“Blessed are you among women”

You might not believe it, but Luke Chapter One is one of the most theologically, doctrinally, and prophetically packed passages anywhere in Scripture. To thoroughly exegete it would involve going from book to book, passage to passage, and cross-referencing. This video covers just Luke 1:26-30, where the Virgin Mary meets Gabriel. Subsequent videos will cover more of Mary’s response to Gabriel’s news, that she was selected to bear the Messiah, Jesus Christ. There is detail here that should edify and challenge us in our faith.

First, the name Gabriel, means “Hero of God. It’s very interesting that in Luke 1:19, Gabriel says of himself that he stands in the presence of God. This leads a lot of students and scholars to believe Gabriel may be one of the four angels that surround the throne in Revelation Chapter four. But one thing we do know, whether we’re looking at Gabriel, whether we’re looking at Michael, all the angels reflect God. Their job, their task, their purpose for existence is to reflect God in different ways. Michael is a warrior angel. Gabriel is a teaching and an encourager and exhorter. Note that whenever Gabriel appears, he appears as a man. And when Gabriel appears, the only thing he delivers is information about the coming of the Messiah. We only have three people in the Bible to which Gabriel appears. There may have been more, but he’s not named otherwise. He appears to Daniel in Daniel, Chapters 8 to 12 where Daniel stands there listening, and Gabriel is basically teaching and explaining (and in some cases giving visions) of the Messiah. And then, of course, he appears to Zacharias in Luke 1:11-20, where he revealed the miraculous birth of John the Baptist. Why is that important? Because John the Baptist is the forerunner of the Messiah. And then of course, shortly afterward, Gabriel appeared to Mary, who would be the virgin mother of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so Luke 1:26 says “that Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth.” That’s very important. This is the town in which Mary lived. It’s significant because it fulfills a prophecy that you might have pondered or maybe wrestled over. You’ll remember in Matthew 2:23, when Jesus’ family comes back from Egypt, it says that Joseph led them to Nazareth. “He came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called the Nazarene.” There are no real passages that say, “he shall be called a Nazarene.” You’ll search in vain. You can’t find it. And yet Matthew said that this was a fulfillment of the “prophets,” plural. You’ll probably remember that there are several passages in the Old Testament that refer to the Messiah as “the branch” (Isaiah 4:2, Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 33:15, Zachariah 3:8, and Zachariah 6:12.) The word branch in Hebrew is “Netzar,” is the root of Nazareth. Is it amazing? God named a town just so a prophecy could be fulfilled concerning the Lord Jesus Christ

Our passage in Luke goes on to tell us that “Mary was betrothed to Joseph of the House of David.” This is going to become significant, but I’m going to save that for the next video. Suffice that it is the fulfillment of a prophecy. “Mary” is derived from the Hebrew name “Miriam,” which goes all the way back to the sister of Moses. It’s very interesting that Miriam is probably derived from the Egyptian “Meri,” which means “beloved.” Isn’t that appropriate? In Luke 1:28, Gabriel identifies the character of Mary using three phrases. These should be a challenge to us. First though, many scholars have suggested that probably every generation of young women in Israel dreamed that possibly, maybe they would be the one who bears the long-awaited Messiah. Well, here of course, it came down to Mary. And I think Gabriel explains something about why she was chosen. He says that she was highly favored. Now favor, of course, refers to Grace. And we’ll see that in a moment. She was highly favored or highly great, highly blessed. This shows me that she was living in intimate association with the grace of God. Her life was enveloped in grace. How does that happen? This fellowship and Grace are available to every one of us. The Apostle Paul amplifies this when he says in Romans Chapter 5, “grace upon grace” and “much more grace.” Much more than what? Much more than anything you’ve known up to this point. There’s more grace available. How do we get it? Well, it’s very simple. In 1^st Peter 5:5, Peter said, “God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Also, Jesus began his public teaching ministry with the Beatitudes, and he began with the statement “Blessed,” or you could say “Grace.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The word for “poor” here in the Greek language conveys a person is so poor, so destitute, so helpless that when people walked by, they would just spit on them. They were what you would call the dregs of the earth. God gives grace to we who realize how poor we really are in comparison to our God

Luke 1:28 continues, “The Lord is with you.” This indicates that Mary was living by faith. You must realize that Mary is likely just 14 or 15 years old, the typical marriage age in her time. How spiritually deep could she be? Let’s not deify Mary, which is idolatry, but let’s give her a rightful place, because she was a very magnificent young woman. She was living in fellowship with God, living in the sphere of grace. Gabriel said, “blessed are you among women,” indicating that she represented the ideal woman. Notice he did not say “above other women,” but, “among women.” Mary represented one half of humans. Immediately our mind goes to Genesis 3:15 where the first promise of the Messiah that tells us essential that “the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent.”

Now in Luke 1:29, Mary responds within herself in two ways. She was “troubled,” and she “considered.” First, the word “troubled” is actually an intensified verb, which literally means “terrified.” You know, there’s an interesting reaction that you will find in everyone in the Bible when the invisible, unseen realm intersects with the human realm. They’re terrified. If you want to see a vision of angels or the Lord, prepare yourself to be terrified, because the spiritual realm is something that we’re not qualified or capable of taking in. Second, I love this word “consider” which in the Greek is the word “logizomai.” It’s a mathematical term. What a magnificent young woman! What kind of facts do you think she’s adding up here? She’s had an appearance of an angel that calls himself Gabriel who tells her that she is highly favored and she’s standing there dumbfounded, terrified, and she’s in her mind casting about with what? Scripture! She’s beginning to add up the facts she knows of scripture. Being a young Jewish woman, you know, there wasn’t a lot of training. A young man, on the other hand, was trained in the law. Before a young man’s bar mitzvah, he got some intensive training, but not so much a young woman. Something interesting, however, is revealed in the Song of Mary (Luke 1:46-55). There are 15 direct references and allusions to Old Testament scriptures. Off the top of her head, she begins to sing a song composed of fifteen Old Testament texts. Anybody here want to try that? We might get John 3:16 and a couple of others. Mary was obviously a scholar of scripture, and likely, because she was not pushed into knowing the law like a boy would be, she was probably searching on her own.

To me this means she loved the word of God!

Gene Cunningham - January 28, 2003

Hebrews 12

Heb 2:9-18 Seven great undertakings of Jesus as a man 2nd great undertaking -- His valiant leadership Heb 2:10 He is the God-Man. Captain of their salvation. Prince-leader. Fitting: to take appropriate action, includes his whole life. Heb 10:5 It’s the altar that sanctifies the gold, not the other way around. There was no sacrifice other than Himself that could satisfy God’s justice and wrath. Heb 10:4 Everything was made through Him and for Him. He came to lead us into His glory. He created us to share His glory with us. isa 43:7 psa 8:1-9 gen 1:26-27 He came to lead us into a far greater glory. His glory is an everlasting, divine glory. Bringing, leading many sons to glory. Only in sonship does He lead, we can only be led if we are a son/daughter. We are glorified by trusting Jesus Christ. Rom 8:29 rom 8:1 eph 1:6 To us, He is our Captain. Archegos: Prince-leader, a hero who had proven himself, founder of a school, chieftain of a tribe or clan, commander who blazed a trail to follow, he took a position he didn’t have to take, but he humbled himself for his people. By His suffering He identified with us, by our suffering by faith we are identified with Him. 2ti 2:11-13 He as the Captain is made perfect through sufferings. How could the God-Man be made perfect if He was perfect at birth. Heb 4:15 Tempted, yet without sin. How can we say He needed to be made perfect? It was the right thing for Him to do for our sake, it was fitting for Him. He took the appropriate action for our need teleies: perfection in practical terms, maturity, adequately equipped, prepared to fulfill their purpose Battle in Gethsemane was last test to prepare Jesus for the cross. isa 18:12-14 “I will’s” all the way through the passage, it’s the beginning of the rebellion, the conflict we are in now. Jesus was temped but overcame, “not My will by Your will be done” He arrived at the goal and purpose of His life, and was sufficient, and was made that way through His suffering. Made perfect: includes His whole life, isa 53:3 He was so compassionate and tolerant because He understood the ravages of sin, He knew the destruction it had on their soul. It was voluntary Phi 2:6-7 it was by divine design Heb 5:8 so He could be compassionate to us Heb 2:11 His cleansing work. We are not ashamed to call us brothers. God loves us, and He likes us, we are accepted in the Beloved. We should seek to live that righteousness out. We should not be ashamed by our brothers either. Jesus continues to sanctify us. He’s the one who does it. We don’t do it. He does it on the basis of His work on the cross. We receive it. By grace through faith. That continues for our whole spiritual life. col 2:6 Luk 7:36-50 If you don’t think you have that many sins to deal with, you won’t love Jesus very much. We need to realize our own spiritual poverty, and we have to cry out every day for His mercy. Sanctification: Heb 10:9-10 Once for all, cleansed, then separated, set apart unto God. Heb 10:14 On the foundation of the once for all cleansing, we are being sanctified joh 14:10 col 1:13 Things are dealt with as a family member for the purpose of restoring fellowship, not for condemnation. How long are you going to be growing? As long as you life. Everyday there will be more. We all have the responsibility to allow Him to do the work. We can refuse. 1Th 5:23 He and He alone can accomplish this. In every part, completely. Spirit, soul, body. God works from the inside out. Rom 12:2 renewing of your mind, it’s an ongoing process. The body part is at resurrection. He’s not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters, why are we so ashamed of our brothers and sisters and Him? Heb 2:9-18 Sacrificial death Heb 2:9, prince leadership Heb 2:10, cleansing work Heb 2:11, great love for His family Heb 2:11-13 psa 22:22 He introduced that we can speak of God as Father. To the Jews at the time they didn’t think they could speak God’s name. isa 8:17 He lived by faith as we must. The quotes look at before, during, and after. One day, He will lead us to the Father. 5th great undertaking: His defeat of the devil Heb 2:15 Partake, we share everything in common. He shared in a limited way, without the sin nature. Power: ruling authority. When Adam died, he forfeited our authority to Satan 2Co 4:4 How did He destroy the devil’s power? He rose again, He proved He had power over the grave, He was resurrection. Death couldn’t hold Him, death can’t hold us. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. 2Co 5:8 They are waiting for us to come to them. Rom 6:6 6th great undertaking: liberates the captives Heb 2:15-16 To set us free from a contract col 2:14 He doesn’t give aid to angels, but to the seed of Abraham. We will be superior to angels and judge them at the judgment. Satan hates that. His rebellion was to the revealed will of God for us. The five things Satan says he will do, are things we are given in Christ. Five is the number of grace. To aid, to take hold of for the purpose of helping. 7th great undertaking: His merciful priesthood Heb 2:17 Jesus is a merciful and faithful High Priest. The grace of God begets mercy. Truth begets faithfulness. Propitiation is the satisfying of God’s righteous demands. He is merciful. Paul started using mercy and merciful more and more as he grew. Qualifications of a high priest, was to be a sinner. Heb 5:1-5 Too many people in the church now have the attitude of the Pharisee instead of the tax collector. If you are here, weary and beaten, look to Jesus. If you are unsaved and you fear His judgment, look to Jesus in faith. You can have Him right now. Jesus will never turn you away. If you have doubts and fears and burdens, lay them at His feet, knowing that He cares for you. He always greets us with open arms.

Scripture References: Ephesians 1:6, Psalms 22:22, Hebrews 2:11, Hebrews 2:17, Hebrews 10:5, Colossians 1:13, Romans 8:1, Hebrews 2:11-13, Hebrews 5:8, Colossians 2:14, Hebrews 2:10, John 14:10, Romans 8:29, Hebrews 2:11, Philippians 2:6-7, Hebrews 2:15-16, Hebrews 2:9-18, Hebrews 10:14, Genesis 1:26-27, Hebrews 2:10, Isaiah 53:3, Romans 6:6, Hebrews 10:9-10, Psalms 8:1-9, Hebrews 2:9, Isaiah 18:12-14, Hebrews 2:15, Luke 7:36-50, Isaiah 43:7, Hebrews 2:9-18, Hebrews 4:15, Isaiah 8:17, Colossians 2:6, Hebrews 5:1-5, Hebrews 10:4, Romans 12:2