“Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

Luke 1:26-56 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. ³⁰ The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” ³⁴ Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

³⁹ Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” ⁴⁶ And Mary said:

“My soul exalts the Lord, ⁴⁷ And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
⁴⁸ “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
⁴⁹ “For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name.
⁵⁰ “And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. ⁵¹ “He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. ⁵² “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. ⁵³ “He has filled the hungry with good things; And sent away the rich empty-handed.
⁵⁴ “He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy,
⁵⁵ As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”

⁵⁶ And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

This past Sunday I shared a message about God’s favor at my home church Rock, in Harleysville Pa. You can hear the podcast if you’re are interested at Rockthechurch.org and click the connect tab. Today’s text was one of the portions of scripture I focused on. Here is an excerpt from the transcript of the message:  

…The abundant life we live because of God’s favor, is not just all that we have. It is also how we respond to God’s favor. We are saved by God’s favor, but in response to His favor we are to walk in the good works of God. God’s favor in and on our lives should turn to ferver for Him. Let’s look at an example from scripture of someone who was considered highly favored. Luke 1:26-38:    Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.     Think about it, the angel said: “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.  Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.”   Do you think that really felt like favor to Mary amidst the culture of her time? If it wasn’t God’s favor, Mary might have been stoned to death. The favor of God didn’t get Mary a new house, a better financial situation. It did’t make her life easier or more comfortable. What God’s favor gave Mary was an opportunity to submit to and serve God. Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” She responded to the favor of God with ferver and obedience to God.

Let’s look at another person who had favor with God. In Matthew 11:7-15 it says:  As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces! But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”   Surely the high calling to be a forerunner to the Lord and the high praise of Jesus Himself, indicates the favor of God on the life of John.

In Mark 1:7-8 John said:  “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” John responded to favor not with entitlement, but with humility. John 3:26-30 says:  And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.”  The favor of God on the life of John resulted in humility and obedience, ferver for God, a desire to see the increase of the kingdom, not an increase for himself. In the end John’s fervor resulting from God’s favor cost John his life. John died for his faith, but more important he lived for his faith. He didn’t seek his own increase through God’s favor, but rather sought the increase of Christ and the kingdom of God.

Look at Jesus Himself. When He was baptized, Matthew 3:16-17 says:  When Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  In Matthew 17:5 as well as Mark 9:7 and Luke 9:35, when Jesus was tranfigured, it says:  Behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”  Surely there was none more favored by God than Jesus, His Son. Yet in Matthew 8:20 Jesus says:  “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”  The favor of God did not increase Jesus stature in the world. In fact, in John 15:24-25 Jesus says:  “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.²⁵ But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’”   The Father’s favor caused the world to hate Jesus. We too, may be hated by the world for the favor of the Father. In the garden, before He was arrested, in Matthew 26:39, Jesus prayed:  “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”    Finally, on the cross, Matthew 27:46 says:  About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

God truly has great favor in mind for us. He truly wants and has the best for us. In Jeremiah 29:11 He says:  “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”   But for today, we should ask ourselves, Do we truly want the favor of God for our lives. Or would we prefer the favor of the world? Whose status and stature are we seeking to increase, ours or Christ’s? Are we willing to have the favor of God on our lives be seen through the fervor for God in our lives? Like Mary, will we respond to God’s favor saying:  “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” Like John will we say:  “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  Like Jesus will we say: “not as I will, but as You will.”   If the answer is yes, if you are ready to walk in the good works God has prepared, then you are ready for God’s favor and all good that He has for you.

May our prayer and declaration regarding the favor of God be as Mary’s: “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And as exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; And sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy,  As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”    Amen.