from WL Worcester (H Blackmer, ed.), 
The Sower.  Helps to the Study of the Bible in Home and Sunday School
 
(Boston: Massachusetts New-Church Union, n.d.)

Table of Contents
 

 

Lesson 37

Luke 1:26-56  Promise to Mary

The Story

Primary and Junior

When the Lord came there were not many people in this world who were glad to welcome Him, or who even knew of His coming. But how was it in heaven with the angels? They knew of His coming and were very glad. You know how an angel came to the old priest Zacharias as he burned incense in the temple, and told him that John the Baptist should be born, who would make ready the people for the Lord. And now we learn how the angel brought another message. Angels are near to all little children, and take care of them, and they are near before little children are born, to make ready the hearts of fathers and mothers and friends to welcome and love them.

Do you think the angels can come to us in one place as well as in another? In a little country town as well as in a city? In our own home as well as in a temple? The angel came to Zacharias in the great temple at Jerusalem, but when six months had passed he was sent to Mary in the little town of Nazareth, to tell her that the Lord should be born. Can you show me Nazareth on the map? You see this great, broad, green meadow of Esdraelon. Here the path climbs up into the hills and it leads to a little upland meadow with hills all around it. The houses of Nazareth, little flat-roofed, stone houses, stood on the sunny slope of the hill at the upper end of the meadow. There are little houses there now, and narrow streets with shops. The spring is still there just outside the town, where travelers stop to water their horses, and where the women fill their jars to carry on their heads up to their homes. The little town is shut in from the world, but if you climb the hill above you get a wide view of meadows and mountains and sea. This little town was Mary's home. The angel came, to her there to tell her that the Lord should be born. He told her that His name should be Jesus, which means "Savior." He should be great; He should reign forever, and His kingdom should have no end.

After the visit of the angel, Mary went from Nazareth to the town among the hills of Judea where Elisabeth lived. Elisabeth was Mary's cousin, and Mary stayed with her about three months and then went back to her own home. You must read the beautiful words that Mary spoke in the house of Elisabeth, praising and thanking the Lord for His great goodness and mercy in coming into the world to live with His people and to save them. (Verses 46-56)


1. Who helped in the Lord's coming besides the people of this world?

2. Who said, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus"? Who said, "My soul doth magnify the Lord"?

3. Where was the home of Zacharias and Elisabeth? Where was Mary's home? Shall we hear of Nazareth again?

4. How were the promises of the angel to Mary fulfilled in the Lord's life? Was He great? Was He a king?

5. What mighty ones did the Lord put down? What hungry ones did He fill with good things?

6. How was the Lord's coming promised to Abraham? Genesis 12:3)

Spiritual Study

Intermediate

The angel who came to Zacharias and to Mary is called Gabriel. This name, and other names, like Michael (Revelation 12:7), are not the names of particular angels, but describe certain kinds of heavenly character and use, and in a still deeper sense indicate the quality of the Divine presence which is with those angels who are in certain kinds of use. "By Gabriel is understood the ministry of those who teach from the Word that Jehovah came into the world, and that the Humanity He there assumed is the Son of God, and Divine." (R. 548; A. 8192) We can see why angels of this kind were sent to bring the promise of John's coming and of the Lord's own coming to Zacharias and to Mary.

"He shall be great." Great as an earthly ruler? great in riches? What makes one truly great? Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

"The throne of David." David was the king who fought many battles and gained many victories and established the kingdom securely. Did the Lord fight battles and gain victories? He fought with all false and evil things, and He overcame them and brought all things into order according to the principles of Divine truth. The Lord accepted the name of King because He bore witness unto the truth. (John 18:37) Truth is the kingly element in any character, and in the Lord it was the Divine truth. (A.5313)

"The house of Jacob" means, literally, all the tribes descended from Jacob. The tribes filled the Holy Land, which represents heaven. In the Revelation we read, of those from every tribe who were saved (7:4-8), and the names of the tribes were on the gates of entrance to the holy city. (21:12) The tribes represent all departments of good life. The Lord ruled the house of Jacob from the throne of David, because He used the Divine truth to establish and protect all forms of practical goodness in His own life and in the lives of men. (A.3305)

The angel's words to Mary teach as plainly as words could do, that the Lord was not born from a human father, but from the Divine life. When we know this, and when we reflect that the infinite Divine life cannot be divided and remain Divine, we see that the life within our Lord was the infinite life itself. The Divine Son was not a separate being from God, but God Himself clothed with the nature of men. The Lord said, "I and My Father are one." (T. 538)

Mary reverently submitted to the Divine will, saying, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it unto me according to Thy word." By and by the Lord said that all are His brethren and mother who hear the word of God and keep it; that is, who do their part to bring forth the Divine truth and love into the world. We should do it in the humble, reverent, willing spirit expressed in Mary's words.

"Strength with His arm." The Lord's arm means His loving power, especially His power reaching down into the world to save. His coming was predicted in the words, "The Lord hath made bare His holy arm," etc. (Isaiah 52:10; A. 7205) The proud and the mighty whom He scattered and put down were all evil feelings and false thoughts, and evil spirits who love such things. The hungry whom He filled with good things were the poor in spirit who were willing to be helped; and the rich whom He sent empty away were those who felt strong and good and in need of no help. Compare Mary's song with the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. The child Samuel who served at the tabernacle was a type of the Lord who should come; and Hannah's song gives thanks not only for Samuel, but for the Lord's own coming. (R. 323; E. 386.)

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