(15–20 minutes, easy set-up)
Students will study Luke 1:26-38 to examine how Mary responded to God’s choice of her as the mother of the Messiah.
Provide a copy of the Student Worksheet and a pen for each student. Also provide paper, a dry erase board, and markers.
Learning Goal: Students will examine how Mary responded to the angel Gabriel’s unexpected announcement.
Ask: When you are waiting on a big announcement today, how do you usually expect it to come? (A very public announcement; social media; the news; other very visible means of getting information out.) Explain that after the Old Testament ended with the prophet Malachi, God had been silent for 400 years. Say: God’s people were waiting for the promised Messiah but had heard nothing for four centuries; they were expecting something big.
1. God chose Mary to be part of a humanly impossible plan (Luke 1:26-37).
Say: God repeatedly promised a Messiah and then went silent for generations. Read Luke 1:26-37. Using the commentary, explain that the angel Gabriel had previously announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah and Elizabeth, who were older, without children, and had been unable to have children. Explain that it was in Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnancy with John the Baptist, the prophesied “forerunner” of the Messiah, when Gabriel appeared to Mary.
Lead students to describe how the delivery of this message compared with the importance of the actual message that the Messiah was coming! Point out that, although it was huge to Mary, it was simple and privately—and only made known to Mary at the time.
Instruct students to look through verses 26-34 and voice what we know about Mary. (She was from Galilee, engaged to a man named Joseph, was a virgin, and was bewildered about Gabriel’s message.) Point out that there is nothing in this passage that would indicate that Mary had done anything special to make God choose her.
Ask: What was Mary’s main concern about Gabriel’s message to her in verse 34? Explain that Mary’s engagement status meant that no sexual relationship existed between her and Joseph, and Mary was confused as to how she could possibly be pregnant because she was a virgin. Ask: How did Gabriel tell Mary that she would become pregnant? (By the power of God through the Holy Spirit.)
Divide the class into two groups. Assign one group to be the “Mary” group and the other to be the “God” group. Explain that each time you read a question, the group that is the answer should stand up (or raise their hands). Lead students to respond to the following questions:
Point out that the answer to all of the questions was God. Ask: What does this tell us about the plan of Christmas—to fulfill God’s promise to send a Messiah into the world? (That the plan was all God’s doing, from beginning to end—humans had nothing to do with it.) Acknowledge that God knew Mary’s heart, but she could contribute nothing except obedience to His plan. Encourage students to complete the first set of blanks on their worksheets with humanly impossible.
Read Luke 1:37 again. Point out that because God Is, He was able to do what was impossible to humans, and He chose Mary to be part of that plan. Even though it was an unexpected turn of events for Mary, she responded to God with certainty.
2. Mary chose to plant her identity and future in God (Luke 1:38a).
Call on a volunteer to read Luke 1:38a (ending after “servant of the Lord”). Point out that, in Mary’s culture, being engaged was a legal commitment that was equal to being married, and that only death or divorce could separate that relationship. On the board, write a list on one side that says “Obstacles for Obeying God.” Instruct students to work with a partner to create a list of all the obstacles Mary would face if she obeyed God’s plan. After a few moments, call for responses and list them in the column on the board. Lead students to identify the obstacles that Mary would have to face if she obeyed God, recording their responses on the board. As needed, include the following:
Ask: How do all of these obstacles relate to Mary’s identity? (They all related to who Mary was to others around her and to her own survival.) Say: Mary was a future wife, a daughter, someone who depended on others, and someone whose very survival was at stake. Ask: But, who did Mary say that she was? (A servant of the Lord). Draw an “X” over the list on the board and lead students to do the same on their worksheets. Ask: What was more important than all of these things to Mary? (What God thought of her and who she was in Him took precedence over everything else.) Instruct students to write “God” on top of the list.
Say: Mary was nothing apart from who she was in God; her identity as His servant showed that her identity was in Him alone. Encourage learners to complete the second set of blanks on their worksheets with identity and future.
3. Mary obeyed God without hesitation because His word was trustworthy (Luke 1:38b).
Create a new column on the board with the heading “Results of Obeying God.” Ask: Did Mary know what would happen if she obeyed God? (No) Under the heading write “unknown.”
Call on a volunteer to read Luke 1:38. Ask: What does Mary’s answer to Gabriel reveal about her willingness to obey? As students voice answers, emphasize that she was willing to take whatever results came from her obedience to the Lord, no matter what they were.
Ask: What was greater to Mary than the unknown of her future? (Mary knew about God was greater than what she didn’t know about the future.) Instruct students to work with their partners again to list the results of Mary’s decision to obey God. After a few moments, call for responses and list them on the board. (Answers include that Mary became the mother of the Messiah; God’s Son came to earth to complete God’s plan of salvation; salvation is available to all because Mary obeyed God; Mary knew the joy—and eventually the heartache—of being Jesus’ mother.) Say: Mary could obey God because of what she believed about Him, which allowed her to be part of His miraculous plan, although entirely unexpected and unknown to her. Encourage students to complete the third set of blanks on their worksheets with obeyed, hesitation, and trustworthy.