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Discover the Lamb Prepared

A Teaching from Luke 1:26-38

The Text

"In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, 'Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!' But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

And 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 call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.'

And Mary said to the angel, 'How will this be, since I am a virgin?' And the angel answered her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.'

And Mary said, 'Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her."

— Luke 1:26-38

Introduction: While Humanity Waited, God Worked

Way back in the dawn of time, man violated a sacred trust and fell into sin. At that time, God promised man that there would one day come One who would balance the scales, defeat evil, and deliver humanity.

For thousands of years humanity waited.

And while humanity waited, God worked.

God worked by choosing a man named Abram. Abram was from a really cool sounding place—it was Abram from Ur of the Chaldees. Sorry, but that sounds better than "Chris from Minnesota" or "Bob from Iowa." Through this man Abraham, God raised up a nation known as Israel. And God worked through this nation to establish His law and His worship on the earth.

And that people of Israel? These guys were constantly messing up, weren't they? They were constantly turning away from the Lord who had called and bought them.

But the Lord was patient with them, and our God continued to work.

• He worked in spite of their tendency to follow false gods.
• He worked in spite of them turning a deaf ear to His word and to the preachers and prophets who He had sent to lead them.
• He worked in spite of the fact that they really did not seem to care at all about Him.

God worked because He was completing a plan that began before the world was ever even made. He worked because He was determined to send a Redeemer to this lost world to save lost, pathetic sinners like you and me. He worked because He was motivated by a heart of love to see His people saved.

So He worked in spite of everything they did. And in working it all out, His love for them overcame every obstacle they placed in His path.

Of all the obstacles God faced in completing His plan to save lost sinners—and we are lost sinners, you and me; it sounds better when I say "you," but I'm right there with you—the most challenging thing from a human perspective was getting His Lamb into the world.

If you spend any time in the Old Testament, you have seen how God promised a Lamb, right?

Today, let's discover how that Lamb was prepared.

Point One: The Place of Preparation

Luke 1:26-28

A Pure Place

First of all, it was a pure place.

We are told that the angel came to a virgin. The word used refers to a female that is sexually pure. In fact, the virginity of Mary is affirmed twice in verse 27. Now contrary to what some liberals or others might say, the word does not simply speak of a young woman. It speaks of one who has never engaged in any sexual activity.

Why is that important?

See, the vessel that God chose to use to bring His Son into the world would be a vessel that is perfectly pure. It's important because God promised that a Savior of humanity would be the seed of the woman—look it up in Genesis 3:15. Right after the fall and all that, God in Genesis 3:15 promises the seed of the woman.

Here it is: this simply means that God would send the Savior into the world through the body of a woman without the aid of a human male.

Why is this so critically important?

Because all humans are sinners from birth. And that sinfulness is passed on through the seed of a man. When Adam sinned in the garden, he became a sinner, and just as he passed on his human nature to his offspring, Adam also passed along his sin nature to his children. They inherited his sin and they too passed it on down the line.

So God's plan to send a Savior to the world involved Him sending a pure Savior who would not inherit the sinful nature of humanity, but one who would inherit a physical body and human nature only.

God accomplished this through the virgin birth of Jesus.

By sending Jesus into the world through the womb of a virgin, God was able to give His Son a human body—listen now—give Him a human body and a human nature without His inheriting the fallen nature as well.

That's critical.

This enabled Jesus to be born without sin, live without sin, and die without sin. He was able to live His life and then give His life as a perfect sacrifice for fallen humanity. He was able to satisfy forever God's requirement through the offering of His own body on the cross.

He qualified.

When we were in our Revelation series, we talked about that. They searched the whole world over from bottom to top, through all of time, and they couldn't find anyone—until the Lamb of God showed up. Who is that Lamb? It's God Himself.

Now I don't understand all the mechanics. What was going on through the womb of this virgin? But I do know that the virgin birth of Jesus is a foundational doctrine to the Christian faith.

Without the virgin birth, we don't have a Savior.

Without a virgin birth, we don't have any hope.

Without the virgin birth, we have no foundation on which to build the house of faith that God has presented before us.

To deny the virgin birth of Jesus is to quite simply deny Christ. We take it on faith.

As I have already mentioned, God promised to send His Son into the world through a womb in Genesis 3:15. And as the years passed by, that prophecy was expanded by the prophet Isaiah. We'll get to him in just a minute.

But the virgin birth of Jesus should not surprise anyone. It was foretold. When God makes a promise, He fully intends to bring it to pass. His timing may not be our timing in so many ways.

A Young Woman Prepared

To watch Mary as these verses unfold is to see a young woman who has been prepared for this moment. History tells us that every faithful Jewish girl was looking for the Messiah. We are also told that every Jewish girl hoped that she would be the vessel through which God would send His Messiah into the world.

And when that angel appears to Mary, she is amazed and she is startled. She is a young woman prepared—prepared to respond to the will of the Lord in faith and faithfulness. And it's so cool to see.

See, it appears that God in His grace had begun working her young heart long before this moment so that when this moment actually arrived, Mary was ready and willing to do all that the Lord had desired for her.

Imagine the faith it required for Mary to respond to the Lord as she did.

See, so many times—not just this biblical text but so many other biblical texts—we just skim through it because we have heard it so many times. And we don't understand the depth.

When she accepted this from the Lord, you know what she was going to stare down? She was going to be the focus of the shame of the community she lived in. She was going to be a walking disgrace. And if it wasn't for a man of integrity named Joseph, she could have faced a death sentence.

So she knew that God would have to take care of her through all of that as she responded in our text.

See, Mary was willing to bear the shame and burden of being a vessel through which God would send His Son into the world. She is a great testimony of faithfulness to us, much like many other Bible characters. But we don't worship Mary. We don't hold her up as anything more than a faithful, pure, prepared vessel. And she can be an inspiration to many of us.

I thank the Lord for people like Mary. Because we see them to this day—folks who are willing to do what the Lord requires regardless of what it might cost them.

May the Lord find a heart like that this holiday season beating in every one of us.

After all, nothing quite reveals the love of Jesus like the real obedience He requests of us.

What Jesus Says About Obedience

I want to show you something. This is what Jesus actually says to us about obedience to Him in His Word. He doesn't pull any punches.

John 14:15 —

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

How straight up does that have to be? What are you really saying here, Jesus?

He doubles down just a few verses later in John 14:21 —

"Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."

Let me give you a quick analogy. Have you ever been around a bona fide gold-digging woman? Think about it now. I've had a chance to interact with billionaires and I have met a couple. If they would lose their money, dude would be on the curb in a heartbeat. She'd be gone.

You want to know what I see in Christianity? I see a lot of gold-digging folks. They don't really love Jesus. They just love what He can provide them. They love the blessings but they don't love the Savior.

If you've just added Jesus on and you have not submitted to Him at the foot of the cross because His great sacrifice is worth everything that we have—that's true love for the Savior. That's true love for being forgiven. And you're not just some spiritual Christian gold digger.

Point Two: The Three-S Promises

Luke 1:29-33

The next point I kind of found cool, so I thought I'd bring it up. I call it the 3-S Promises.

There's like three S's that are promised here. And this could be a teaching all by itself:

1. Special — The promise of this child being special
2. Saving — The promise of this child being saving
3. Sovereign — The promise of this child being sovereign

Promise #1: A Special Child

Luke 1:31-32

Mary is told she will become the mother of a son. But this son will be no ordinary child.

He will be your son—therefore He will be human. But He will also be the Son of the Highest. He will be a man, but He will also be God.

This was the prophecy of Isaiah. Let's finally take a look at it here.

Isaiah 7:14 —

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

If we flipped over to the book of Matthew, we'd hear the angel talking to Joseph.

Matthew 1:22-23 —

"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel' (which means, God with us)."

See, this was the most profound moment in all of time. In all of time, in eternity—getting that Lamb in this world through a virgin womb who was prepared by God to be that vessel.

This is the big mic-drop moment of all of human history.

There's a moment when God became flesh and then walked among people.

John 1:1 —

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

If you're going to memorize a verse this Christmas season, this is the one. This is one of the strongest Christmas verses of them all.

Two verses later in John 1:14, this one is just as awesome —

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Bada-bing, bada-boom.

I had a seminary professor call these two verses in the first chapter of John the most explosive verses in the Bible. I have always felt he's correct. It says so much, doesn't it?

How about we look at one more? How about how Paul unpacks it in the book of Philippians? It's so incredible.

Philippians 2:5-8 —

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Did you catch that? Did you catch that at the start? "Have this mind among yourselves." What mind? What is he talking about?

The mind that comes from new life in Christ.

With this mind you process and celebrate how Jesus is fully God and yet became fully man and then showed out as the ultimate obedient servant.

This was the moment that the Creator became dependent upon His creatures. When Jesus was conceived in the womb of the virgin, the plan of the ages moved out of eternity and into time. God Himself robed Himself in human flesh and came into this world that He might die on a cross to save people from their sins.

Promise #2: A Saving Child

That is a promise of a saving child.

Mary is told that the name is to be called Jesus. This name was a common name in that day. In Hebrew, it was the name Joshua—or Yeshua—depending on your pronunciation. Do you know how many Jewish parents named their male children Yeshua? The Greeks rendered it Jesus.

Of course, while the name might be common, the child to whom it was given was not.

Now, I have always found it so cool that Jesus wanted nothing more than to be common. To identify with us common folk. His name was common.

See, the name Jesus means "Jehovah is salvation." It pointed to something else.

Now, although Mary did not understand all that she was being told, she hears for the first time that name that is above every name. It's a common name until it's applied to the special child, the saving child, the sovereign child who is God Himself.

See, that common name is going to be made great for centuries and all of eternity. Especially when you add the word "Christ" on the back end of it.

See, Mary doesn't understand it at this point, but the child she will name Jesus will grow up and save humanity from their sins. He will be the only hope that lost sinners have.

John 14:6 —

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Jesus is telling us: this is the deal.

Every religion in the world is trying to work its way up towards God—except for authentic, saved Christians. We know that God had to work His way down to us. While we were yet sinners, He saved us.

That's a different deal. That's a different animal.

Jesus. Yeshua. The name will be the only name that will open the gates of heaven, redeem the human soul from bondage of sin, deliver lost people from the threat of hell, and speak peace and hope to those who do not know God.

This child will be the fulfillment of a plan set in motion before the world was ever formed. He would die on a cross, rise from the dead, ascend back into heaven, and then guarantee salvation for those of us who would put our simple trust in Him.

When we receive that new life, we can't go back. We can't go back.

I thank God for the day that He sent Jesus into the world to be the Savior of people just like me.

Promise #3: A Sovereign Child

Don't you see it then? He's a sovereign child.

Mary was told He was a special child, that He was a saving child—but He is a sovereign child.

He has a special pedigree, a sovereignty.

• He will rule on the throne of David, thus fulfilling the prophecy given to David a thousand years before this. A thousand years.
• He would rule over the house of Jacob, thus fulfilling the prophecy Jacob made thousands of years earlier in Genesis 49.

It's so woven. It's so easy to have faith once you write God's word on your heart.

Beyond all that, He would also rule over a kingdom that would have no end.

Let's jump back with another Isaiah.

Isaiah 9:6-7 —

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this."

Pretty cool.

See, in the verses of our text today describing this promised child, we learn the wonderful truth that God will become a human. He will die for sinners and He will rise again and rule forever.

Of all the wonderful truth concerning life, all the mysteries, all of us that have to stare down death—we have a Savior named Jesus who was revealed in seed form here, and He would give us eternal life there.

The question for you and me is: do we know Him, or do we just know about Him?

I know you've heard about Jesus, but have you ever trusted Him for your soul's salvation? You see, this promise was made to Mary, but it is valid to every one of us who believe.

Point Three: The Power in the Preparation

Luke 1:34-38

Last point today. Let's look at the power. Look at the power in the preparation.

Power to Conquer Our Doubts

First, there's power to conquer our doubts.

Mary hears the word of the angel but she confesses that she does not understand how this can happen. She, like all other Jews, expected the Messiah to enter the world the old-fashioned way. She wonders: how will she be able to have a child since she has never physically been with a man?

Now to Mary's mind, this is a dilemma that cannot be overcome.

In many of our minds, this becomes a dilemma that causes us doubt and we have a hard time to overcome.

Now thankfully, the angel has an answer.

He tells her that she is about to be part of the greatest miracle the world has ever known. God is about to turn Mary into a miracle. The angel speaks the words that conquer Mary's doubts.

Look at your Bible. The angel addresses Mary's problem by:

• Giving her a promise in verse 35
• Offering her some proof in verse 36
• Declaring God's power in verse 37

Mary is told that God is well able to do these things as He said He will do. Gabriel declares the awesome power of God and offers hope and comfort to the heart of Mary.

Have you ever been in God's word and gotten some hope and comfort?

The whole point here is this: we hear the Christmas message and there is a human tendency to doubt. We hear about God becoming flesh and born in Bethlehem and there is a part of us humans that has trouble with that sometimes.

We hear that He came and that He died because He loves us and that He did it just to save our souls from the fire of hell—and part of us always asks, "Well, that's fine and dandy for you. But did He mean it for me?"

Mary heard the message and it was almost too fantastic to be believable. When she confessed the fact that she did not see how it could be real, the angel offered her a promise that God and His power was more than able to bring this to pass.

Everything God Said Is True

Now if you've stayed with me and you've heard this message today and you are plagued by fears and doubts regarding the message of Jesus, here is what you need to know:

Everything God said is true.

• Jesus is His Son.
• Jesus did come into this world to die for you.
• He did rise from the dead.
• He did return and go back to heaven.
• He is coming back to earth some day.
• All those who trust by faith will forever be saved by His mighty power.

And you say, "How can I know for sure?"

You can know for sure by a changed mind, a changed heart, and what's called new life in Christ.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith. That's the examination right there.

Do you have evidence that your life has changed because you have surrendered your life to Jesus?

Doesn't mean you are going to be perfect. You are going to stumble. You are going to still sin. But your conscience will be pricked because you have a renewed mind. You have a new life in Christ.

The Proof in Elizabeth

See, in Mary's case, the angel told her about what God had done for her cousin Elizabeth. Mary immediately goes to see Elizabeth—by the way, just keep reading the rest of the chapter in your own time.

When she arrived, she found that Elizabeth was pregnant just like the angel said in Luke 1:39-56.

See, Mary had proof positive that God had worked in the life of Elizabeth. And that gave her confidence to believe that He would work in her own life as well.

Did you get that?

For us, the proof that Jesus has the power to take a lost sinner, save them by grace, and change their life—take two minutes and look around at the lives of believers and you will see that that's true.

Let that be confidence to you for your struggle.

All around us we have lives that are transformed by the hand of grace. Look at what Jesus has done in the lives of those around us and know that what He has done for others He will also do for you.

Jesus Will Never Cast You Out

Look at what Jesus underscores in John 6:37. He says this:

"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out."

Read it.

If you come to Jesus with a clean heart and clean hands saying, "I am a filthy sinner and I am turning from my wicked ways, Lord save me"—He will. And then He will start a good work in you.

See that first part? That's called justification. You just became justified in the sight of God because of what Jesus did. Your confession—now you are justified in the sight of God.

If you died in the next five minutes, you'd be standing in front of Jesus in 15 minutes. Because immediately—those of us who have confessed our sins and accepted Christ and been justified—He will present us in front of God as if we are perfect and we have never sinned.

That's amazing.

Then there is something called sanctification that starts.

The sanctification journey means to pursue holiness. The sad thing about pursuing holiness and sanctification in America in 2025 is that we know we are not ever going to be holy. We know us.

I compare what I don't know about you to what I know about me, and I always come up on the short end of the stick. But that pursuit of holiness is a journey, and that journey means that I am better today than I was yesterday. I am closer to God today than I was yesterday.

Will I see perfection on this side? Absolutely not. I will stumble and fall—but I won't stay there, because in that sanctification process Jesus is constantly picking you up.

Look at it again:

"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out."

Another way to put it: Jesus will hold you in His grip.

Why Did God Do This?

We hear about the virgin birth and we think about God sending the Son into this world to die for sinners, and sometimes I don't know about you, but I wonder why.

• Why would God go to all the trouble?
• Why would He send His Son into the world?
• Why would He allow His Son to die for lost people?

There is only one reason. And it stems out of the great love that He has for us:

He is preparing a redeemed humanity to be the bride of Christ.

I told you—it isn't about you and it is not about me. It's about becoming the bride of Christ.

And you know what happens when God presents this perfect, holy, redeemed bride to Christ? He gives it back to God and then we all live together.

Amazing.

And then we want to reduce it down to, "I don't know if I can believe that. I don't know if I am blessed enough."

The Bible declares His love for us.

John 3:16 —

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..."

The death on the cross of Christ at Calvary displays it for all to see.

The blessed Lamb of God was sent into the world through the womb of a virgin so that He might be born without sin, live a sinless life, and then die for your sin and mine on the cross.

The Real Question

So the question really is not "Why did God do this?"

The question is: what have you done about it?

• Have you trusted Jesus as your Savior?
• Are you genuinely saved by grace?
• Do you know the Lord?

What does there need to be for you to come to the Lord today and receive His Son by faith?

See, God prepared this Lamb that you might be saved—and you can be if you come to Him.

If you are saved, have you become distracted? Have you been wobbling?

Let this Advent season be a reset.

Let this be a time for those of us who are genuinely saved to plant our feet and stand firm—and then go and share the gospel any way we can.