24-0707p Transcript

Preacher: Jim Lokenbauer

(1:04) Good evening, everybody. Well, this evening, I’m going to be bringing you part two of the (1:10) lesson I did the last time I spoke, Mary, the mother of Jesus, part two.

(1:19) And thank you, John, for reading that. And today, I’m going to try and conclude that (1:26) character study of the life of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus. In our first lesson, (1:33) I emphasized how God uses ordinary people to accomplish his will.

His will can be small tasks (1:44) or even great tasks for us to do. God even used children, such as Jeremiah, to serve him and (1:53) fulfill his will. Jeremiah was but a child when he was called, kind of like Samuel.

(2:05) So you are not insignificant. You matter. Each of you were created in the image of God.

(2:12) The point of bringing this up is to get us to understand that God can use us, too, to do his (2:21) will. In Genesis, God was called El Roy, the God who sees. God sees each one of us.

And the psalmist (2:33) told us that God sees our entire life, even before one day of them was lived. As God knitted us (2:40) together in our mother’s wombs, he ordained our days, meaning he established and appointed our (2:48) days as if they were all written in a book. God’s will, what he wants and desires, is accomplished (2:58) by his powerful word and providence.

Providence is his careful attention and guidance over his (3:06) creation, over his people, and over his purpose. One such observable purpose is his plan of (3:14) salvation for mankind, which he established before creation. When you read the Bible, you clearly see (3:23) God’s will of man’s redemption from sin being accomplished over the millennia.

God’s will be (3:31) done. We looked at a young woman, the Virgin Mary, whose role in God’s scheme of redemption (3:40) and how crucial it was. God saw Mary centuries before she was even born.

God spoke of her by (3:51) mouth, the mouth of Isaiah the prophet. In Isaiah 7 14, he said, therefore the Lord himself will (3:59) give you a sign. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call him (4:06) Emmanuel.

God saw Mary. During our last lesson, we went over the angel’s announcement to Mary about (4:15) the two miraculous births that were soon to take place. How she as a virgin would give birth to the (4:24) Messiah from God, who would save his people from their sins.

And how her old and barren relative, (4:32) Elizabeth, who at the time was already six months pregnant, would give birth to the forerunner of (4:39) the Messiah, John the Baptist. So those were two miraculous births that were about to happen. (4:47) We read of Mary’s trip to her relative’s house and the spirit-filled greeting she received from (4:53) Elizabeth.

That had to have been so encouraging to Mary to hear her words of comfort, and they (5:01) gave her assurance that what the angel said to her, the announcement, was true. We looked at Mary’s (5:09) praising of God Most High, her Magnificat as it’s known, and those eloquent words she spoke let us (5:17) know that she wasn’t a young girl, but a mature young woman who knew both God’s Word and Israel’s (5:24) history and how to articulate it quite well. We observed how God fulfilled many Old Testament (5:33) prophecies in the events that led up to Jesus' birth.

It gave Mary and Joseph peace of mind (5:41) knowing that God was in control, bringing all these spectacular events about. And it gives us (5:48) as believers the same kind of confidence in our Father in Heaven to take care of those who love (5:56) Him and to do as He says. God sent her shepherds who heard the angels singing in chorus and announced (6:04) the birth of Christ, and they got to be witness of the young baby and to share in the joyous (6:12) occasion.

They were devoted to Mary and Joseph, were devoted to the law, and eight days after (6:22) Jesus' birth, He was circumcised and given the name Yeshua, or Jesus as we call Him. (6:31) After Mary’s time of purification were over, she and Joseph went to the temple to dedicate their (6:38) firstborn male child to God as required by law. They sacrificed two turtle doves, which tell us (6:46) that they were poor since they couldn’t afford a lamb for the sacrifice.

And while at the temple, (6:53) they met a couple of senior citizens. The first one, a man named Simeon, and then followed by (7:00) Anna. And both of them took the child in their arms and praised God because God remembered Israel (7:08) and sent them the Messiah.

Mary, it was said, treasured all these things in her heart. (7:16) So do you think all of that strengthened Mary’s faith and Joseph’s faith? I sure do. (7:23) Her story doesn’t end there.

We continue now with Matthew 2, 1 through 23. (7:32) Give me a second to take a breath and cool my pipes. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, (7:45) during the time of King Herod, a magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, (7:50) where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come (7:56) to worship him.

When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him. (8:05) Now the magi, they were magicians and wise men, and they came with a large (8:12) caravan. It wasn’t just three guys pulling up on a camel.

They had a procession and, (8:20) you know, they came thousands of miles because they feel they came from Persia. (8:28) And so they made quite a trek. And so they had to have all this staff with them because they (8:37) needed protection.

They needed someone to carry and tend to the supply and the gifts. (8:43) So it wasn’t done in secret. That’s why all of Jerusalem was disturbed as well, (8:51) seeing this huge procession come into town.

When he had called together all of the people’s chief (8:58) priests and teachers of the law, Herod asked them where the Christ was to be born. In Bethlehem in (9:06) Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written. And they quote Micah 5 too.

But you (9:13) Bethlehem and the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you (9:20) will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel. Then Herod called the magi (9:27) secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. Then he sent them to (9:35) Bethlehem and said, go and make careful search for the child.

And as soon as you find him, (9:41) report to me so that I too may go and worship him. After they had heard the king, they went on their (9:48) way. And the star that they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place (9:55) where the child was.

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, (10:01) they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. (10:07) Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

(10:14) And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country (10:20) by another route. When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. (10:29) Get up, he said.

Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, (10:36) or Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. (10:43) So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and left for Egypt.

(10:48) And from where they were to Egypt was about a 150-mile trip. So that would be like going from (10:57) here to a little past Pittsburgh, just to give you an idea. So they left for Egypt, where he (11:08) stayed until the death of Herod.

And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the (11:14) prophet. Out of Egypt, I called my son. And that was from Hosea 11.1. When Herod realized he had (11:22) been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem (11:30) and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from (11:38) when the Magi saw the star.

So Jesus was a toddler at this point. He was at least two years old. (11:49) Verse 17, then, what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled.

A voice is heard in Ramah, (11:57) weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted (12:03) because they are no more. And in Jeremiah 31.15, Jeremiah made a prophecy about the children of (12:12) Israel going into exile, kind of like what John read this morning, and never to return. And (12:20) Rachel, the wife of Jacob, who was later renamed Israel, and the one that Rachel was who he (12:30) actually loved, she was mourning for her children.

And so this also has a double meaning because (12:39) Matthew also uses it to describe here what Herod did to the children in Bethlehem, and where (12:48) when Rachel gave birth to her child at that time, she died, and that was just practically in this (12:55) exact same spot. And so if you wanted to read that, that’s in Genesis 35.16-19. And so where (13:07) Bethlehem is, it’s like a six mile south journey from Jerusalem. Verse 19, after Herod died, an (13:15) angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, get up, take the child and his mother (13:21) and go to the land of Israel for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.

So he (13:29) got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that (13:35) Archelaus was reigning in Judea, in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. (13:43) Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a (13:49) town called Nazareth.

So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, he will be called a (13:55) Nazarene. So we see lots of fulfilling of scripture unfolding right as they were living this (14:07) harrowing event. And four times, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, warning him.

So there’s the (14:16) providence of God at work, making sure that his people that are carrying out his will are safe. (14:34) Jesus was perhaps at this time, four or five years old once they got back from Egypt. And at this (14:41) point, and between Mary and a very spiritually in tune Joseph, they managed to keep Jesus alive.

(14:54) If you consider their task, they were on the run from world governments, with armies, with people (15:08) who wanted to kill them. And so here’s these three little souls in this amazing spiritual game of (15:17) chess, and God, the master chess player, outwitted them all and kept his son safe. And not only was (15:29) it the world governments that were at play here, they were also pursued by Satan.

Satan was keeping (15:38) tabs on them. So the unseen world was at play here as well, pushing Herod’s buttons, getting him to (15:48) do one of the most heinous acts recorded in the Bible, and that’s the slaughter of two-year-old (15:57) children. Can you imagine? Now we’ll jump to Luke 2, 40 and following.

And the child grew and became (16:12) strong and he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. Every year, Joseph and Mary (16:19) went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. So we see they’re devout to the law.

When he was 12 (16:26) years old, they went up to the feast according to the custom. After the feast was over, while his (16:34) parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. (16:41) Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day.

Then they began looking for him among (16:47) their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for (16:53) him. So that was another day just to get back.

After three days, they found him in the temple (17:00) courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard (17:08) was amazed at his understanding and his answers. So Jesus was asking questions and giving answers (17:19) to their questions.

At 12, son of God, when his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother (17:31) said to him, son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously (17:38) searching for you. Now could you imagine? Their job was to keep Jesus safe and bring him up in the (17:46) Lord.

They lost him for days. I mean, here’s a kid that was hunted by Herod’s assassins (17:57) and by Satan, and he’s been gone for a few days. They probably were entertaining the worst (18:06) of thoughts.

Like, oh my goodness, what if we find him and he’s dead? Find him in an alley? (18:13) Anything. As a parent, you naturally think of those things. So they were, (18:19) as it says, anxiously searching for him.

And they had every right to be. (18:25) Why were you searching for me, he asked. Didn’t you know I had to be in my father’s house? (18:31) But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Then he went down to Nazareth with them (18:39) and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. (18:45) And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.

Again, we see Mary (18:52) treasuring all these things in her heart. Mary and Joseph had other children by now. (18:59) Besides Jesus, she had four other sons and at least two daughters.

Her son was growing into (19:07) a man now, and he could fend for himself. He was about 30 years old when he started his ministry (19:13) as the Messiah. He had been anointed by the Holy Spirit after the baptism by John, (19:22) and he was busy about his father’s kingdom.

In John 2, 1 through 12, that’s the story we all (19:32) know of the wedding at Cana, which we’re all familiar with. And what we see in that story (19:38) is the influence of Mary over her son. Jesus hadn’t yet done any miracles publicly yet.

(19:50) So before he had a chance to do any, Mary approaches him and explains the dilemma the (19:58) newlywed couple had that they ran out of wine for the party. And of course, Jesus says, (20:07) well, what do I have to do with that? And she goes, looks at the servants and commands them, (20:14) whatever he tells you, do. What does that tell us about Mary and her faith that Jesus

could do (20:24) something about this? What did she think he was going to do? I’d suggest she’s the one who (20:34) planted the seed.

Jesus, you better come up with some wine for these folks. What was he supposed (20:41) to do, run out and buy it? So we all know the story. He tells the servants to fill these (20:53) ceremonial washing jugs with water, fill them to the brim, and he turns the water into wine.

(21:04) And that was the first of his miracles. And it wasn’t just run-of-the-mill wine. It was quality (21:11) wine, because the master of the feast, who was kind of like the party planner, he was so impressed (21:23) with the product.

He praised the couple for bringing out the good stuff after the first (21:35) stuff was consumed. So that was the first of the miracles, and that’s the influence Mary had on (21:42) Jesus. Now we’ll look at Matthew 13, 54 through 58, and life wasn’t always peachy in the family.

(21:53) As with any family, there was some strife. And we’re going to see that Jesus had some (22:03) unbelievers in the family. So Matthew 13, 54 through 58, says, he came to his hometown and began to (22:12) teach the people in the synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, where did this man get (22:17) his wisdom and these deeds of power? Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, (22:26) and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Aren’t all of his sisters, plural, with us? Where (22:34) then did this man get all of these things? They were offended by him, but Jesus said to them, (22:42) a prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house.

(22:50) He didn’t do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. So Mary had at least seven (22:59) children at this point. And notice that the crowd knew he had sisters.

(23:07) So he had at least two sisters. There could have been more. (23:13) But not all of his family were believers, as Mary and Joseph were, as we’ll see in a moment.

(23:24) Matthew 12, 46 through 50 says, while he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother (23:30) and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, look, (23:37) your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you. But to the one who had (23:45) told him this, Jesus replied, who is my mother and who are my brothers? And pointing to his disciples, (23:53) he said, here are my mother and my brothers.

Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven (24:00) is my brother and sister and mother. So at this point in the Lord’s ministry, (24:08) we notice a couple of things. One, Jesus doesn’t give eminence to his mother, Mary.

(24:15) If she was to be Mary, the mother of God, as some religions make her out to be, (24:23) meaning that she’s on the same level as God himself, an eternal being, (24:29) this would have been the time to give her praise and glory. He did not. Two, Joseph may no longer (24:38) have been alive because he’s no longer mentioned in the present tense.

And three, there are some (24:44) family members who don’t believe that he’s the Messiah. So just prior to this incident, (24:53) the brothers must have been working on Mary. In Mark 3, 20 and 21, we see that the brothers (25:05) convinced Mary to come along with them to collect Jesus, which means to take custody of them, (25:15) because they feared for his sanity. In Mark 3, 20 and 21, it says, then he went home (25:22) and the crowd came together again so that they could not even eat. And when the family heard it, (25:31) they went out to seize him, for people were saying, he’s beside himself. (25:37) And other versions have, he’s out of his mind.

In John 7, 20, John 7, verses 2 through 5, (25:49) we have the Feast of Dedication, and John confirms that the brothers are the unbelievers (25:58) in the family. Now the Jewish Festival of Booths was near, so his brothers said to him, (26:05) leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one (26:12) who wants to be widely known acts in secret.

If you do these things, show yourself to the world. (26:19) For not even his brothers believed him. So though the brothers didn’t believe, (26:25) that doesn’t mean that Mary abandoned him too.

She was steadfast in her devotion to him. (26:33) She probably went with the unbelieving brothers to keep them in line in case they did something (26:40) rash. That would be my guess, but we know that she believed because she was with Jesus (27:00) when he died on the cross.

And in John 19, 25 through 27, it says, near the cross of Jesus (27:08) stood his mother, his mother’s sister, which by the way, is Salome, who is the mother of James (27:18) and John, his disciples. Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene, and of course John. (27:27) When Jesus saw his mother there and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, (27:33) he said to his mother, dear woman, here is your son.

And to the disciple whom he loved, (27:40) here is your mother. From that time on, this disciple, notice he changed the language there. (27:51) He’s talking about himself.

This is from the Gospel of John. John took charge of Mary from (27:57) that point on, and had her living with him in his house. Dear woman, here is your son.

And to the (28:07) disciple, here is your mother. From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. After that, (28:13) Christ died on the cross, and the Roman soldier saw that Jesus was already dead, and to make sure, (28:20) he took his spear and pierced his side.

And I’m sure at that moment when Mary witnessed that, (28:29) the words of Simeon in the temple came back to her, where Simeon said, (28:37) and a sword will pierce your own soul too. And you know that that had to have hurt, being a mother, (28:51) seeing her son die. Now, she may have entertained thoughts like, oh, did the mission fail, (29:00) as all of the disciples were thinking? But Jesus was clear, and at least three times mentioned (29:09) what the plan was, to fall into the hands of the Gentiles and the leaders of the Sanhedrin, (29:16) and to be condemned, and to be tortured, and then to be hung on that cross and die, (29:23) and then to be raised again.

But for some reason, that just didn’t sink in. (29:31) So who could imagine what Mary’s thoughts might have been at that time? She had a good support (29:37) group around her. We know that she stayed with John and all the others that were mentioned there.

(29:42) And John read for us Acts 1, 12-14, which again says, (30:12) They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, (30:21) and with his brothers. And I suggest that it was Jesus' resurrection from the dead (30:29) that was the convincing proof to Jesus' unbelieving brothers that got them to finally believe (30:37) and be in that upper room praying with the other saints. And Mary’s son, James, would go on to (30:48) become one of the pillars in the church in Jerusalem.

He was an elder. And he also wrote (30:55) the letter, James. Mary’s youngest son also penned a letter to the church, Jude.

How proud (31:03) she must have felt at that moment, knowing that her son had risen from the dead, and that at least (31:11) two of her sons were present in that room. What happened to Simon and Joseph, we don’t know (31:19) if they believed or not, but James and Jude did. So this was the last mention of Mary in the Bible.

(31:30) But memory of her will last forever, because Jesus said, (31:35) Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (31:40) So the memory of Mary will never pass away. And she is with the saints now in heaven.

(31:48) So that’s the story of Mary. And I think it’s worthwhile doing a character study every once (31:57) in a while, just to see the lives that the saints lived, and how cushy we’ve got it. (32:07) But if anyone needs any help from the church in any way, whether it’s prayers or (32:17) any need, come up, let it be known as we sing to God.