WEBVTT 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:10.800 I've been coming to these services for over thirty years now. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:14.000 Yeah, I'm over thirty years old. 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:19.280 And I never get tired of hearing you sing. 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:20.480 It's a joy. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:22.160 Thank you for singing. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:31.280 It's a strange year to say Merry Christmas, isn't it? 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:35.280 To say Merry Christmas through a mask. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:45.359 Say Merry Christmas when you have to say it through FaceTime because your family won't be with you this year because they can't travel. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:51.200 Say Merry Christmas because Starbucks has limited their hours. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:53.439 I know, I know. 00:00:56.960 --> 00:00:59.119 It's a strange year to say Merry Christmas. 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:02.479 As a church, we've done a lot of funerals this year. 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:06.079 Not because of COVID, but just a lot of funerals. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:11.359 There's gonna be a lot of empty seats around the dinner table tomorrow. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:13.680 It's gonna be hard to say Merry Christmas. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:24.719 And I think if we're being honest with each other for a second, we haven't been the kindest to each other this year, have we? 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:28.319 We may have said some things we didn't mean. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.079 Heard some feelings, been judgmental. 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:35.920 It's a strange year to say Merry Christmas. 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:38.799 What's so merry about it? 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.439 Why do we even say Merry Christmas? 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:43.280 Well, I have an answer for you. 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:48.879 1500s, there was a Christmas carol in England that you all actually still sing. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:50.879 And no, you can finish this line. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:55.359 We wish you a Merry Christmas, and uh That's right. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:57.200 So what does it mean to say Merry Christmas? 00:01:57.359 --> 00:01:58.319 It means happy. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:00.640 Uh that's in fact what the Queen herself says. 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:02.560 It's happy Christmas. 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:12.800 It means happy, exuberant, joyful, satisfied, festive, celebratory, light, bright, brimming, joyful. 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:17.919 But joyful in 2020. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:19.039 Really? 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:33.280 If we're being realistic, if we look at the world around us, we look at the confusion in our own hearts, is there really a reason to be joyful? 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:37.439 To be merry this Christmas? 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:40.319 Yes. 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:42.719 Yes, there's one reason. 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:48.479 But it is not just that Jesus came. 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:56.240 You'll find this reason on page 856 in the Pew Bibles and Luke chapter 1. 00:02:56.479 --> 00:02:57.360 Luke chapter 1. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:02:58.319 Please turn with me there. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:00.960 Luke chapter 1, verses 39 to 45. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:14.159 The reason that you can actually be merry and joyful this Christmas falls on the lips of an old pregnant woman speaking to her young teenage relative. 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:24.319 In a story that has historically been called the Visitation, one that we often skip over in thinking about Christmas, but one that holds such a precious truth for us this evening. 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:25.120 Let me read it for us. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:28.319 Luke chapter 1, verse 39. 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:36.719 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a town in Judah. 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:39.759 And she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:45.039 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leapt in her womb. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:54.960 And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:59.199 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:04.560 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leapt for joy. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:15.599 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:18.480 So reads the word of the living God. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:31.279 This is the first recorded event in the incarnate life of Christ. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:36.560 This is the first prenatal prophetic announcement. 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:42.480 This is the first recorded recognition of Jesus during his lifetime. 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:47.839 The first meeting of Jesus and John the Baptist, intrauterine though it may be. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:54.959 This is the first beatitude in the New Testament, and that's where we're headed. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:57.759 To understand this text, we need to get a little bit of context. 00:04:58.240 --> 00:04:58.959 What's happening here? 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:05.680 Well, Mary, you know, is a young teenage girl from Nazareth who's engaged to a carpenter named Joseph. 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:20.079 And she gets an announcement a few verses earlier from an angel, a special angel named Gabriel, who tells her that to sum it up, she is going to be the mother of the Messiah, the Christ, the one who will be the hope and the salvation of the world. 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:24.480 And she's confused, but she's also submissive. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:33.199 And at the end of this earth-shaking news, the angel gives her kind of an interesting little tidbit of information. 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:34.639 Look at verse 36. 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:40.879 He says, And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:48.079 And this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren, for nothing will be impossible with God. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:59.759 Mary's told that not only is she going to have a miraculous conception, that her relative, maybe her cousin, maybe her aunt, we don't know, that her relative has also already had a miraculous conception. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:11.439 This child, we're already told in Luke, is the forerunner of the Messiah, John the Baptist, the one who would prepare God's people to meet God in the flesh. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:14.639 And then just like that, the angel's gone. 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:19.600 Mary is there by herself, left to ponder this. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:25.519 Now, if you're Mary in this situation, what do you do? 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:28.240 Answer, take a pregnancy test. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:32.079 But they haven't been invented yet, or at least not reliable ones. 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:33.120 So, what do you do? 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:36.079 Next best thing, you go visit Elizabeth. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:38.240 She is the pregnancy test. 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:45.199 If what is true about Mary is true about her, then she gets that thing confirmed. 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:48.160 The lines are crossed, it's blue or whatever it is, right? 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:51.920 She is her confirmation. 00:06:52.079 --> 00:07:03.279 If she walks into that room in Zechariah and Elizabeth's house and Granny is rocking a baby bump, she knows that she for sure is the mother of the Messiah. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:07.439 Now, of course, she believed already, but certainly she may have had her doubts. 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:11.600 And so, verse 39, she heads off, it says with haste. 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:14.000 Of course she would, wouldn't you want to know? 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:17.600 Confirming this as soon as possible. 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:29.439 And it's a three or four-day journey, maybe 70, 80 miles, to some kind of no-name town in the hills around Jerusalem where Zechariah the priest and his wife Elizabeth live. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:34.160 We don't know if Mary went on her own, if she had a crew rolling with her, we don't know. 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:35.759 Probably Joseph did not go. 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:38.160 That would have been strange for the customs of the time. 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:42.879 But anyway, she arrives at the house of Zechariah, and she's probably unexpected. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:44.959 She didn't text them ahead of time. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:50.639 Zechariah, maybe sitting over in the corner, silent, you remember. 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:57.519 He'd been stricken mute by the angel Gabriel six months earlier because he didn't believe about the promise about his son. 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:01.839 And who knows what he thought when he saw Mary walk in. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:06.720 Maybe she's come for a celebration about her betrothal, who knows? 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:11.439 What would have been potentially a bridal shower has now turned into a baby shower. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:21.279 As Elizabeth steps into the room, and just imagine for a second just the joy of that moment for both of them. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:23.600 I mean, here's Elizabeth. 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:29.279 Her whole life, her whole marriage, barren, no kids. 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:35.360 She'd gotten uncomfortably comfortable with a quiet house. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:39.679 And here she is holding her stomach. 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:46.159 And she looks and she sees her relative, Mary, a smile across her face. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:56.399 In that instant, Mary sees in Elizabeth's pregnancy the confirmation that she indeed will be the mother of the Messiah. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:02.240 I remember when my wife and I were uh took our first pregnancy test. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:04.480 She took it, not me. 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:12.480 It was the one with the two lines where you have the one line and then the other one like fades in if you're pregnant. 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:18.159 So we took the test, like we look there, we wait for a second, and the second line was like kind of there. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:21.840 Like it's fuzzy, not really, couldn't tell, like a little bit. 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:23.840 So what do we do? 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:25.919 I mean, we're pumped, kind of. 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:30.000 We drove to the store, we got another one, we took another test, it was one of those digital ones. 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:31.039 It came, yes. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:32.399 Okay, cool. 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:35.279 That's what Elizabeth is here. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:37.919 She's the yes, the emphatic yes, Mary. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:39.039 It is true. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:47.440 You're going to be, you maybe didn't fully grasp this, but you are the mother of the Messiah. 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:55.120 I mean, oh, the joy and the tears, probably they're hugging and weeping and hugging and weeping, so much joy in that moment. 00:09:55.279 --> 00:09:57.360 Look what God had done for them. 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:02.320 That's confirmation number one that Mary gets in this scene. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:04.320 Elizabeth's pregnancy. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:07.759 But then something really strange and unexpected happens. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:09.200 Look at verse 41. 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:14.799 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leapt in her womb. 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:20.559 Now, this word for leap isn't like the normal kicks of a six-month-old baby. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:27.200 This is normally used in Greek literature and in the New Testament to talk about a calf leaping out of a stall. 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:32.399 This is like an epic, prophetic, fetal lunge. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:35.919 This isn't a normal kick. 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:41.279 Gabriel had told Zechariah that their child would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from the womb. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:42.480 What a strange thing. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:43.039 Why? 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:43.840 Who cares? 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:45.200 This is why. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:49.120 Because even from the womb, John the Baptist is preaching. 00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:51.759 Twelve inches tall, two pounds. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:53.759 Littlest prophet ever. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:11:01.519 The church fathers used to say, John was the only baby who turned his mother's womb into a pulpit. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:02.639 And he did. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:06.720 He preached Christ even as an fetus. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:11.200 And listen, I'm as pro-life as the day is long. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:12.960 That's a baby in that womb. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:16.320 But he probably didn't understand what was happening, right? 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:27.279 This is the work of the Holy Spirit doing something miraculous in the womb of Elizabeth, causing this recognition of who has just stepped into the room, and the important person is not Mary. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:31.679 It's the one who must increase. 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:34.000 Well, that baby must decrease. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:37.759 It's the one who will come with a winnowing fork in his hand. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:46.320 It's the Lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world, has just been ushered into that room. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:49.519 And John knows it. 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:56.240 And so John's mother Elizabeth kind of interprets this for us in verse 42. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:12:03.679 She exclaims with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:12.559 Now, if you grew up Roman Catholic, you're very familiar with this passage because you've said it a number of times. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:15.200 It's in the Hail Mary, the prayer. 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:23.200 And many have taken this phrase, especially the Roman Catholic tradition, to mean that Mary is exalted above all women. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:28.320 That she has this high status that's above every other woman who has ever been born. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:32.080 But friends, that's actually not what this means. 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:46.960 This is really a fairly common ancient Near Eastern celebratory phrase for a woman who has just become pregnant in the Jewish culture or in the Greek culture to say she's blessed among women. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:49.039 God has shown her favor. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:52.960 This phrase is used all over the place in the ancient Near East. 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:54.320 It's not just for Mary. 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:57.600 It's used even in Judges chapter 5 to talk about Jael. 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:01.120 If you remember, she took a tent peg and jammed it through a dude's skull. 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:03.840 Blessed are you among women. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:09.679 So it's not all it's cracked up to be by some. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:17.519 Furthermore, this word for blessed in this verse generally means to speak well of or to deal kindly with. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:28.159 It's an acknowledgement that God has been kind to Mary to give her a child, and especially so because the fruit of her womb is the Lord, which is exactly where Elizabeth goes next. 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:47.120 But before we go there, I just want to, as an aside, if you grew up praying the Hail Mary to Mary, or maybe you're here tonight, and that's something you still do, I want to say with all the love in my heart, Mary cannot hear your prayers. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:51.519 And if she could, she would be very sad that you're praying to her. 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:54.159 She wants you to pray to her son. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:57.840 She wants you to pray to her Father, Jesus, her father, God. 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:06.240 She would want you to not think of her as interceding for anyone, not forgiving someone's sins or something like that. 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:07.519 She can't do that. 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:11.279 She's a receiver of grace, not a dispenser of grace. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:14.399 Mary would want you to look to Jesus, not her. 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:17.519 And that's exactly what Elizabeth does in this next verse. 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:18.559 Look at 43. 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:23.919 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:34.080 Well, first of all, Elizabeth is certainly acknowledging here that Mary is now the mother of the Messiah, the Lord, the master, the savior, the divine one. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:40.320 But secondly, what's going on in this verse is that Elizabeth is pointing out kind of an odd reversal of roles. 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:45.039 In the ancient Near East, it was very common for an older woman to receive the honor from the younger. 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:50.720 And Mary is certainly much, much younger than Elizabeth, who's probably in her 60s, 70s, or 80s. 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:58.080 And so it would be more normal for Mary to say how blessed she is to be in her presence, not the other way around. 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:00.000 So why is it? 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:05.279 Why is it that Elizabeth says, Oh, I'm so blessed to be in your presence? 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:08.080 Because she knows who's in that womb. 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:11.039 It's the Lord. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:17.200 Mary's unborn kid outranks Elizabeth's unborn kid. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:19.360 And she knows it. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:22.960 And so verse 44, she just kind of explains what we've already seen. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:27.279 Behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leapt for joy. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:32.320 She lets Mary in on this prenatal prophetic pronouncement. 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:33.840 And there it is. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:36.320 Confirmation number two. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:49.279 Both Jay the B and his mom to be have confirmed, filled with the Spirit, that Mary's special role is to be the mother of the Messiah. 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:58.240 So at this point, whatever doubt Mary might have had has obviously vanished. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:07.519 She's gotten confirmation after confirmation that she is pregnant with the Savior of the world. 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:21.039 And so you might be tempted to think then, what higher joy could there possibly be than what Mary got to experience? 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:27.519 That she got to physically hold God in flesh. 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:34.240 She got to literally nourish him with her own flesh. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:38.559 What an astounding, joyful, honorable, unspeakable privilege. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:42.799 I mean, nobody is closer to Jesus than Mary. 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:44.159 What joy. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:54.480 But interestingly, that's not what Elizabeth says is the source of her joy. 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:04.720 Elizabeth points in verse 45 to the real source of Mary's joy, the fount of true blessedness. 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:07.920 The reason that, so to speak, Mary is so merry. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:14.720 The very reason that you and I can be joyful too. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:18.480 And let me first point out what it's not. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:24.160 It is not that she surrounds the Christ child. 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:31.839 It's not that she gets to hold her in her arms in a stable with the oxen watching. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:36.880 It's not even that she gets to watch him go to the temple and teach the rabbis. 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:48.559 That she gets to see him raise the dead, that she sees him die and then raise. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:51.200 It's not that. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:54.400 So what is it? 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:58.480 What's the source of Mary's blessedness where her joy springs from? 00:17:58.640 --> 00:17:59.039 It's this. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:00.559 Look at verse 45. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:05.920 And blessed is she who believed. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:13.839 This word for blessed in the text is different from the word for blessed earlier. 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:18.000 It's not so much an external from God kind of blessing. 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:20.079 This is the blessed of the Beatitudes. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:35.039 This is an internal, a deeper blessedness, an exuberance, happiness, contentment, joy untouchable, a rock solid satisfaction, an unbreakable confidence, an ecstatic emotional bliss. 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:37.680 This is true merriment. 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:51.359 And Elizabeth says that deep down, this joy in Mary's heart does not come from her being the mother of Jesus, but from her faith in Jesus. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:54.319 Because she believes. 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:01.440 And you see it if you read through the text. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:04.799 He's setting up a contrast between Zechariah and Mary. 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:06.640 It's very apparent. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:12.559 That Zechariah did not believe the message when it was preached to him. 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:14.799 He was the priest. 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:16.480 He went into the temple. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:17.839 He served in the temple. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:23.599 He was at the altar of incense, right next to the Holy of Holies, and he did not believe. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:26.079 And then here's this teenager. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:35.680 This humble little girl who, for nothing in herself, says, Yes, I believe what you say. 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:38.559 I believe the word from the Lord. 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:46.480 And appreciate that this is not an abstract reality for Elizabeth to say, blessed is she who believes. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:49.039 Her husband's over in the corner, mute. 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:51.039 Because he did not believe. 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.440 She knows the pain of unbelief. 00:19:55.200 --> 00:20:03.599 And yet here's this young maiden from Nowheresville, Nazareth, who, in simple, humble faith believes, and in believing is truly blessed. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:14.000 And it's because of Mary's response that follows in her prayer that we know her belief here was not just, oh, I believe that I'm going to get pregnant. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:16.880 It's a belief in everything the angel said. 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:24.880 She doesn't just believe that Jesus will be born to her, she believes in Jesus as her savior. 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:25.839 That's what she says. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:31.680 Verse 46 My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:37.920 Friends, Mary knows that she's a desperate sinner. 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:48.799 She knows that her sin has risen up to the courts of heaven, and God, a holy and a just God, must rightly condemn her and send her to hell for an infinite punishment of her sin. 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:50.079 That would be just. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:57.359 She knows that that's true, and she knows that she needs a Savior, and that Savior has been planted inside of her. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:02.880 And that Savior, she knows and believes, will grow up to be a man who will live a perfect, righteous life. 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:13.519 He will die on a cross for sinners just like Mary, and he will be raised from the grave to eternal life so that he can call sinners like Mary to himself by faith. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:27.759 And Elizabeth is saying that the source of Mary's joy is that faith, which is in her little baby, and his power to save her from her sins. 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:47.359 Most people, when they talk about Mary, say that she was blessed because she had this kind of special access to Jesus. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:54.319 And certainly there is a way in which that was an extraordinary blessing. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:58.640 But that's not why she had joy. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.279 Her joy came from. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:05.200 That's not where her rest came from. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:06.799 That's not what brought her peace. 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:17.039 Being around Jesus, literally, doesn't do anyone any good if they don't believe in him. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:27.359 Jesus himself would go to a number of towns around the Sea of Galilee, and they wouldn't believe in him, and he would say it was going to be worse for them than the sin city Sodom. 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:34.640 Judas spent three years with Jesus, camping with him, spending time with him, eating with him. 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:39.119 And he betrayed him and faced his own condemnation. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:23:00.160 Friends, do you see that without faith, without believing, Mary's privilege to hold the Christ child in her womb would only be to her greater woe and damnation because too much, to whom much is given, much is required. 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:09.440 The only reason that she could count those external privileges as a blessing is because she had been given the internal gift of faith. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:17.599 John Flavell says it this way: quote, all other graces, like birds in the nest, depend upon what faith brings to them. 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:26.319 Another way to say it is that Mary's joy came not from holding her baby, but being held by him. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:29.839 Through faith. 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:32.559 And I can confirm this. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:45.519 Luke chapter 11, 27 and 28, a woman interrupts Jesus' preaching and says, Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you fed. 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:48.480 And do you remember Jesus' response? 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:49.839 No, no, no. 00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:55.279 Rather, blessed is the one who hears the word of God and obeys it. 00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:01.359 Mary's not blessed because she got to birth Jesus. 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:06.480 That's not why she has this internal joy springing up for eternity. 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:08.000 That's not where that comes from. 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:14.640 It comes from hearing the word of God, hearing God's promise with faith and responding with obedience. 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:23.839 We sing so much with this exalted language about Mary, round yon virgin, mother and child. 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:27.200 Holy Mary, mother mild. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:30.160 Roman Catholic tradition goes even further. 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:32.319 Mother of God, Queen of Heaven. 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:36.640 Friends, Mary would hate those titles. 00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:39.279 You know what she would like? 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:42.160 She tells us, verse 50, one who fears God. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:46.960 Someone who believes in Jesus, a believer. 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:49.519 That's what she would want to be called. 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:56.559 Her joy does not spring from her exalted proximity to Jesus, but her trusting relationship with Jesus. 00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:58.880 Jonathan Edwards says it this way. 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:15.920 Friends, I don't want you to just be close to Jesus. 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:20.559 I want you to be united to him. 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:23.200 Forever. 00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:27.440 And you may say, I've been around church for a while. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:28.960 I've kind of grown up in this stuff. 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:32.799 I've been in proximity to Jesus. 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:38.160 But it's not a blessing to be close to God unless you trust in him. 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:44.960 Only repentant faith can bring us closer to Jesus than even an umbilical cord. 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:49.359 You may say, oh, but I'm a good person. 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:50.720 Jesus understands. 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:53.920 He lets me close because I do right things. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:26:00.400 Thomas Brooks says, quote, Till men have faith in Christ, their best services are but glorious sins. 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:08.160 Rather, Psalm 32, 1, blessed is he whose sin is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:11.039 But you may say, well, that's easy for Mary. 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:15.359 She literally got to see Jesus and hold him and touch him. 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:20.880 Jesus says, John chapter 20, have you believed because you have seen me? 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:26.400 Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed. 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:33.839 Listen, Christmas is a time where we're all surrounded by Jesus stuff, right? 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:40.160 We talk about him, we sing the songs, maybe even watch a movie about him. 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:48.799 But Jesus coming to earth is not good news for you if you don't believe in him. 00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:52.160 Because he's coming back. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:58.319 And when he comes, like John the Baptist said, he will come to divide. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:00.640 He'll come to judge. 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:07.680 He'll take those who are his by faith, and the rest will face the just judgment of a holy and righteous God. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:20.799 So if you're here this evening and you've never trusted Jesus, you've never put your faith in the one that Mary put her faith in, I am begging you. 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:22.480 Tonight's the night. 00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:24.799 This is the year. 00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:26.240 Don't wait. 00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:36.160 Throw yourself at the mercy of this little baby born in a manger, who would grow up to be a man who would die on a cross to offer you salvation. 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:38.559 Would you put your faith in him right now? 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:39.599 Tonight. 00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:43.599 If you came with someone, would you talk to them, please? 00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:46.880 Ask them what it means to have faith in Jesus. 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:53.599 Give yourself to the one who has given himself for you. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:57.759 As he gave himself for his own mother. 00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:01.519 And she believed in him and was saved. 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:11.119 For us, Emmanuel, this has been a hard year. 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:13.920 Your pastors feel it. 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:15.599 We know it. 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:26.000 Where do you look for joy in the midst of dark season? 00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:31.920 Well, things might get back to normal soon. 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:34.720 Honestly, they might not. 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:39.119 Well, at least my family's coming into town. 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:42.400 I mean, for a little while, yeah. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:50.799 Oh, people generally agree with me, so that's where I get my joy from. 00:28:50.960 --> 00:28:53.359 Hey, let me introduce you to this thing called the internet. 00:28:57.119 --> 00:29:06.000 Brothers and sisters, our our Merry Christmas, our joy this year is so much stronger than that. 00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:21.680 When the biopsy results come, when the marriage is crumbling, when you say goodbye to another friend, where does your joy come from? 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:27.759 Your joy comes from your faith in this. 00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:31.200 Jesus loves me. 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:32.640 This I know. 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:35.200 For the Bible tells me so. 00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:47.279 And we rest in the promise that one day this little baby, become a man, resurrected, will return. 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:53.839 And the straining eyes of faith will be blessedly unnecessary. 00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:59.599 As we get to see our Savior face to face and live with him forever. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:03.359 So fear not. 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:08.319 For behold, I bring you good news of great joy. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:10.160 It will be for all the people. 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:16.559 Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord. 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:20.319 Merry Christmas, Emmanuel. 00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:22.640 Let's pray. 00:30:28.960 --> 00:30:33.359 Oh God, give the eyes of faith, we pray. 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:42.079 Enlighten our eyes to see the beauty and the glory and the wonder of Jesus, like Mary did. 00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:55.680 May we not look to external privileges or proximity to religion for our joy. 00:30:57.920 --> 00:31:15.279 But may it be rooted rather in a humble child born to us, crucified for us, risen for us, and even now reigning until he brings us back with him. 00:31:16.160 --> 00:31:22.160 God, would you bind up the brokenhearted in our church this season? 00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:29.200 Would you cause our church to be the church, to present Christ with boldness and joy? 00:31:31.119 --> 00:31:40.559 And may we ever worship Mary's precious son and Mary's glorious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:42.240 We pray this in his name. 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:43.200 Amen. 00:31:45.039 --> 00:31:47.920 And now for a parting word from Pastor Jesse Johnson. 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:49.519 Thanks for joining us today. 00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:51.119 If you're in the Washington, D.C. 00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:54.720 area, I would love to meet you personally at Emmanuel Bible Church. 00:31:54.880 --> 00:32:00.000 Our service times and other church information is on our website at ibc.church. 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:03.680 If you want information about the Master Seminary and their Washington, D.C. 00:32:03.839 --> 00:32:06.880 location, go to tms.edu. 00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:17.920 I hope this resource has been an encouragement to you and it helps you seek the Lord daily, serve others around you, and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with boldness. 00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:19.680 May the Lord bless you.