Luke 1:26  And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27  To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28  And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29  And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30  And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.
31  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS..
32  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:
33  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34  Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35  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.
36  And, 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.
37  For with God nothing shall be impossible.
38  And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word.  And the angel departed from her.
39  And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;
40  And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
41  And it came to pass, that when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
42  And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
43  And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44  For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
45  And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
46  And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
47  And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
48  For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
49  For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
50  And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
51  He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52  He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
53  He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
54  He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
55  As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
56  And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own home.

MEMORY VERSE:   And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.  Luke 1:45

CENTRAL THOUGHT:  Mary’s faith took in the wonderful news from the angel that she was to bring forth the Son of God, and Elisabeth’s greeting was a great and wonderful blessing of encouragement to her.

WORD DEFINITIONS

Luke 1:27,  “virgin”:  A young unmarried woman.  “espoused”:  Engaged to be married.  “house of David”:  Family and lineage of David.
Verse 28,  “Hail”:  A cheerful greeting.
Verse 29,  “cast in her mind”:  Was quite perplexed and disturbed
Verse 38,  “be it unto me”: I believe that it will be so.
Verse 45,  “believed”:  Received, accepted, and counted to be so.
Verse 46,  “magnify”:  To declare great and wonderful.
Verse 48,  “low estate”:  Lowly, humble in heart and life.
Verse 54,  “holpen”:  Taken hold of in turn;  succored and greatly blessed and helped.

LESSON BACKGROUND

Six months after the angel Gabriel brought the message to Zacharias of the Lord giving him and his aged wife conception to bring forth a son, we have the wonderful account of his visitation to Mary.  God chose Mary to be the mother of the Saviour of mankind.  There is no doubt that Mary was a righteous and God-fearing young woman.  We can understand why Mary questioned the words of Gabriel that she was to conceive and bring forth a son.  She was not married.  It is very likely that she and her fiancé, Joseph, had already become engaged to be married.  Matthew 1:18-25 gives an account of this that when Joseph was informed of Mary being with child, he was minded to put her away secretly, not willing to make her a public example.  But the angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream and informed him of what was really taking place.  So we see that there were problems to deal with, and we are blessed to know that God was faithful to help them.  At any rate, Joseph and Mary were united and looked forward to the birth of the Saviour.

The wonderful words that Mary uttered in the presence of Elisabeth and Zacharias are so inspiring. Her soul magnified and honored the Lord for so regarding her lowly and humble life and state of mind with goodness and grace to choose her to be the Mother of the Saviour.  He overlooked the proud and worldly minded to favor those of low degree.  And so it is with our gracious Heavenly Father today.  As 1 Peter 5:5, 6 says, “Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”  Thank the Lord for this wonderful truth!         —Bro. Leslie Busbee

QUESTIONS:

  1. Can we see why God chose Mary to be the Mother of the Saviour?
  2. What caused Elisabeth to be made aware of Mary’s blessing?
  3. What did Mary have to say about all of this wonderful blessing?
  4. What did Mary say about the proud, the mighty, and the rich?
  5. What did she say about those of low degree and the hungry?

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

Our lesson today is a wonderful and inspiring account of how God favored a lowly maiden to be the Mother of the Saviour of the world.  It was in the plan and purpose of God to send to humanity a Saviour who would manifest His power, holiness, and grace in a human body and offer his body as a sacrifice for our sins and be risen from the dead to eternal life and glory on our behalf.  God brought it about in such a wonderful way.  It is an account in the Holy Scriptures that is so precious and inspiring to our hearts.  And how He worked first in making the birth of John the Baptist to take place is so wonderful, too.  We love this precious account in the Bible. How thankful we are for the blessings of our loving heavenly Father in bringing this all about!  The account of Mary and Joseph in Matthew 1:18-25 includes the quotation of the prophecy from Isaiah 7:14,  “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmnuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”  Oh, how wonderful that the Almighty God went to such blessed ends to bring about our salvation and deliverance from sin and death!  No man on earth could accomplish this, but God made a way by causing a godly and faithful woman to bring forth a human baby that grew up and brought salvation and everlasting hope and life to us poor and needy human beings.  No wonder Mary was so joyful about it all.  “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden:….He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.  And his mercy is on them that fear him;….He hath shewed strength with his arm,….exalted them of low degree,…..filled the hungry with good things.”  As He did to Mary, God can still bless the souls of men with His goodness, grace, and help.        —Bro. Leslie Busbee

REFLECTIONS

“Behold the hand maid of the Lord.”  We see in these words that Mary exhibited a total humility and willingness to do whatever the Lord so desired of her. The scriptures bear out that in all the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus as well as the thirty three years after his birth, Mary “kept all these sayings in her heart.”  She was present at the wedding for the first miracle when Jesus turned the water into wine. She witnessed the healings and miracles at his hands. Mary was at the foot of the cross when he took his last breath. Mary was also one of the first to visit the tomb. After the ascension of Christ, Mary was one of the hundred and twenty in the upper room fasting and praying before the day of Pentecost.

The servant duties for Mary did not cease after Jesus’ birth.  She was a willing and useful vessel of the Lord for many years—all the days of her life.  We too can be a servant of the Lord if we have a willing heart and an empty vessel. It is then that the Lord is able to do with us abundantly and above all that we can ask or think.  The Lord has a special purpose for each and every life but it cannot be developed or realized until we are willing to become empty of our own special abilities and talents so that he can fill us with his Holy Spirit. Then, we too can testify as Mary did, “For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name!”              —Sis. LaDawna Adams