Hold Onto God’s Promises When All Seems Lost
I was honored to preach this sermon at Living Hope Community Church on March 19, 2023.
Now a certain man was sick: Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
John 11:1-2
If you’re reading through the gospel of John for the first time, you might not remember this event that John is referencing here, of Mary anointing Jesus with ointment, and wiping his feet with her hair. That’s because it hasn’t happened yet. It happens in the next chapter. So what is the point of John referencing it here? John is emphasizing the special relationship between Jesus and Mary and Mary’s family. This is not a random family of strangers. There is deep love between this family and Jesus.
So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not meant for death, but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” (Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and Lazarus.) So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.
John 11:3-6
Verse 6 is shocking. Verses 1-5 establish that Jesus loved Lazarus and that the sickness is not meant for death. The story is set up so that we expect to read: “so when he heard that he was sick, he immediately went and healed him.” But instead, we read: “so when he heard that he was sick, he then stayed two days longer in the place where he was.”
The key is v. 4: “This sickness is not meant for death” (another translation says “this sickness will not end in death”) “but it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”
Love is written all over this text. The affection with which Mary anointed Christ with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair – that’s love. Verse 3, “Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.” Jesus loved Lazarus. Again, John tells us explicitly in verse 5, “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.”
Jesus didn’t immediately heal Lazarus. Instead, Jesus stayed two days longer in the place where he was. But that doesn’t mean Jesus didn’t love Lazarus. Jesus did love Lazarus. He had to trust the revelation he had received from God, that this sickness would not end in death. For Jesus to stay two more days where he was, he had to trust God with such faith that he would believe that even if Lazarus died, it wouldn’t be the end – God could raise him from the dead. How much faith is that?
The love of God and the glory of God. The two are not opposed to each other.
There is no greater love than to help another person see the glory of God. That is the ultimate love, and that is what happens in this story as it unfolds.
John Piper once said: “Love is doing whatever you have to do to help people see the glory of God as their supreme joy… The aim of love is to bring people to the fullest knowledge and the fullest enjoyment of the glory of God. Love means giving us what we need most. And what we need most is… a full and endless experience of the glory of God. Love means giving us what will bring us the fullest and longest joy. And what is that? What will give you full and eternal joy? The answer of this text is clear: a revelation to your soul of the glory of God — seeing, admiring, and marveling at and savoring the glory of God in Jesus Christ. Love is the longing that labors and suffers to enthrall others with what is infinitely and eternally satisfying: the glory of God. God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in him.”
Right now, Martha, Mary, Lazarus, and even Jesus himself are about to go through some trials. Lazarus is sick, and as we will see, he’s about to die. So in this moment, it’s hard to see how God is working. At this point in the story, we don’t know what’s going to happen next. We don’t see the full picture yet, as God sees it. We see only the sickness and suffering of this moment. Every impulse within us says: “What are you doing, Jesus? You gotta go heal this guy right now! What are you waiting for?” But Jesus stayed where he was for two days.
Jesus said in John 5:30, “I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak as the Father taught Me.”
He said in John 5:19, “The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way.”
Jesus always did the Father’s will. He too probably felt the human impulse to immediately heal Lazarus. But he stayed for two days because he had faith in what God was revealing to him – that God, who can see the bigger picture, was working something greater here. Jesus had to have great faith in order to persevere through this trial. He had to believe the promise God revealed in verse 4: the sickness will not end in death, but in the end, God’s love and his glory will be revealed. We will see throughout this story, Jesus is about to face ridicule and anger. He’s about to shed tears. He’s about to go through suffering. But it’s not in vain. God is working something greater here. Jesus had to trust in God through this trial and believe that in the end, God’s love and glory will be revealed. He had to believe that in the core of his being.
Is it any different for you and me? When we go through trials, we too must trust the promise of God revealed in Romans 8:28, that God works all things together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Do you believe that? Do you believe that even when you suffer? Do you believe that even when it’s hard?
If we want to overcome like Jesus, we too must trust in the promises of God in the midst of suffering. His word is truth. His promises will come to pass. Nothing else in this world will give us the strength to stand.
In the story we’re about to read, we’re going to see some suffering. We’re going to see some pain. We’re going to see tears shed. We’re going to see some moments where it feels hopeless. But don’t lose hope. Don’t lose faith.
As we read through this story, hold onto the promise of verse 4. The sickness will not end in death. God’s love and his glory will be revealed. To overcome like Jesus, we must hold onto the promises of God.
Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.” The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and yet You are going there again?” Jesus replied, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks during the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
John 11:7-10
Jesus faced danger going to Bethany because, as seen in the previous chapter, the Jews were seeking to stone him to death. Verses 9-10 are mysterious. I’m not going to claim to fully understand them, but they might have something to do with John 9:4, “We must carry out the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.”
Jesus knew what the prophets had foretold – that the Messiah would be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. He knew that he was going to be crucified and die for the sins of the world. But he also knew that it had to happen at the time God had appointed. Jesus was crucified at the time of Passover. There was incredible symbolism here. Just as the blood of the original Passover lamb saved the Israelites from the angel of death at the exodus from Egypt, so the blood of Jesus the sinless lamb of God saves us from death. It had to happen at the appointed time. Jesus operated on a divine timetable set by God the Father. Throughout the book of John, he uses the phase “My hour has not yet come.”
The disciples are saying to Jesus: “You can’t go to Judea because if you go to Judea right now, they’ll kill you.”
But Jesus is saying: “No, they won’t, because my hour has not yet come. God has appointed a time of day and a time of night. The time of day is the time that I am in the world. The time of night is the time of my crucifixion. I will go to Judea with confidence because I trust that God won’t allow me to be killed until the proper time.”
This He said, and after this He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going so that I may awaken him from sleep.” The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will come out of it.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about actual sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus died, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let’s go to him.”
John 11:11-15
Jesus understood that death is sleep – that is, the dead are at rest until the resurrection of the dead when they will awake to face the final judgement. “Lazarus died, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe.” Isn’t this puzzling? Lazarus died, and I am glad I was not there? His dear friend whom he loves has died, and he’s glad? How does that make sense?
Look carefully here. He’s glad “for your sakes, that you may be believe.” Again, love is doing whatever needs to be done for someone to see and be satisfied with the glory of God. Despite the death, despite the grief of knowing his dearly beloved friend has died, Jesus can be glad in this moment because he knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that death is not the end of the story and that God’s glory is about to be revealed – and through that, the disciples will see and will believe. And that is something to be glad about, if we have enough faith to believe it!
See, even though Lazarus has died, Jesus is still holding onto the promise of verse 4: “this sickness will not end in death, but the glory of God is going to be revealed” That is the promise that Jesus received from God. And if it’s really true that the sickness won’t end in death, then it logically follows that even if Lazarus dies, well, God will need to raise him from the dead!
What kind of faith is that? I think if any of us had a friend who was sick, and we felt like God was speaking to us and promising us that they would be healed, and then they died, we would say, “Well, I guess I was wrong.” There is a finality to death that none of us dare to question.
But Jesus doesn’t go there. Jesus has received this word from God that the sickness won’t end in death. So even in the face of death, Jesus continues to believe the promise of God. He believes to the core of his being that God, who cannot lie, will always keep his promises, even if it means raising the dead.
You want to know how Jesus overcame? This is how Jesus overcame. With this kind of faith. Incredible faith. Unimaginable faith. Faith so strong that even in the face of death he could be glad because knew death wasn’t the end and God’s glory was imminent.
Therefore Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s also go, so that we may die with Him!”
John 11:16
Jesus is facing danger going to Bethany because the Jews are seeking to stone him. He has confidence that God won’t allow him to be killed until the proper time. But the disciples don’t have this much faith. They are fearful of the Jews who are seeking to kill Jesus, and they see going to Bethany right now as a suicide mission. They don’t have as much faith as Jesus has, so they are afraid. Nevertheless, they still follow him.
So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away; and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them about their brother. So then Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed in the house. Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise from the dead.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”
John 11:17-24
Martha believed in the future resurrection of the dead. She correctly understood that the dead are asleep, waiting for the resurrection, and on the last day, when the Messiah comes to judge the world and make everything wrong with the world right, on that day the dead will rise. Those who trust in Christ will rise and meet him face to face, and be with him forever on a renewed and perfected earth where there is no more death, or sorrow, or tears, or war, or sin. This is the gospel that Jesus preached. The gospel of the kingdom of God. Everything wrong with the world will be made right. Martha understood! She gets it! She gets the gospel message!
But notice how Jesus responds here. I would expect him to commend her, to say, “Blessed are you, Martha, for you understand the kingdom of God! Isn’t this good news! Yes! Lazarus will rise again!”
But that’s not what Jesus says. Look at verses 25-26.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26
Martha believed the gospel of the kingdom. She had faith in a future resurrection of the dead. But Jesus took it a step further. He said: “I AM that resurrection, and I showed up right here and right now!”
Christ is the resurrection. He is the king who will raise the dead. All power and authority have been given to him by God. God has put all things under his feet. As it says in Revelation 1:18, he holds the keys to death and the grave in his hand.
So notice how Jesus connects Lazarus’ resurrection to your resurrection. It would already be an extraordinary thing for Jesus to claim that he could raise Lazarus from the dead. But Jesus takes it one step further. Not only is Jesus able to raise Lazarus from the dead by the power and authority that God has given him – he is able to raise you from the dead by that same power. He is able to call Lazarus out of the grave by name, and he is able to call you out of the grave by name.
Whoever believes in him, even if he dies, he will live again. Jesus is telling Martha that if she believes, the same resurrection from the dead that can happen to Lazarus can also happen to her, and to all who believe.
She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, and He who comes into the world.”
When she had said this, she left and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard this, she got up quickly and came to Him.
Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still at the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house and were consoling her, when they saw that Mary had gotten up quickly and left, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there. So when Mary came to the place where Jesus was, she saw Him and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” But some of them said, “Could this man, who opened the eyes of the man who was blind, not have also kept this man from dying?”
John 11:27-37
Jesus wept.
The shortest verse in the Bible, but one of the most profound.
In understanding why Jesus wept, commentators often say that even though he knew Lazarus would be raised from the dead, he was still overwhelmed by sadness because of Lazarus’ death. Perhaps that is true. But I think there is another, more obvious reason why Jesus wept.
“If you had been here, he wouldn’t have died.”
“Couldn’t this man have kept him from dying?”
Three times Jesus is unfairly blamed for Lazarus’ death – first by Martha, then by Mary, then by the Jews.
They’re essentially saying to him: “This is your fault, Jesus. You’re the reason he died.”
Have you ever been accused like that? Jesus has. He’s walked in your shoes. He’s felt the same feelings that you feel. He gets you.
Isaiah 53:3 says, “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”
Jesus knew sadness.
John 11:35 is not the only time when Jesus wept.
In Luke 19, Jesus wept over Jerusalem because he understood the destruction that was going to come upon the city at the hands of the Romans.
This weeping was not just tearing up a little bit or shedding a tear. The Greek word translated “wept” in Luke 19 means “to wail loudly.”
Jesus knows what it is to feel overwhelming despair.
He offered up both prayers and pleas with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His devout behavior. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
Hebrews 5:7-8
Jesus wept.
The weeping here in John 11 is a different kind of sadness than in Luke 19. The Greek word translated “wept” in John 11:35 means “to cry silently.”
Scripture doesn’t tell us exactly what Jesus wept, and I don’t want to read into it, but I think the text implies that it was more than mere sadness that Lazarus had died. Remember, Jesus clung to the promise of verse 4: the sickness won’t end in death, but the glory of God is going to be revealed. He also knew, before he went to Bethany, that Lazarus was already dead. It’s not like he showed up and was shocked to discover that Lazarus was dead. He knew he was already dead, but he still believed it won’t end in death. So clearly, Jesus had to hold onto the promise of verse 4 and believe that God could raise the dead, otherwise, he wouldn’t have even come.
But the people don’t share his faith. They lack faith in this moment. They are filled with grief and anger. They are looking for someone to blame.
Verse 33 says Jesus “was deeply moved in spirit.” This translation is pretty tame. The Greek word here means “to be moved with anger, to admonish sternly, to snort with rage like an angry horse.”
Verse 33 also says that Jesus “was troubled.” Again, this is a very tame translation. The Greek word means “to be restless, stirred up, agitated.” It’s the same word used in John 5:7 to describe the waters of the pool of Bethesda being stirred up.
I don’t think it’s reading into the text, to say that Jesus felt something here beyond just sadness.
He is being blamed for Lazarus’ death. The people have no faith in his ability to rectify this situation.
He is facing the full force of their rage, criticism, and insult.
Jesus wept.
Jesus wasn’t a stoic. Jesus felt his emotions. Jesus wrestled with his emotions and worked through them. He wasn’t controlled by them, but he didn’t suppress them either. He felt them and expressed them to God.
So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
John 11:38-40
Remember the promise of verse 4: “This sickness is not meant for death, but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”
So they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. But I knew that You always hear Me; nevertheless, because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”
John 11:41-42
Jesus always gave God the glory. He had total confidence that God would hear him. Nevertheless, he thanked God for hearing him, and he thanked God out loud in the presence of other people, in order to publicly glorify God and give God the credit for the miracle that was about to be performed.
There are seven miracles that Jesus performs in the gospel of John before his passion. This is the seventh and the greatest. He wants to make sure that God gets all the credit for it. Jesus always gave God the glory.
And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” Out came the man who had died, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
John 11:43-44
The promise of verse 4 has come to pass.
The sickness did not end in death.
God’s glory was revealed.
Death defeated. Wrong made right. Doubt turned to faith. Hopelessness to hope. Mourning to joy.
This is a foretaste of the kingdom of God. It’s not just something that happened. It’s a picture of what’s to come – for you and for me.
Just as Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave, if you believe, he’ll call you out of the grave.
One day, Jesus will return to rule the world, to bring peace and justice to the earth, and make everything wrong with the world right.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:3-4
Lazarus was in the grave for four days. Between the time that he died and the time that he rose, his family mourned. They felt devastated, hopeless, even angry. They criticized Jesus for not coming sooner. It was impossible for them, during those four days, to see how God was working, why God would allow this, how God could possibly work this out for their good and for his glory.
We go through similar experiences in life.
In life, there are times when we can’t see how God is working.
We have such limited perspective. We don’t see the end from the beginning, like God does.
The Apostle Paul said that right now, we see through a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face; right now we know only in part, but then we will know fully.
But be encouraged by this truth: The word of God is true, even when we can’t see it.
The promises of God are true, even when we can’t imagine how they’re possibly going to come to pass.
Do you have faith to say, “God, I don’t know how you’re possibly going to work this out for my good and for your glory, but I’m still believing that you are because it’s written in your word in Romans 8:28 and your word never fails. God who cannot lie has spoken it and your promises never fail. So I believe that you’re working even when I can’t see it.”
Do you have that kind of faith this morning?
If you do, you can overcome anything.
To overcome like Jesus, we need to hold onto the promises of God.
The God of the Weak and Lowly
I was honored to deliver this Christmas sermon at Living Hope Community Church on December 18, 2022.
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.
Luke 2:1-7
What was this event, which Luke records with such simplicity?
A woman of humble means, wrapping her child in simple bands of cloth, laying him in a feeding trough for animals, because there was no guest room available.
There was no fanfare. There was no royal pageantry. There was no pomp and circumstance.
An estimated 385,000 babies are born every day.
This event – the birth of a single baby, in a seemingly insignificant region of the world, laid to rest in the humblest of circumstances – would, from a human perspective, have no obvious significance, and would not be expected to change the world or the course of history.
And yet, from God’s perspective, this was the most important day. And for those who believe, this day changed the universe, and has the power to change our lives forever.
It was, first and foremost, a real day. Unlike some religious figures such as the Buddha – whose births are unclear exactly when or, even if, they happened – this day is authenticated in history. A day attested to by historians – Christian, Jewish, and Roman. A real day, at a real time in history, when Caesar Augustus was Emperor of Rome and when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
A real place – Bethlehem. Here, Luke refers to Bethlehem by its traditional title “city of David” because of its historical ties to the ancient Jewish king. However, at this time in history, this “city” was only a small village. According to biblical scholar William Barclay, at the time of the birth of Jesus, the population of Bethlehem may have been as few as 200-300 people. John, in his gospel, uses the Greek word “ko-may” to refer to Bethlehem, a word meaning a small hamlet or village.
And what of Nazareth, the town from which Mary and Joseph travelled, and in which their child would grow up? Nazareth was not much larger – perhaps 500 people according to some estimates. It was, so to speak, “in the boonies” – so much so that the people of that day asked, as recorded in John 1:46, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
And the region of Galilee, such a backwater that the people of that day asked, as recorded in John chapter 7, “How can the Christ come from Galilee? No prophet comes out of Galilee.”
From a human perspective, this was a seemingly insignificant day, a seemingly insignificant place, a seemingly insignificant event.
And yet, this was precisely the day, precisely the place, precisely the event that God chose to change our lives, to change history, to change the world, to change the cosmos and the entire created order.
It was a day the prophets had spoken of for thousands of years.
It was a day that Abraham envisioned and rejoiced to see.
It was a day foretold since the Garden of Eden.
The rise and fall of empires, the decrees of governors, and even the appearance of the stars in the sky were all guided by the hand of God, so that this day would come.
Moses told the people of Israel:
The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet
Deuteronomy 18:15
Likewise the prophets:
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
Micah 5:2
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders, and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Great will be his authority, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
Isaiah 11:1-5
These are just a few of the many prophecies of Christ found in the Old Testament. In fact, every book of the Old Testament points to Christ in some way. The Jews looked with eager expectation for a Messiah who would liberate their kingdom from oppression. A man who would be both priest, prophet, and king. One who would finally establish peace, justice, and righteousness on the earth.
How did the people expect this great Messiah to come?
Surely, he would be a powerful warrior. Surely, he would come on a mighty war horse, commanding enormous armies.
Yet God, in his subversive gentleness, chose to undermine empire and defeat the powers of evil through the meekness of a tiny baby laid in a manger.
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
Isaiah 42:1-4
God could have brought his Son into the world any way he wanted.
How great is our God, that of all the ways he could have done it, he chose to work through a humble, ordinary woman named Mary?
Can you imagine the awe that Mary must have experienced when the angel told her that from her would come the Messiah, the one who would be priest, prophet, and king – the one who would save people from their sins?
Can you imagine her awe when she realized that of all the people who ever lived and ever will live, she was the one would bring the Son of God into the world?
Why Mary?
It was not because there was anything extraordinary about her – she was an ordinary woman!
But, she had extraordinary faith and obedience to God’s word.
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be bornwill be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.“
Luke 1:26-38
According to some scholars, Mary was as young as 13 years old when this happened. She was a young, unmarried, ordinary woman.
There was nothing particularly extraordinary about Mary, except that she had the simple faith to say, “God, let it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)
Do you have that faith this morning?
Do you have that faith to say to God, “Let it be done to me according to your word?”
God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.
He doesn’t choose people who are good enough, strong enough, or wise enough.
God chooses people who are not good enough, who are not strong enough, and who are not wise enough.
He chooses the weak in the world to shame the strong.
He chooses the foolish in the world to shame the wise.
If you feel weak, if you feel foolish, if you don’t know how God can use you, if you don’t know where God is calling you to go next, I’m here to tell you, you don’t need to know. You don’t need to have all the answers. You don’t need to be strong enough, or wise enough, or good enough.
You only need to have the simple, humble faith, to say to God, as Isaiah said, “Here I am, Lord, send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)
Do you have that simple, childlike faith this morning?
If you do, God can use you, to accomplish more than you could ever imagine.
As John Piper once said, “He’s a big God for little people”
Mary and Joseph had each received a promise from an angel that Mary’s child would be the Messiah.
But let’s not forget that they had 9 months of anticipation leading up this moment. And this time had not been easy for them. They had to suffer the shame of having a child out of wedlock – I mean, how are you gonna explain that to your family?
And then, unable to even secure a guest room, they had to lay the child in a manger – a feeding trough for animals.
At this point, they’re probably wondering, “Is this really happening?” The promise had come 9 months ago – that’s a long time! The memories of the angelic visitations are fading in their minds. The reality of laying a child down in a feeding trough is before them. They need to receive some comfort, some reassurance.
That’s what I love about this next part of the story. Picking it up in Luke 2 verse 8:
Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.
Luke 2:8-20
Can you imagine the comfort and reassurance that Mary and Joseph must have felt when these shepherds showed up just gave them that confirmation: yes, this is really happening. No, you’re not crazy. We saw the angels too! We know that this baby truly is the Messiah.
What overwhelming joy Mary and Joseph must have felt when these shepherds showed up!
Of all the people to be the first to see the Messiah, how great is our God that he would choose shepherds?
Shepherds. Some of the poorest individuals in the ancient world. They were outcasts who lived at the margins of society. Yet, it was these humble shepherds who were the first to see the Christ.
How great is our God? He doesn’t choose the mighty. He doesn’t choose the powerful. He chooses the humble. He chooses the meek.
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of the proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews ask for signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to abolish things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. In contrast, God is why you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
I want to close with a poem – the lyrics to a song by Audrey Assad called “Winter Snow”
As you hear these words, consider all of the ways that God could have brought his Son in the world. God could have done it so many different ways. He didn’t need to work through ordinary people like Mary and Joseph. He didn’t need to call shepherds to rejoice.
But consider how much love God has for simple, weak, ordinary, people, that he would choose to work through them.
You could have come like a mighty storm
with all the strength of a hurricane
You could have come like a forest fire
with the power of heaven in your flameYou could have swept in like a tidal wave
or an ocean to ravish our hearts
You could have come through like a roaring flood
to wipe away the things we’ve scarredBut your voice wasn’t in a bush burning
Your voice wasn’t in a rushing windIt was still, it was small, it was hidden
You came like a winter snow
So quiet
So soft
So slow
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