WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.480 So, one of my favourite Christmas songs is Mary, Did You Know? 00:00:06.339 --> 00:00:09.000 You've probably heard it, I'm guessing, quite a modern song. 00:00:10.660 --> 00:00:14.980 The idea of the song is that someone is asking Mary, the mother of our Lord, 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:17.359 if she knew what would become of her son. 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:22.480 Did she know at the time of his birth what her son would do later on? 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:26.839 And so, a couple of lines into the song, it says, 00:00:26.839 --> 00:00:30.899 Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water? 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:35.039 Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man? 00:00:35.500 --> 00:00:36.420 And so on and so on. 00:00:37.619 --> 00:00:38.859 It's not a bad song. 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:44.659 It uses the poetic format of addressing Mary and asking her about her baby 00:00:44.659 --> 00:00:50.280 to highlight what the Christ child would go on to do and why he came. 00:00:51.379 --> 00:00:55.980 But the song as it stands raises a question of what Mary actually did know 00:00:55.979 --> 00:00:57.519 at the time when Jesus was born. 00:00:58.279 --> 00:01:02.379 In other words, what did Mary know and when did she know it? 00:01:03.099 --> 00:01:05.859 And that's where our text that we've just had today comes in, 00:01:06.019 --> 00:01:07.500 from the Gospel of Luke 1. 00:01:08.459 --> 00:01:12.679 The text tells us what Mary knew, even from the time it was announced to her, 00:01:13.060 --> 00:01:15.039 that she would give birth to the Christ child. 00:01:15.739 --> 00:01:18.859 And with that, we'll be able to answer the song's question 00:01:18.859 --> 00:01:20.939 and find some answers for ourselves. 00:01:22.359 --> 00:01:23.719 Mary, what did you know? 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:27.819 The portion of Luke 1 is the account of the Annunciation, 00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:31.159 that occasion nine months before Christ's birth, 00:01:31.239 --> 00:01:35.359 when the angel Gabriel came and announced to Mary what was going to take place. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:36.359 It says, 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:53.920 That refers to the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, 00:01:54.659 --> 00:01:56.579 she who was pregnant with John the Baptist. 00:01:56.579 --> 00:02:00.340 And note that Mary is betrothed to a man named Joseph, 00:02:01.140 --> 00:02:03.840 but the marriage has not yet been consummated. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:05.159 She's a virgin. 00:02:06.459 --> 00:02:08.919 Also, the reference to the house of David. 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:13.280 David having been Israel's great king from a thousand years earlier, 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:17.000 the one to whom the promise of the Messiah had been made, 00:02:17.379 --> 00:02:21.479 and the great end time deliver a king who would come from the house of David. 00:02:21.479 --> 00:02:24.899 So the angel Gabriel came from heaven, 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:26.939 and he addresses this humble virgin, 00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:30.719 Greetings, O favoured one, the Lord is with you. 00:02:31.259 --> 00:02:32.699 Well, that's a wonderful greeting. 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:36.939 It's really great to know that the Lord is with you when an angel appears. 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:40.019 Otherwise, I'm sure it will be really scary indeed. 00:02:40.020 --> 00:02:46.080 At other points during the Bible, it's always a scary thing, 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:49.000 and the humans need to be calmed down by the angel. 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:50.420 Mary is no different. 00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:53.160 She is greatly troubled, our text says, 00:02:53.420 --> 00:02:55.660 and she doesn't know what to make of this. 00:02:56.480 --> 00:02:57.960 So the angel reassures her, 00:02:58.439 --> 00:03:01.580 Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 00:03:02.180 --> 00:03:03.620 Well, again, this is good to know. 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:06.820 And so here we have the first thing that Mary knows. 00:03:07.200 --> 00:03:08.900 She knows that the Lord is with her, 00:03:08.900 --> 00:03:11.560 and she knows that she's found favour with God. 00:03:12.599 --> 00:03:15.620 And now the angel Gabriel gets to the big news. 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:20.020 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, 00:03:20.099 --> 00:03:21.680 and you shall call his name Jesus. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:24.599 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest, 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:28.099 and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 00:03:28.480 --> 00:03:30.840 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:33.319 and of this kingdom there will be no end. 00:03:33.819 --> 00:03:35.580 Now that is really big news. 00:03:36.099 --> 00:03:37.659 This son that Mary will bear, 00:03:37.659 --> 00:03:41.560 this Jesus, he will be the Son of the Most High God. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:43.060 How can that be? 00:03:43.359 --> 00:03:45.099 And what's more, he will be a king, 00:03:45.419 --> 00:03:46.840 not just any king, 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:49.500 the king, the great messianic king, 00:03:49.819 --> 00:03:51.579 coming out of the line of David. 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:54.960 The promised end-time deliverer sent by God 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:57.539 who will usher in an everlasting kingdom. 00:03:57.539 --> 00:04:00.479 You can't get any more big news than that. 00:04:01.239 --> 00:04:03.139 But wait a minute, Mary is thinking. 00:04:03.519 --> 00:04:05.780 How am I supposed to give birth to a son 00:04:05.780 --> 00:04:08.039 when I'm not even married yet, Mr. Angel? 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:11.239 You're sounding like this conceiving in my womb business 00:04:11.239 --> 00:04:12.899 is going to happen right away. 00:04:13.379 --> 00:04:15.519 Or to put it simply, as our text says, 00:04:16.019 --> 00:04:17.939 how will this be since I'm a virgin? 00:04:17.939 --> 00:04:21.180 If what Mary had been told a moment ago 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:23.219 was not amazing and astounding enough, 00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:26.079 now Gabriel increases the wonderment. 00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:26.899 He says, 00:04:26.899 --> 00:04:39.459 Yes, this will be the most unique birth 00:04:39.459 --> 00:04:41.539 in the whole history of the universe, 00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:44.439 for the most unique child ever to be born, 00:04:44.979 --> 00:04:46.519 conceived by the Holy Spirit 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:48.539 and born of the Virgin Mary. 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:50.739 Just like we say in the Creed, 00:04:51.259 --> 00:04:52.819 true God and true man. 00:04:53.659 --> 00:04:55.639 In this one person, Jesus Christ, 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:57.039 the Holy Son of God, 00:04:57.419 --> 00:04:59.060 to be born in human flesh. 00:04:59.579 --> 00:05:01.419 This too is what Mary knows. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:03.479 And Gabriel goes on, 00:05:03.899 --> 00:05:05.259 And behold, your relative Elizabeth, 00:05:05.500 --> 00:05:06.500 in her old age, 00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:08.259 has also conceived a son. 00:05:08.740 --> 00:05:10.399 And this is a sixth month with her 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:11.620 who was called barren, 00:05:11.719 --> 00:05:13.699 for nothing will be impossible with God. 00:05:14.459 --> 00:05:17.079 If God can cause an old lady 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:18.680 who can't conceive like Elizabeth 00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:19.800 to become pregnant, 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:23.159 he can also do this for a young virgin Mary, 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:25.860 for nothing will be impossible with God. 00:05:26.700 --> 00:05:28.260 So Mary, what did you know? 00:05:29.560 --> 00:05:31.300 She knew that the angel told her 00:05:31.300 --> 00:05:32.439 that the Lord is with her 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:34.300 and she has his favour, 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:36.280 that she will conceive as a virgin 00:05:36.280 --> 00:05:37.260 by the Holy Spirit 00:05:37.260 --> 00:05:38.380 and will bear a son, 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:39.700 to be named Jesus. 00:05:40.540 --> 00:05:42.420 She knows that this son 00:05:42.420 --> 00:05:43.940 will be no ordinary child. 00:05:44.500 --> 00:05:45.800 He will be the son of God, 00:05:46.020 --> 00:05:47.420 born in human flesh, 00:05:48.060 --> 00:05:49.120 our own flesh and blood. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:50.840 And she knows that this boy 00:05:50.840 --> 00:05:51.620 will be a king, 00:05:52.120 --> 00:05:53.600 the great messianic king 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:55.160 coming out of the line of David. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:57.180 She knew all this 00:05:57.180 --> 00:05:59.480 because the angel told her, 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:01.160 but did she believe it? 00:06:02.420 --> 00:06:03.819 Well, Mary answers that question 00:06:03.819 --> 00:06:04.439 in the positive. 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:06.939 Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:09.459 Let it be to me 00:06:09.459 --> 00:06:11.040 according to your word. 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:14.560 That is ultimate faith right there. 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:17.300 Faith generated by that Holy Spirit 00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:19.020 working through the word of God, 00:06:19.139 --> 00:06:19.800 Mary believes. 00:06:20.379 --> 00:06:22.079 And perhaps that is the greatest miracle 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:23.160 of all in this story. 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:24.740 But with God, 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:25.960 nothing is impossible, 00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:28.060 even faith to believe 00:06:28.060 --> 00:06:29.040 the impossible. 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:31.740 And what about all of us 00:06:31.740 --> 00:06:32.560 sat here today? 00:06:33.660 --> 00:06:34.840 What do you know? 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:37.180 What do you believe? 00:06:38.420 --> 00:06:40.199 Did you know that this baby Jesus 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:41.280 will be born for you? 00:06:41.860 --> 00:06:42.460 Yes, you. 00:06:43.100 --> 00:06:44.900 He came to be your saviour, 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:47.080 just as he is a saviour for Mary 00:06:47.079 --> 00:06:48.359 and for all of us sinners 00:06:48.359 --> 00:06:49.399 who need a saviour. 00:06:50.139 --> 00:06:51.199 The messianic king 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:52.339 would bring in his kingdom 00:06:52.339 --> 00:06:53.399 of grace and blessing 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:56.159 precisely by being born in the flesh. 00:06:57.279 --> 00:06:59.500 To quote another oldie but goldie song, 00:06:59.959 --> 00:07:01.300 What If God Was One Of Us? 00:07:02.060 --> 00:07:03.439 Well, that's already happened 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:05.000 in the person of this baby 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:06.639 born of Mary Jesus Christ. 00:07:07.699 --> 00:07:08.819 Jesus kept the law 00:07:08.819 --> 00:07:09.979 that we couldn't keep. 00:07:10.479 --> 00:07:12.299 He fulfilled God's law for us 00:07:12.299 --> 00:07:13.919 and then he bore our sins 00:07:13.919 --> 00:07:15.199 in his body on the cross, 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:16.659 paying the price 00:07:16.659 --> 00:07:17.860 that needed to be paid 00:07:17.860 --> 00:07:18.839 in our place 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:20.139 and as our substitute. 00:07:21.479 --> 00:07:23.180 This is how his kingdom happens. 00:07:23.639 --> 00:07:24.519 Jesus of Nazareth, 00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:25.599 King of the Jews, 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:27.800 with a sign hanging over his head 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:29.420 as he suffers and dies 00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:30.259 for all of us. 00:07:30.860 --> 00:07:31.519 And because he is 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:32.699 the Holy Son of God, 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:34.500 death cannot hold him. 00:07:34.919 --> 00:07:36.360 Jesus rises from the dead, 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:37.439 the guarantee 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:39.259 that all who trust in him 00:07:39.259 --> 00:07:40.740 will likewise live forever 00:07:40.740 --> 00:07:41.659 in his kingdom. 00:07:41.660 --> 00:07:44.520 Now, did Mary know all of this 00:07:44.520 --> 00:07:46.340 in this detail at this point? 00:07:47.340 --> 00:07:50.280 No, but she would know it later on. 00:07:51.020 --> 00:07:52.480 As it says in the Bible 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:53.840 a bit further on in Luke, 00:07:54.380 --> 00:07:56.260 that a sword will pierce her heart 00:07:56.260 --> 00:07:58.280 as one day she will watch her son 00:07:58.280 --> 00:07:59.740 be rejected and crucified. 00:08:00.620 --> 00:08:01.660 But at this point, 00:08:01.840 --> 00:08:03.760 she does know that the son she will bear 00:08:03.760 --> 00:08:05.600 will be the son and the Messiah. 00:08:06.620 --> 00:08:08.080 How will that play out? 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:09.960 She'd come to find out later. 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:11.939 But what she knows 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:12.919 is enough for now. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:15.000 And God gives her the grace 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:15.759 to believe it. 00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:17.979 And that is what God does 00:08:17.979 --> 00:08:19.060 for all of us too. 00:08:19.719 --> 00:08:21.479 He tells us what we need to know 00:08:21.479 --> 00:08:22.919 and what we need to know 00:08:22.919 --> 00:08:23.839 about this Jesus, 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:25.439 the Saviour of ours. 00:08:25.919 --> 00:08:27.899 And he gives us the grace to believe. 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:30.060 Miracles all round. 00:08:31.339 --> 00:08:32.500 So what did Mary know? 00:08:32.699 --> 00:08:33.759 And when did she know? 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:36.419 Yes, Mary, what did you know? 00:08:37.319 --> 00:08:38.259 Mary, did you know 00:08:38.259 --> 00:08:39.319 that your baby boy 00:08:39.319 --> 00:08:41.559 will save our sons and daughters? 00:08:42.379 --> 00:08:44.059 Did you know that your baby boy 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:45.659 has come to make you new? 00:08:46.299 --> 00:08:47.580 The child that you've delivered 00:08:47.580 --> 00:08:49.720 will soon deliver you. 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:53.319 Oh yes, Mary did know this. 00:08:53.960 --> 00:08:55.179 And we know it too. 00:08:55.740 --> 00:08:56.720 Thanks be to God. 00:08:56.720 --> 00:08:57.960 There's a conoce. 00:08:58.620 --> 00:08:58.700 Thanks be to God. 00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:00.100 Thanks be to God. 00:09:00.100 --> 00:09:00.320 Thank you. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:00.440 Go to God.