Interactive Core Study: (un)EXPECTED

(15–20 minutes, easy set-up)
Learners 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 Learner Worksheet and a pen for each learner. Also provide paper, a dry erase board, and markers.

Learning Goal: Learners will examine how Mary responded to the angel Gabriel’s unexpected announcement.

Ask: When you are waiting on a big announcement to come, how do you usually expect it to come? (A very public announcement; social media; the news; and other very visible means of getting information out.) Explain that after the Old Testament ended with the prophet Malachi, God had not actively spoken through His prophets for 400 years. Say: God’s people were waiting for the promised Messiah but had heard nothing for four centuries; nevertheless, they were expecting a Messiah to save them from political oppression, and they expected Him to come in a big way.

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, whose wife, Elizabeth, had been unable to have children and was now past childbearing age. Explain that during Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnancy with John the Baptist, the prophesied “forerunner” of the Messiah, Gabriel appeared to Mary.

Invite learners to describe how the delivery of this message to Mary compared with the importance of the actual message that the Messiah was coming! Point out that, although it was huge to Mary, it was given both simply and privately—and only made known to Mary at the time.

Instruct learners to review verses 26-37 and identify what we know about Mary from these verses. (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. Say: The delivery of God’s message was to a simple, everyday girl.

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)

Lead learners to respond to the following questions:

Point out that the answer to all of the questions is “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 learners 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 for humans, and He chose Mary to be part of that plan. Say: 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”). On the board, write a heading on one side that says “Obstacles for Obeying.” 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. Lead learners to identify the obstacles that Mary would have to face if she obeyed God. List responses on the board, making sure these are included:

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. 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.) 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).

Leaving the first list on the board, make another beside it with the heading “Results of Obeying God.” Ask: Did Mary know what would happen if she obeyed God? (No) Under the new heading, write “unknown.”

Call on a volunteer to read Luke 1:38. Ask: What did Mary’s answer to Gabriel reveal about her willingness to obey? (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 God was greater than what she didn’t know about the future.) Draw another “X” over the second list on the board and write “God” on top of it. Encourage learners to complete the third set of blanks on their worksheets with obeyed, hesitation, and trustworthy.

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.

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