HIS KINGDOM WILL NEVER END

Luke 1:26-38

Key Verses 32-33

“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Good morning! This year we would like to have three Christmas bible studies: the first one has to do with his kingdom; the second one with His person (God with us); and the third His work. So today we will think about his kingdom – the kingdom Jesus came to build so he could give it to his children.

Today’s passage is brief: just 12 verses. It describes a 1:1 study between Gabriel and Mary. I do not think the Bible study lasted long. Perhaps it took more or less five minutes. Yet, the result was beautiful: Mary opened her heart and said, “I am the Lord’s servant: may it be to me as you have said!” How did it happen?

Look at v. 26. “In the sixth month…” It took place in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Elizabeth was one of Mary’s relatives – a cousin. The baby growing in her womb was John the Baptist- the forerunner of Jesus the Savior. 

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee. In the Bible the angel Gabriel appeared to three persons: about 7 centuries before to Daniel, and after about 700 years after to Zechariah (the husband of Elizabeth), and Mary.

God sent Gabriel to Mary to tell her what God had promised to Daniel, that is, the promise to send the Savior – the builder of his kingdom. At the time when Gabriel appeared to Daniel, Daniel lived in Babylon (somewhere in the present day Iran/Iraq). At that time Israel lost their kingdom. They were in exile. During the exile Daniel prayed that the Lord restores His kingdom to his people. God honored his prayer. God showed him visions – the visions of earthly kingdoms and the vision of the eternal kingdom to come. Daniel 7 and 9 describe them. God showed him that earthly kingdoms will come and go. God showed him that eventually God’s kingdom will replace all the earthly kingdoms. Then only God’s kingdom will remain. God revealed to Daniel that God had already given to his Son (whom Daniel calls “the one who looks like a son of man”) authority, glory and sovereign power, so all peoples, nations, and men of every language would worship him. Let us open the Bible and read Daniel 7:13-14.

13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

One may wonder saying, “Well, what does this vision have anything to do with me”? Daniel also must have had the same question. So the angel said, “‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him. This is the end of the matter.’” (Daniel 7:26-28a)

What is at stake (or in the Christmas gift box for you and me, if you will) is, “the sovereignty, power, and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven”. In essence the promise is that God is going to send Jesus to wrench the sovereignty, power, and greatness of the kingdoms, out of the hands of beasts. He is going to take possession of the kingdoms, and hand them over to the saints. 

In order for this vision to be fulfilled however, Jesus has to be born into this world. So God sent Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.

Nazareth still exists today. It is still a small town. To go there you fly out from LA to Tel Aviv. Usually people visit Jerusalem which is about two hours by taxi. Then from there they take a bus. Although the distance is more or less 120 km, as the bus stops and goes, it easily takes a day to get there. There is a church (St. Joseph Church of Nazareth) standing at the place where Joseph maintained his carpentry. Perhaps Mary might have lived nearby. At the church, there are art works on the walls of the church, like the painting showing Gabriel’s annunciation to Mary.

The town is surrounded by mountains, so it is even hard to get out of the town and go to urban cities like Tiberius or Jerusalem. In the day of Mary road system did not develop well, so people did not move around as fast as today. So Nazareth of Mary’s days was a truly small, quiet, sleepy town.

By the time the angel visited most likely Mary was a young woman, as young, vibrant as any of our JBF or HBF sisters. She was a virgin. She was really happy for she was pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.

David was the most famous king in the history of Israel. David belonged to the line of Judah one of the twelve tribes of Israel, the line from which God had promised to send the Savior. David lived about 1000 years before Christ. Although David was a king, his life was not easy. So he was longing for the Savior to come. In today’s daily bread passage as well, looking forward to the Savior, he says “I call to you, LORD, come quickly.” He then says, “My eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord.” Psalm 141:1,8

Bible scholars are divided on the issue of Mary’s ancestry. Is she a descendant of Levi (priestly line) or a descendant of Judah (royal line – the line from which the Lord God promised to send the Savior)? But since she is pledged to be married to Joseph – a descendant of David, she belongs to the house of David from whose line the Savior was to be born!

Look at vs. 28-29. “The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. “ Most likely, by the time Gabriel visited her, she was happy in expectation of the marriage life with Joseph. So she might have been thinking of Joseph’s favor, secretly talking to herself like “Is he going to be gentle and kind? What would the first kiss with him be like?” Yet, the angel talked about God’s favor. What the angel said was greatly disturbing. She felt as if the dream for the happy life of marriage was being shattered to pieces.

So what did the angel say? Look at vs. 30-33. “But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Being a Jewish girl she must have been familiar with what the angel was talking about –the meaning of the name Jesus (Yaweh delivers or saves), the Son of the Most High, or the throne of his father David. She also must have heard of God’s promise to send the Savior to rule over the house of Jacob. Concerning the promise to the house of Jacob, the Prophet Isaiah said, “I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.” (Isaiah 8:17)

Micah, the Prophet Isaiah’s contemporary, also prophesied saying, “Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”” (Micah 4:2) Both of them lived about 8 centuries before Christ. Yet they both saw the vision of God’s kingdom coming. They were waiting for the Savior to come and rule his people with loving kindness. In the day of Mary the Roman Empire was ruling. Yet, the angel said in effect that finally the time came, so she would bear the Savior – the builder of God’s everlasting Kingdom. Gabriel spoke of the fulfillment of God’s promise and she understood the mission.

But she had a question, so she said, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel waited for this moment to come, so he said in vs. 35-37, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” Being a Jewish girl, she was familiar with all the miracles God performed in Israel history like people crossing the Red Sea as on dry ground, Aaron’s staff (which was dry) not just blossoming, but bearing fruit overnight, etc. So she understood what the angel was talking about, especially the power of God. Indeed the news that God opened Elizabeth’s womb helped her to open her heart fully. On hearing the news, she was already thinking about going and visiting Elizabeth. 

Then, she needed no more Bible study. So she said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Before the Bible study, she was greatly troubled. But after the Bible study, she became thankful for such a great favor from God that the thought of Joseph, the dream for sweet marriage, were all gone! She realized that she was indeed highly favored by the Most High! With deep conviction and thanks she accepted the mission saying, “I am the Lord’s servant! May it be to me as you have said!

Once upon a time an English educator named Daniel Defoe spoke on the necessity to educate women saying, “I cannot think that GOD Almighty ever made them [women] so delicate, so glorious creatures; and furnished them with such charms, so agreeable and so delightful to mankind; with souls capable of the same accomplishments with men: and all, to be only Stewards of our Houses, Cooks, and Slaves.” As he mentioned, God created women for a noble purpose, that is, to serve the Lord. Mary understood the mission. So she said, “I am the Lord’s servant.” Whose servant? Yes! The Lord’s! I would encourage all sisters in this room say, “I am the Lord’s servant!”

There are many blessings coming from the Lord for those who are in the Lord. But of all the blessings, the blessing to serve the Lord as the Lord’s servant is by far the greatest, for the Lord is the source of all blessings – the blessings like joy of life, sense of fulfillment, the fulfillment of the meaning of life, etc. Most importantly the Lord is the builder and sustainer of the everlasting kingdom. When a woman serves the Lord and his blessed kingdom purpose, the Lord blessed people coming to her life – her husband, her children, her children’s children, and all who visit her house. As she keeps serving the Lord as the Lord’s servant, the Lord literally uses her to be a mother of many nations, so through her service, God’s kingdom would expand from generation to generation!

In conclusion the angel said, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” Thank and praise be to God who fulfilled the promise to send the Savior. Next Sunday we would like to have a Christmas worship service at the University of Cal Poly Pomona. May the Lord bless us to invite many so they would meet the new born King, and find a place in His kingdom!

One word: his kingdom will never end

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