Even the Most Highly Favored Needs a Savior

Luke 1:26-29
“In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 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.”

Who wouldn’t be? An angel comes from out of nowhere and announces that you are not only highly favored by God, but that the Lord is right there with you! This is not something we often see today…and it is also not something that they often saw back when Mary was planning her wedding to Joseph.

Mary was naturally a little nervous…or greatly terrified—whichever. She probably knew that the Lord was with her, as she was a young woman who loved the Lord and knew Him as her God. But to learn that you are highly favored? That the Lord of the Universe thought of a young peasant girl as highly favored by the Lord? She was probably reviewing her short life and wondering what that meant. She was soon to find out…

Luke 1:30-33
“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.’”

And then the angel reminded her of that which she had already forgotten—that she had found favor with God. Such favor that she was the only one worthy in all the world to carry the Son of God within her virgin womb. God loved her so much and thought so highly of her that He chose her to be the one to raise Jesus and be his earthly parent. Mary was the balance God had chosen on earth to prepare Jesus to reign over all of Heaven again…only this time with greater urgency.

Because it was through Mary that Jesus was being prepared to take on the sins of the world. God told Mary what Jesus’ purpose was and why Jesus was coming to earth. Mary had probably thought of many other ways that the Messiah would come…but not in the form of a tiny baby, and most certainly not through her!

Luke 2:19
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

Any new mother tries to capture and write on her heart every single memory surrounding the birth and the beginning of their first child’s life. The sweet smell of new baby wrapped in the arms of a new mother…all the dreams that mother has for her child as she looks down on the newness of hope encircled in blankets and precious dreams.

Much like any other mother, Mary had dreams for Jesus. But she had to give them up. She had to let go of any dreams she had for her little baby because she realized that in raising Him, she was not just raising her son. She was raising God’s Son.

She knew that His mission was greater than any dreams she might have had of bouncing His grandkids on her knee someday. His legacy would be one that would not be earthly, yet would impact the earth so powerfully that one day, many parts of the world would not even allow His name to be spoken.

She knew that her first born son would one day take the weight of the sins of the world on his shoulders and pay the price for each person ever born.

So as she carefully observed all that surrounded the unusual birth of Jesus, she kept it tightly within her so she would never forget how Jesus came to earth to save even her from her own sins.

She who had been highly favored still needed a Savior.

And Jesus was the One sent to do it…for her…and for us.