Sermon: The Handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:26-38)

The Handmaid of the Lord Sunday, December 14th, 2025 Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA Luke 1:26–38 Prayer O God Our Father, nothing is impossible with You. And so grant that new life may spring forth in our hearts even now, a life of faith formed by love, which alone is pleasing to You and profitable for our salvation. Grant Thy Holy Spirit to overshadow us, even as it overshadowed the virgin, so that Christ may be perfectly formed in us, to the glory of the undivided Trinity, One God Forever, Amen. Introduction From the earliest days of the Christian church, it has been necessary to believe and confess that the Lord Jesus was, “conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.” And this morning we come to a passage in Luke’s Gospel that is a foundational proof text for this article of faith. Our belief in the virgin birth of Christ is a truth we confess in the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Definition of Chalcedon, and it is a truth that unites all of Christendom (Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Orthodox alike). However, it might not be obvious at first why this truth matters. Of course, it matters because the Word of God teaches it, and therefore we must believe it, but how does the virgin birth relate to who Jesus is and what He came to do? Why did God choose to enter our world in this way, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary? Wel this morning, I want to begin to answer that question as we study this passage before us. And so let me give you the outline of our text, and then we’ll consider some of the implications of it. Outline of the Text Here in verses 26-38 we have a conversation between the angel Gabriel, and the virgin Mary. And this conversation unfolds in three parts: In verses 26-29, the angel greets Mary, and Mary responds with silent wonder. In verses 30-34, the angel prophesies that she will bear the Son of God, and Mary responds with faith seeking understanding. And then in verses 35-38, the angel explains how God will work this miracle, and Mary responds with Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And what Luke is doing in this section is setting up a contrast between Mary and Zacharias (who we learned about last week). He is giving us a contrast between an old man and a young woman, between a priest in the Temple and a girl from the countryside. An angel appears to both of them with good news of great joy, a miraculous son shall be born, but the responses of Mary and Zacharias differ. And so as we walk through this text together try to note those differences, because Luke is teaching us, his readers, how we should respond when the most certain word of God is preached to us. So with that in mind, let us walk through our text. In verse 26 we have the setup. 26And in the sixth month [referring to the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth. Where is Nazareth? It is about 75 miles north of Jerusalem (about week’s journey walking), and about 15 miles west of the Sea of Galilee, which is where Jesus will later call his disciples. Now we know from Nathanael’s comment in John 1:46, that Nazareth did not exactly have the greatest reputation. In modern day terms we would say it was “flyover county,” perhaps a place to pass thru but not a vacation destination. Nathanael says to Philip, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. And so already God is teaching us a lesson here that will recur again and again in Luke’s gospel, and that is: God loves to take foolish things and shame the wise. God loves to use weak things to humiliate the strong. It says in 1 Corinthians 1:28-29, God uses the base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. It is not good for us to be proud and mighty and to boast in our beauty or strength, for all flesh is as grass and our beauty as the flower, but the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, is forever, unfading in its glory. And so mark this theme of Luke’s gospel: God’s kingdom turns the kingdoms of men, and Satan’s kingdom upside down. God’s kingdom brings justice and equity where corruption and oppression has been institutionalized. When Jesus shows up on the scene pronouncing “Woes” and “Blessings,” he separates by His words those who love the evil status quo from those who love the ways of God. And the question then becomes for everyone: Which kingdom do you belong to? Are you with Christ or against him? Are you seeking first the kingdom of heaven, or seeking first your own? So Luke sets this truth before us up front by this act of God sending the angel to Nazareth of all places. Mary is living in that town from which nobody expects anything good to come, and it is from there that the only Good thing shall come. And so to those who may doubt the goodness of Jesus of Nazareth, we say to them with Phillip, “Come and see.” So the angel Gabriel is sent to Nazareth, and in verse 27 it says he was sent… Verse 27 27To a virgin espoused [betrothed] to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. Here Luke is connecting Mary and Joseph to the royal lineage of King David, and by doing so he is also connecting them to God’s promises to David which have yet to be fulfilled. God says in 2 Samuel 7:16, And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. And David himself wrote in Psalm 110, The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek. And in Psalm 132:11 it says, The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. These promises the Jews had held onto for centuries waiting, Mary and Joseph among them. And Luke tells us they are of the house of David, which makes them candidates for begetting the promised messiah. However, there is a natural barrier to that begetting, namely the wedding hasn’t happened yet. Mary is still a virgin. This is the setup for the angel’s message in verse 28. Verse 28 28And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Here the angel proclaims three things to Mary: She is 1) highly favored with God, 2) the Lord is with her, and 3) she is blessed among women. However, at this stage in the conversation, Mary has no idea what or why this angel has suddenly appeared to her, a virgin girl living in Nazareth. Moreover, such a greeting has never been given to any other woman in Isarel’s history. This is unprecedented for someone like Mary, who knows the Hebrew Scriptures. And therefore, in verse 29 it says. Verse 29 29And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. Mary’s mind is racing, wondering, she is vexed at what she is seeing and hearing. Like Zacharias she is afraid, but unlike Zacharias she is ready to believe whatever the angel says. And so what does the angel say? Verses 30-33 30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32He 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: 33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. So after quieting Mary’s fears, and assuring her of God’s favor, the angel describes who she will conceive in her womb, and what his divine mission shall be. 1. His name will be called Jesus, which means Salvation. 2. He shall be great, which is always an understatement when you ascribe it to God. It says in Psalm 145:3, For His greatness is unsearchable, His ways past finding out (Rom 11:33). 3. He shall be called the Son of the Highest. That is, divine in His sonship, from God in His eternal origin. 4. We have this Divine Son’s mission described. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. This fulfills many prophesies in Isaiah, to give you just one it says in Isaiah 11:1, And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. Meaning, what David lost because of his sins, and what Israel had squandered because of their idolatry, the throne that sat in ruins shall be raised up by Mary’s Son. Moreover, how long shall her Son reign? 5. The angel says in verse 33,And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.It was this same angel Gabriel who explained to Daniel 500 years earlier this coming of the Messiah (Daniel 9:21-27). It was also Daniel who saw in a vision this everlasting reign of Christ. It says in Daniel 7:13-14, I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. For Mary as a pious Jew, and as one related to Elizabeth and Zacharias the priest, she would have most certainly known this prophetic hope. She would have been constant in praying for God’s promises to be fulfilled. And therefore, unlike Zacharias who should have known better than to doubt the word of the angel, Mary believes and has only one question. Verse 34 How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? We call this kind of question, “faith seeking understanding.” And this principle is the basis of all good Bible questions, and all good theological endeavors. If faith is not your starting point, you are destined to go astray, you are destined to entangle yourself in foolish questions, vain speculation, and empty controversies. And so while Zacharias asked the epistemological question, “How shall I know?” Mary proceeds from faith in God as her first principle and then asks the ontological question, “How shall this be?” And there is a world of difference between these two intellectual states. It is the difference between faith that makes you strong, and doubt that makes you weak. Zacharias doubts what his own eyes and ears are perceiving, and for such doubt he is silenced. But Mary hears and believes what she cannot see, and for such faith is lead to understand it. It says in Isaiah 7:9, If you will not believe, Surely you shall not be established. Or as the Greek translation has it, If you do not believe, you will not understand. And so Mary exemplifies this intellectual posture and attitude of trust that every Christian should imitate. Mary believes not only to understand, but in order to obey and cooperate. She believes the Word of God and then asks the question of application, How does this Word relate to me personally? And because she asks this question from faith, and because it is a question worthy of her knowing, God gives her an answer. Verses 35-37 35And 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. 36And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37For with God nothing shall be impossible. This is the miraculous means by which Mary shall conceive the Son of God. Not through marital intercourse, not through any sexual act at all. Not by the will of man, but by the power of the Holy Spirit overshadowing her. This word for overshadowing (ἐπισκιάσει) is the same word that is used in the Greek version of Exodus 40 to describe the glory of God filling the tabernacle. It says in Exodus 40:34-35, Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud overshadowed/rested (ἐπεσκίαζεν) above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Mary has become the literal physical dwelling place for God, and the place in which God’s glory shall be hidden for 9 months. And in this respect her husband Joseph is akin to Moses, who for the glory dwelling within her, does not enter. We learn from Matthew’s gospel that God also sends an angel to Joseph to inform him of this miraculous conception and virgin birth. It says in Matthew 1:18-20, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And then in verse 25 it says, And [Joseph] knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS. So just as the first woman was created without intercourse, formed miraculously from Adam’s side, so now the Last Adam is conceived without intercourse, formed miraculously in the womb of the virgin. Mary is The Woman whose seed shall crush the serpent’s head. Mary is a New Eve, a New Mother of all the living, for the Son of God who is eternal life has chosen her to be His mother. And lest the wonder of such a gracious promise give Mary any occasion for doubt, the angel adds to these words a sign of confirmation, the sign of Elizabeth’s miraculous conception. And then he seals that sign to her saying, For with God nothing shall be impossible. How then does Mary respond to this answer? Because there is still a lot of things she does not understand. She does not yet know how Joseph will respond, or how they will need to travel to Bethlehem in 9 months. She is not told up front about the circumstances that will surround the child’s birth, and how Herod will try to kill him, and so they will need to escape to Egypt to protect their child. And rather than asking all those follow-up questions now with the angel in front o her, questions that you and I might be tempted to ask, instead she contents herself with what God has seen fit to reveal, and she says in verse 38. Verse 38 Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. These are most beautiful and lovely words. You can hear the meekness in her voice as she gives her consent. She declares that she is the handmaid of the Lord. In Greek this is δούλη, translated elsewhere as slave or bondservant. So far from exalting herself as being worthy of such high favor, Mary regards herself as the lowly maidservant of the Lord. Later she will say to Elizabeth, My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His handmaiden; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. Jesus is Mary’s Savior, even though she is the Savior’s mother. Notice that Mary does not cease toacknowledge the gratuitous nature of this gift. It is not because she is so awesome that all will call her blessed, it is because He who is mighty has done great things for me. This is in part why we as Protestant don’t pray to Mary, she would not want us to. She would say “take you prayers directly to my Son, the one Mediator between God and man, for my Son is my savior just as He is yours.” Mary exemplifies the attitude of Psalm 115:1 which says, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But unto thy name give glory, For thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake. Conclusion I want to close by returning to the question we asked at the beginning: Why did God choose to enter our world this way, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary? Let me give you just three of the many reasons for God doing this: 1. It was to demonstrate Christ’s real humanity. If the Son of God had just descended from the sky looking like a healthy 30-year-old man with a halo on his head, it would be hard to believe that he was fully man, of the same nature as you and I. As Hebrews 4:15 says of Him, He can sympathize with our weaknesses, and was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. And so to make us know just how close God wants to get to us, He assumes our very nature starting at conception, and joins that nature to Himself in a Personal Union, eternal God with time-bound man, unchangeable divinity with a growing humanity. And all so that we might be joined to Him. He partakes of our nature that we might partake of His (Hebrews 2:14, 2 Peter 1:4). 2. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary to demonstrate his full divinity. Only God can beget God, no virgin could do this however holy, with a man or without one. And therefore, the only explanation for the existence of Jesus is that He is God from God, light from light, the only begotten Son of the eternal Father. And because the Father begets the Son in a spiritual conception, so also it was most fitting that Mary conceive that same Son without carnal intercourse, but by the Spirit’s power. As Isaiah 7:14 foretold, A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel. God with us. 3. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin Mary to teach us how the miracle of salvation is effected in us. As miraculous as the virgin birth is, the justification of the ungodly is an even greater miracle than this! For consider the virgin Mary, she possessed God in her very womb, and yet without faith, that virginal conception would be no profit to her. Mary still had to believe in the Son of God dwelling within her. St. Augustine writes that, “Mary is more blessed in receiving the faith of Christ, than in conceiving the flesh of Christ…Her nearness as a Mother would have been of no profit to Mary, had she not borne Christ in her heart after a more blessed manner than in her flesh.” So do you like Mary tremble and fear before the announcement of God’s high favor towards you? You are favored to hear the gospel of Christ. As Philippians 2:12 says, do you work out your own salvation with fear and trembling? Do you like Mary, believe in order to understand? Do you believe in order to conceive the same Word and Christ that Mary conceived and nourished in her womb? As Paul says in Ephesians 3:17, That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. And in Colossians 1:27 it says, To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. And finally, do you like Mary consent to the will of God? Does your heart say to Him, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. Salvation is God’s gracious giving of His very self to you. And so purify your heart for Him. Keep your soul chaste from idols and demons, lies and falsehood, so that as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:1, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. May God’s Holy Spirit overshadow you, and dwell within you forever, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.