, the appearance of the angel Gabriel, and the announcement of the birth, and then God gave conception to her, and in five months now, she's hiding, just overwhelmed with the goodness of God to her. But in that six months, something else happens, another birth announcement. Let's pick up, please, in verse 26. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into 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 into her and said, hail thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. And when she saw 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. 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. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, behold, the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. This second installment of the story deals with the annunciation, as we commonly call it, the announcement of the birth of our Lord. We've had the announcement of the birth of John. Now we have the announcement of the birth of Christ. And it's evident that he is Christ here, even though that word doesn't appear. But he is to be the anointed one promised in the Old Testament, foretold by the prophets, promised by God, the one who would be God's supremely favored one, God's anointed prophet, priest, and king. And that remembers what Messiah means, Mashiach, Hebrew for anointed one, Christos in Greek from the word anoint, Creo has the idea of anointed one, and that's who he would be. And in Mary's mind, in the anticipation that we saw in the Old Testament, there would have been no question of this. She knew that she was of the line of David, and the mention of this child being born who would sit on the throne of his father David because the Lord as God would give it to him, that anticipation would have connected her with those promises, some of which we mentioned from David's own words in Psalm 110, Isaiah's words in Isaiah 7 and 9, and Jeremiah's words in Jeremiah 23. All of those words we looked at related to God's promise to David, and God's promise of raising up a son to David who would himself bear deity. Gabriel does emphasize, while the word Messiah is not used, twice Gabriel refers to the fact that this child will be God's son. He'll not only be Mary's son, but he will uniquely and distinctively be the son of God, the son of the highest. And in the light of that reality, He will transcend the idea of sonship that we find about the angels. They're called sons of God by creation. But in the case of this one, he will bear in his person in line with what the prophets had foretold, with what had been predicted of him as he appeared as son of David, he would also be son of God. This is part of what our Lord Jesus brings out in Matthew 22. When he asked that question and he quotes Psalm 110 verse one to the scribes and Pharisees of his day, he asked them, what think ye of Christ? Again, remember that's a title. What think you of Messiah? What do you think about the anointed one? And then he asked the pivotal question to the, as the follow-up, whose son is he? And they pull out their, Stock and trade answer, why he's David's son? And as I've told you before, I'm sure they expected a check plus and a smiley face from the teacher, the rabbi. But he doesn't give them a check plus or a smiley face. He says, if he's David's son, how does David in the spirit call him Lord, saying, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. Now, what they had failed to do, and I believe part of it was because of what they had reduced the religion of the Scriptures to. Instead of taking the law as God intended it, Torah instruction, to see their need of a Savior, they had made it a standard for their own work's righteousness. And they thought they were doing pretty good by it. Now that happens today, doesn't it? We've got many people in churches across the land, in denominational institutions, and they've not heard the message of Scripture. They think that salvation is in being good. And when you do that, you remove the need for a divine Savior. And so a son of David's Savior would have been enough for them. But the Lord Jesus challenges them about that. If he's only David's son, then why does David call him Lord? And the answer is because David, as a sinner, knew that he needed a Savior who was more than man. He needed a Savior who was fully God. And every sinner who's had a real sense of sin given by the work of the Spirit of God in conviction, every sinner recognizes that. The prophet saw it. I'm sure Mary, when she heard these words about him receiving the throne of his father David and reigning forever, ever, she would have remembered the promises. And her song, by the way, mentions those promises later, what we call the Magnificat. It speaks about those promises. that God had made to his prophets in remembrance of his mercy that he promised to Abraham and to our fathers, she will say. She's speaking against the backdrop again of scripture, of the old covenant. And she knows that God has promised a savior, a savior who will be more than man. And again, her song will say it. So, you know, if we ask the question, Mary, did you know? We'd have to say, yes, she did. She knew who he would be, and she rejoices in that fact. She accepts it in full acquiescence and in a compliant, obedient spirit. Behold, the handmaid of the Lord. Now, as we move on, I want us to pick up on this same thought, but now on the lips of Elizabeth. Let's read at verse 39 there. And Mary abode, excuse me, Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste. unto a city of Judah, and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and she spake out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy, and blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. And I notice the scene is, Dr. Luke records it for us. To me, it's a precious scene because we have Mary having learned of the birth of Messiah, which will be hers. She then goes to Elizabeth. The angel has told her this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. And as the angels told her that, Mary figures, I'm going to see my cousin. I'm going to go visit Elizabeth. Because if there's anybody who can commiserate with me about these matters, if there's anybody who's on my level about this, it's gonna be Elizabeth. And so she goes, and as her greeting reaches Elizabeth, her salutation, Elizabeth feels John start doing, pardon me, but may I say it, a Holy Ghost jig inside her. Remember, John was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb, and so when the voice of Mary reaches the ears of Elizabeth, John begins to cut up inside her. Now, I know babies, you know, when they're in a womb, they can move around, but I think this is something unusual because Mary seems to, excuse me, Elizabeth seems to recognize this was more than just him kicking. This was more than just him moving around. He himself is leaping inside her because of the voice of the woman and because of who that woman is as the mother of Christ. Now, Elizabeth recognizes this. Notice her words, please. Verse 43. Well, let me just read verse 42 again. And she spake out with a loud voice and said, blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" Notice her words. Elizabeth, who would have been a pious, God-fearing, monotheistic Jewish believer in Jehovah, she speaks to Mary aware of what is happening. How did she know this? Mary had not informed her of the enunciation, at least as far as the narrative tells us. And yet she is aware, and I think it's because again of what John does, for she mentions that by way of testimony or attestation or authentication. For as soon as the voice of your salutation reached me, the voice of your greeting, the babe leapt inside me. She realizes this is something supernatural in character. She would have known, no doubt, the words that the angel Gabriel had spoken to Zacharias. Again, he'd had to write them down. He'll be filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb, that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, in testimony to what is happening in Mary, that the child that she's carrying is going to be the one of whom John would be forerunner. And they're having, as it were, interactions among themselves within the womb. One within the womb of his mother, Elizabeth, one within the womb of his mother, Mary. John is, as it were, giving witness already the lifelong role for which he was born. He's giving, if you will, he's practicing that he's engaging in that work before he's even been birthed. bearing testimony to who this one, the Messiah is. And Elizabeth recognizes it. Wentz says this, to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me. Who was Elizabeth's Lord? Well, as a godly, monotheistic Jew, believer in Jehovah, her Lord would have been Jehovah. And yet she speaks of Mary as being the mother of my Lord. This isn't to elevate Mary in this case in a wrong way. She is to be elevated rightly as blessed among women. The Bible says that, but we don't elevate her in the sense that devotion and Mariolatry is to be given to her, not at all. The Bible speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ in the union of his person as both God and man, deity and humanity, joined together, two natures in one person, what we call the hypostatic union, the union of the two hypostases, the two natures, the nature of deity, nature of humanity, in his one person, so that Mary is referred to as the mother of Elizabeth's Lord. Again, the testimony the announcement bearing witness to the awareness that marked them against the background of Old Testament promise and anticipation. So it is that we have the record and the testimony. of who Christ is. Now, against that background, Mary begins her song, what we call the Magnificat. From Latin, the word doth magnify in our King James, or magnifies in the translations otherwise, is Magnificat. And that's what Mary does, is magnifies the Lord. She tells out the greatness of the Lord, verse 46. And Mary said, my soul doth magnify the Lord, To magnify means to make great. We can't make him great, but we tell out his greatness. And that's the idea of the word megaluno, or magnify, in the Greek text, megaluno. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior, for he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden, for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed, for he that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his name, and his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath showed strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree, he hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has set away empty. He is hoping or help his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever. And Mary abode with her about three months and returned to her own house. Mary's song doesn't feature maybe as much of the focus on Messiah, but one thing it recognizes is, well, really two things we should point out. The first of that is something that Dr. Luke has been credited with delighting in in his gospel, and that is an upside-down character. The idea that the strong had been made weak, and the weak had been made strong. The rich had been impoverished, but the poor had been enriched. and Mary captures that, but as Mary does so, she does that against the background of Hannah's song, when Hannah bore Samuel and brought him to the Lord in 1 Samuel 2. Some of the same elements that are found in Hannah's song are found here in Mary's song, as she speaks of how God in his grace raises up the poor. And remember the first of the Beatitudes, our Lord said, blessed are the poor in spirit. And Mary speaks of how our God, in his grace, he humbles the proud. He brings them low. But the humble he exalts. The humble he magnifies. That's why we want to be among the Lord's humble ones. We don't want to be among the proud, and the humble ones are the ones who, like Mary, embrace his word. That's what Habakkuk spoke of in Habakkuk 2, 4, when he said, his soul which is lifted up in him is not right, the one who's proud, in other words, but the just shall live by faith. the just live by faith that humbly depends on the Lord. And Mary here expresses that kind of faith. But as she speaks of what God is doing in that upside down character, she also recognizes that God is doing this in fulfillment of his word, of his promise, of his covenants. She speaks specifically of that Abrahamic covenant, the covenant that we find in the seed plot book of the Bible, the book of beginnings, the book of Genesis. And that covenant, Mary realizes God is now bringing to pass an execution as he is not only given to Elizabeth, the son who will be the forerunner, but the one of whom he'll be forerunner will be Messiah himself. And God is bringing to pass the promise of blessing to the nations that he gave to Abraham. And that promise was specifically centered in, focused on a seed. Paul, of course, in Galatians 3 will tell us that that seed, singular, is one Christ. Now, there's an element of, obviously, collective character to it, but the Lord Jesus, and Mary recognizes this that Zacharias will later give expression to in his Benedictus at the last part of chapter 1, and that is that God is fulfilling his word. God is bringing to pass his promise, and as it were, this center of chapter 1, Reflects that the fulfillment of God's promise of sending the Messiah the Savior now at that point we Come to Elizabeth's birth, of course chapter 2 gives us the birth of our Lord, but in chapter 1 we have Elizabeth's birth now, I believe As dr. Luke gives us a chronology Five months, Elizabeth hides herself. Six months, Mary goes to visit her. Six months of John's gestation. And then three months, Mary remains. Now, I personally don't believe she left right before Elizabeth gave birth. The practice of people, even up to our generation, has been when a child's born, family comes in to help. Now, that's less and less so today, and so they hire doulas like the job Terry does, you know. Even career women who are going to be grandmothers will hire her to go in and help their daughter who's going to be a mother. Well, it used to be families exercised that role, and I'm sure Mary stayed around till after the birth to help to aid Elizabeth Uh, and along with others. And because when, when John's born, obviously there's a family gathering around there because when they say his name will be Zacharias, that's all the relatives. That's the kinfolk. They're saying that, but Mary stays. We understand in the light of the chronology that Dr. Luke records. and Elizabeth gives birth. Let's read about it there in the words of verse 57. Now Elizabeth's full time came that she should be delivered and she brought forth a son and her neighbors and her cousins or kin people heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her and they rejoiced with us. And it came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child and they called him Zacharias after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, no, not so, but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, there is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. By the way, John Johannan would mean the Lord is gracious, Jehovah is gracious. And Elizabeth surely would have believed that. So she had no problem with the name that the angel Gabriel had given, announced to Zacharias. So they protest, none of your kindred, there's nobody in your family lineage that bears that name. And it's interesting when you read the genealogies of Chronicles, 1 Chronicles 1 through 9, you'll see, especially among the priestly line, a repetition of names like Elkanah and others, Eleazar and Phinehas. within especially the priests, but a lot of times names repeat. Why? Because there was a recognition of heritage and the recognition of family. There's nobody named John in the family. Why are you gonna do that, Elizabeth? And so they make signs, we read in verse 62, and they made signs to his father, how you would have him called. And he asked for a writing table and wrote saying, his name is John. And they marveled all, they were all amazed. At that point, nine months and several days, eight at least, maybe more, at that point, this father, old man, gets to finally say a word. We read this in the words of verse 64, and his mouth was opened immediately and his tongue loosed and he spake and praised God, and fear came on all that dwelt round about, and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea, and all they that heard them laid up in their hearts, saying, What matter of child shall this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us, in the house of his servant David, as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of our enemies, out of the hand of our enemies, excuse me, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death to guide our feet in the way of peace. And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit. It was in the desert till the day of his showing unto Israel. The words of Zacharias, as it's commonly called, the Benedictus, his song here, they in some measure expand on what Mary said in Magnificat. They give us an enlargement of her thoughts. not so much with regard to the upside down character of the kingdom, but in measure to the elevation of Israel, which has been captive. which has been enslaved, which has been in bondage. And that continues even now through the times of the Gentiles, as our Lord called them in Luke 21. But in addition to that, there's also this focus on fulfillment. God bringing to pass in the dealings that he's had with Zacharias and with Mary, God bringing to pass his covenant promise. God fulfilling that. And it's particularly seen by the way Zechariah's song begins. It begins not by talking about John, but by talking about Mary's child, not yet born. It's about six months before he'll be born. And yet he talks about how God has raised up a horn of salvation in the house of his servant, David. And there's this focus on Messiah and the promises. And then John's role comes into play, but John's role as a servant to the child that Mary would bear, as a forerunner. And notice specifically as Zechariah speaks of that, He says in the words of verse 76, and thou child shall be called the prophet of the highest. For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. Who is the highest here? Well, it's a reference to Jehovah. And yet there seems to be no problem on Zechariah's part in referring to John as the prophet of the highest who goes before the face of the Lord to prepare his way, recognizing that Messiah would be Jehovah. Messiah would be the Lord God. And as we see that, we see then the picture of who Messiah would be, anticipated by the Old Testament, announced in these words of Luke 1, but also those with whom the announcements are given, or to whom they're given, with whom these dealings are taking place. Those people have an awareness of who Messiah would be. the testimony of their own words, their own mouths, pointing out, Mary, did you know? Oh, yes, I knew. Zacharias, did you know? Oh, yes, I know. Elizabeth, did you know? Oh, yes, I know. And this, I think, should elevate the wonder of the season. I realize there are some who say that Christmas is not the time and, you know, we shouldn't do this. And I realize there are some over history who didn't. You know, Puritans were not Christmas keepers. I rejoice in the fact that there's a time of the year where we specifically focus on the reality of God becoming man. And brothers and sisters, we, I don't think contemplate it sufficiently or understand it suitably. This child that Mary birthed is himself absolute deity. And he came in order to die as man for man. And that ought to leave me, as I say that to you, falling to the ground, not only in wonder, but in tears. I remember hearing a pastor friend from Georgia tell about Brother, you may know the name of Paul Washer. He's a very popular preacher. Well, Brother Washer was preaching for them down in Sonoy, Georgia, Peachtree Baptist Church. And Brother Dickerson, the pastor, they have three elders pastors actually, but he's one of the pastors. He was telling me that when Brother Washer was preaching about the sufferings of Christ, that he collapsed on the stage, overwhelmed. with the sense of God the Son paying our sin, debt, and hell penalty. And brothers and sisters, that's an appropriate response to be overwhelmed with that. And by the way, that's where Dr. Luke is going to take us. We begin with Luke 1, but we work our way through the gospel and we come to what? We come to where all the gospels take us, to the cross of the Lord Jesus, to His resurrection. The cross, why? Well, as he'll say to those women, when he's being led out to be crucified, bearing his own cross, and they're weeping, and he says, weep not, daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, weep for yourselves. For if they do these things in the green tree, what will be done in the dry? If in order to save us who will be among God's people in glory, if to save us the Son of God suffered such things, What will happen to those who don't know our Lord? Everlasting judgment from the presence of the Lord. Christ drank that cup for us. He didn't just drink it, he emptied it. As Miss Cousin wrote, death and the curse were in our cup. Oh Christ was full for thee. But thou has drained the last dark drop. Tis empty now for me. That bitter cup, love, drank it up. left but the love for me. And because he drank that cup, as God become man, you and I can now take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. May we brothers and sisters be mindful of these things. May the good news that is good news and is the only good news, and there's no other good news, may that good news grip us as good news. And may we be eternally grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ for what he did for us in becoming man. Godhood and manhood became one. And because of that, as Zechariah says, the day spring from on high has visited us. Earth's dark shadows put to flight, the writer of the hymn. O come, O come, Emmanuel, O come, thou Dayspring from on high, and cheer us by thy drawing nigh. And do what else? Bid the shadows flee. He's the light, brothers and sisters, and he's sprung. Day has come, hallelujah. And we don't have to live in sin's dark night or in death's dark night. Light and life are ours because of Jesus Christ. May he receive the glory in our lives. Let's pray. Father, we ask you to bless your word now to magnify our Savior. May we, Father, benefit from the time we spend in these words you gave Dr. Luke. Thank you for giving them to Theophilus. Help us to be Theophiluses. Help us to be lovers of thee, Father, and livers unto thee. In Christ's name, amen.