Introduction: Mary is one of the major figures of the Christmas season. Artists have outdone themselves painting, and making statues of the Madonna and child. Christmas carols are sung in her honor. Postage stamps carry her image. She has come down to us in the Bible as one of the great women of God, and today we shall take a little closer look at her in Luke 1:26-55...

I. First just a word about her lineage. The Jewish people of 2000 years ago LOVED genealogies (as do many Americans today). Paul wrote both to Timothy and Titus and warned them away from thinking too much about genealogies. "Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do." (I Timothy 1:4)

But the genealogy of Jesus is important. There are two versions in the New Testament. The one in Matthew is actually the lineage of Joseph, and therefore not the lineage of Jesus, who was the Son of God, not the son of Joseph. The genealogy in Luke is actually the lineage of Mary (Note Luke 3:23). Joseph was the son in law of Heli, father of Mary. This genealogy then is the actual physical genealogy of Jesus.

This genealogy ties Jesus into the human race at three special points: He is a son of Adam, a son of Abraham, and a son of David. As Adam's son (vs. 38), Jesus is a true human being, able to die, able to be our mediator between God and man. He is the "second Adam from above." As a son of Abraham (vs. 34), Jesus is Jewish, and he is the promised seed that fulfills the Abrahamic covenant. "In your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." As a son of David (vs. 31), He is in the royal line, and He has the right to sit on the throne of David, King of Israel, and King of Creation.

II. Mary had no choice about her ancestors. But she did have a choice about her character, and the Bible tells us that she had a character of gold.

A. She was a person with high moral standards. In our generation, virginity and sexual purity is not considered to be very important.

A recent CNN.Com article says that "Statistics show that more than half of teen-agers remain virginal until at least age 17. By the age of 20, 76 percent of women, and 80 percent of men have had sex. Only 6.9 percent of men and 21 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 59 wait until their wedding night for the experience."

But purity was important to Mary. When the angel Gabriel announced to her that she would bear a son, she couldn't imagine how, seeing she was a virgin, and had never known a man (Luke 1:26, 27, 34). Of course, we know that virginity prior to marriage is God's will for all of us. The seventh commandment is a broad prohibition against all kinds of sexual impurity, not just one special variety.

I would also like to point out that obedience to God is good for you, and sexual impurity is not only sinful, it is dangerous:

Abstinence prevents sexually transmitted diseases (also called STDs). After more than three decades, the sexual revolution has taken lots of prisoners. Before 1960 there were only two STDs that doctors were concerned about: syphilis and gonorrhea. Today, there are more than 20 significant STDs ranging from the relatively harmless to the fatal. Twelve million Americans are newly infected each year, and 63 percent of these new infections are in people less than 25 years old. Eighty percent of those infected with an STD have absolutely no symptoms.

Mary is a great example to Christians of all ages to strive for sexual purity in our lives.

B. Mary was willing to serve God. God had chosen her from all the thousands of women in Israel to mother the Messiah (Luke 1:28-30). Nowadays we have beauty contests: Miss America and so on. Women are judged on their physical beauty. How do you look in a swimsuit? How do you look in an evening gown? How is your sense of poise when asked a difficult question? We choose the one who meets our rather worldly standards. But we really have no idea about how Mary looked: short or tall; fat or thin; pretty or homely; well-dressed or not. But God chose Mary because she had deep spiritual qualities. She would be the mother of the Messiah. We need to learn not to judge people by how they look, or by first impressions. It is interesting to contrast Moses with Mary. When God selected Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt, his response was: Please use someone else. When God chose Mary, she said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord." (Luke 1:38) Are we more like Moses or Mary?

C. Mary is an example of a person who shows the fruits of the Holy Spirit: praise, joy, gratitude, awe of God, humility, faith and knowledge of Scripture. This is exemplified in her song, which we now call the "Magnificat." (Luke 1:46-55) Paul the Apostle wrote to Christians about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-25:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

Conclusion: Mary was a great woman of God, and a wonderful example to all of God's people, both women and men. May the Lord help us to be more like Mary this Christmas season! Amen.