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Receive like Mary, proclaim like John

(Luke 1:28-45, 68-79)

Andy Nagahara

It’s the second Sunday of Advent. This chapel has changed completely since last week, and now it looks more like Advent. Decorating for Christmas is fun and exciting no matter what age we are, but it also reminds us of the anticipation people had at the time for the Savior to come. Thank you to everyone who helped put up Christmas decorations after the service last week.

In reality, however, very few people were expecting and waiting for Jesus on the day he came. Although the Jews had been informed of the coming of the Messiah (Savior) through the prophets, Israel had spent hundreds of years under the rule of the great surrounding nations and was under the rule of the Roman Empire at the time, so it was difficult to imagine that this would be fulfilled so soon.

The Gospels begin the story of Jesus’ birth by describing the few people who awaited and rejoiced at his birth. Today I would like to talk about two people from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke.

1. Mary’s Case (28-38)

First, let me read verses 28-35.

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

It happened suddenly. The appearance of an angel is itself impossible, but the story behind it was even more impossible.

Mary was a single woman. The fact that she was pregnant was nothing but a scandal to those around her. Even if Mary had conveyed the angel’s message, everyone would have thought it was just a ridiculous excuse. Moreover, at this time Mary was already engaged to be married. It was a man named Joseph.

Luke does not mention Joseph at all at this time. In the Gospel of Luke, he first appears in chapter 2, during the story of Jesus’ birth, but even there there is no mention of his feelings. His feelings are recorded in Matthew 1:18 and following. Reading it, he learns that an angel had told him in a dream what was happening to Mary and that he accepted it.

As Mary was preparing with hope for a new life with her fiancé, the angel told her of an unacceptable future: her engagement would be broken off, she would lose the trust of the people, and a child would be born. Moreover, the angel said that it was a blessing from God.

However, Mary was not surprised or troubled by this. She did not say, “Let me think about it for a moment,” nor did she remain silent; she answered, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”

Matthew tells us that Joseph also immediately accepted the angel’s words, immediately decided to stay engaged to Mary, and to accept her and the child she bore.

Imagine yourself in Mary’s or Joseph’s place. Of course, none of us could accept it without the angel’s revelation. On the contrary, you may perceive it as a nightmare or a delusion and chase away the angel who is telling you to accept it. At that moment, the Holy Spirit worked to give Mary and Joseph an unwavering determination.

2. John’s Case (39-45)

The Gospel of Luke records the birth of another child before Jesus’ birth. It is about John the Baptist, who later baptized Jesus. Let’s read verses 39-45.

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

Although John appears, at this point he is still inside the womb of his mother, Elizabeth. So, he doesn’t have any lines in this part. But he “leaped for joy” in Elizabeth’s womb at Mary’s visit.

After Elizabeth’s words, in verses 46-55 of Luke Chapter 1, we are introduced to a song of praise to Mary known as the “Magnificat(Hymn of Mary),” and the book concludes with the story of the birth of John the Baptist. The actual birth of Jesus is recorded in chapter 2. In other words, the Gospel of Luke begins not by introducing Jesus himself, but by introducing two people who were closely related to Jesus.

Although we didn’t read it today, the first half of chapter 1 tells us that John’s father, the priest Zechariah, was informed by an angel of John’s birth. Unlike Mary, he was unable to immediately believe the words that were spoken to him, and was rendered mute until John was actually born. The angel commanded that the baby be named John. Those around him wanted to follow the custom and name him Zechariah after his father, but Zechariah knew that the prophecy was true, so this time he obediently followed the instructions.Since he was still unable to speak, he wrote “His name is John” in letters, and as soon as he did so he was able to speak and prophesy as follows:

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn　of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us– to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

The first half of the prophecy was about Jesus, and the second half was about the role of his son John. John’s God-given role was to proclaim the coming of Jesus and that people could be saved by following Jesus.

3. Receive like Mary, proclaim like John

Why did Luke devote an entire chapter to Mary and John at the beginning of his gospel of Jesus? This is because they played an important role in getting the gospel of Jesus to people’s hearts.

Mary was told that God would come in a way no one had ever imagined, that He would come into the world through her womb, and she accepted it. John knew that Jesus was God and prepared people to follow Him.

We can look to them as role models for ourselves. We have been able to encounter and follow Jesus in this 21st century because those who introduced him to us accepted him, like Mary, and proclaimed him, like John. Someone who told that person about Jesus would have also accepted Jesus and introduced him to others.

Through this continuous process, we now believe in Jesus and walk with him. Living in a society where things are happening that would make one think that there is no God or that God has no interest in society, without ever having actually met Jesus, it is as difficult as Mary’s experience to believe that a man born in the Middle East 2,000 years ago is one’s Lord and God, and it would not have happened without the work of the Holy Spirit.

If you are still not convinced that Jesus is your Lord, the angel’s words to Mary are now directed to you: “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” When we accept these words, a new life walking with God, the path to eternal life, begins. Jesus is God who came into this world to walk with you. Those who, by God’s grace, have accepted Jesus into their hearts as Lord are John the Baptist of the 21st century. We all received Jesus because someone, like John, made the necessary preparations for us. Without such people, no one would have encountered Jesus.

With each new Christmas, please remember that you are a modern-day Mary and John.

(Prayer) God, thank you for coming as the man Jesus on Christmas 2000 years ago.
Today we learned that when you revealed yourself to the world, you spoke to the hearts of Mary and John the Baptist, preparing them to reveal you as Jesus.
Fill us with your Holy Spirit and make us believers in you like Mary.
And we realized that the church needed John’s work.
Please guide us so that we can fulfill that role.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray.

Summary

God revealed himself to the world as the man Jesus. At that time, he used two people, Mary and John, to enable people to believe in and follow God. We are expected to welcome Jesus into our hearts like Mary did, believe in Jesus like John, and share the beauty of a life that follows him.

For Discussion

1) Why does Luke tell us about Mary and John before the events of Jesus’ birth?
2) Why can we be called modern Mary and John?