Pathway to Victory

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Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

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Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm.

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Glad to study Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program.

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On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

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When Mary said to Gabriel, "I'm your bondservant, God," Mary was only 13, but she knew what she was saying. She knew that her acquiescence to being the mother of the Lord might very well end the relationship with a man she loved more than any other person on earth.

You know, that's an extraordinary sacrifice for anybody to make, but for a teenage girl, think about that.

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Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. Throughout the history of the church, Christians have had some wildly differing views about the mother of Jesus. So what is the proper way to regard this remarkable young woman named Mary?

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress turns to the defining passage on the mother of Jesus and her prominent role in the Christmas story. But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates.

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Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Even though I serve as a pastor and I'm on the church property nearly every single day, I'm no different than you. Every day is filled with distractions, and I have to fight to stay focused on my spiritual walk, just like you do. For that reason, I've written a brand new devotional for us to follow. We're calling it the 2026 Pathway to Victory Daily Devotional. Together in 2026, let's center our daily attention on Christ. This handsome leather-bound book will point you to Jesus every weekday of the new year. This is by far the most impressive devotional we've ever produced, bound in tan leather. And it's yours when you give a generous year-end gift today.

And now, here's more good news for you. In recent days, Pathway to Victory learned about an enormous matching challenge from good friends of the ministry. They've set aside $1.7 million so that your generous gift today will be multiplied by two. We're calling it the Now is the Time Matching Challenge. Remember what Paul said in Romans chapter 13? He said, "The night is nearly over. The day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." Yes, now's the time. Together as like-minded partners in ministry, let's seize the day. Your gift will make all the difference.

I'll say more about the matching challenge and the daily devotional later in the program, but right now it's time to resume our study in Luke chapter one. My message is titled "Mary. Mary. Quite Extraordinary."

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Take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter one and look at verse 26.

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With me.

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Now, in the sixth month. You have to stop there. What do you mean sixth month? Well, remember, this is Elizabeth's story. Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. It was in the sixth month of her pregnancy that the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth. Look at verse 27. Gabriel came to a virgin, engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, Gabriel said to her, "Hail, favored one, the Lord is with you." The Latin translation says, "Hail, one who is full of grace. He has favored you. He has chosen you for a special purpose. You are the recipient of God's grace."

Now verse 29 says that she was greatly troubled, wondering what kind of announcement the angel was about to make. But notice what he says in verse 30. "You have found favor with God. Do not be afraid." Verse 31: "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and you shall bear a son, and you shall call his name, Jesus." Now I'm sure Mary wondered a lot of things at this point, but who will this baby be, who I'm to call Jesus? Gabriel follows with a five-fold description of this baby that was more exacting than any sonogram could have ever been. Notice this five-fold description beginning in verse 32.

Number one. He will be great, Gabriel said. Then he goes on number two to say, he will be the son of the Most High. Number three. He will have the throne of David. This is an obvious reference to 2 Samuel 7:16, in which God said to David, "David, one of your descendants will be the Messiah who will sit on your throne." Verse 33, number four. He will rule over the house of Jacob forever. And then climactically, number five, his kingdom will have no end. That was the announcement.

And so in verse 34, she responds with a logical question. And Mary said to Gabriel, "How can this be since I'm a virgin?" Look at how he answers in verse 35. "And the angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason, the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God." And look at Mary's response. Verse 38: "Behold the bond slave of the Lord. Be it done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. That word bond slave is the lowest kind of slave there is. In other words, Mary was saying, "God, whatever you want to do with my life, do it. I am yours. I am here to serve you." That commitment could have cost her a lot, as we'll see in just a moment.

Now, in verse 39, we see Mary suddenly, after this announcement, traveling in haste down to the south, down to Judah, to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Now, does that strike you as strange? She hears this announcement and she leaves town as quickly as she can. I mean, why would somebody who had had such an announcement suddenly leave town? And why wouldn't she have her fiancé go with her? Wouldn't that be normal? I mean, if she was going to take this risky journey to the south, why didn't she ask Joseph to go with her?

I think the reason is because in that white space—see that white space in your Bible between verses 38 and 39? There's a little bit of white space there. And in that white space is something that happened that Luke did not record, but Matthew did record. Turn over to Matthew, chapter one, beginning with verse 19. Now, if you were Mary and Gabriel had made such an astounding announcement to you, who's the first person you would go and tell about it? Probably your boyfriend, your fiancé. Joseph. That's exactly what she did. She went and told Joseph, but he didn't have the reaction she was hoping for.

Look at verse 19. "And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly." Now, let's don't be too hard on Joseph here. I mean, put yourself in Joseph's sandals for just a moment. Your fiancé, your girlfriend comes and tells you, "You know, Joseph, we haven't had sex. Yeah, I know, I know, I know. You know, we haven't had sex before, but I need to let you know an angel appeared to me and told me I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant, and God's the father." Now, can you imagine Joseph's reaction to that? I mean, he thought, either I'm engaged to a liar or to a lunatic, but either way, I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life with her. I mean, that's a normal reaction with anybody with that kind of fantastic story.

And yet, even though by law he could have put her away and had her stoned to death as an adulteress, Joseph didn't do that. He still loved Mary. And because of his great love for Mary, he didn't want to disgrace her. He certainly didn't want to see her executed. So the Bible says he wanted to put her away secretly in the relationship, just tell everybody it was irreconcilable differences and let them get on with their lives. And when Mary saw the reaction of Joseph, she was heartbroken, I believe. And that's why she left so quickly out of Joseph's presence. She went to somebody she thought would be sympathetic with her, her cousin. And that's why she went to Elizabeth's house.

But God wasn't finished at all. Look at verse 20 of Matthew 1. "But when Joseph had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who will save his people from their sins.'" Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel," which translated means God with us. That's the quotation of Isaiah 7:14.

And Joseph arose from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife and kept her a virgin—underline—until she gave birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus. Now I believe it was all of this that was taking place between verses 38 and 39. Mary leaves Nazareth, flees to Judah in order to talk to Elizabeth. Look at verse 39. "Now at this time, Mary arose and went with haste to the hill country to a city of Judah and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth."

And it came about that when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby—that's Elizabeth's baby, six months in the womb, John the Baptist—leaped in her womb. Remember the prediction about John the Baptist? Luke 1:15 says he would be filled—that means controlled—by the Holy Spirit. And so here you have this six-month baby in the womb who hears the voice of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and he leaps in Elizabeth's womb. By the way, this verse is a powerful, powerful argument against abortion. That baby in Elizabeth's womb was not some biological blob. He was a person. He was a person who, by the way, in the womb was controlled, filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

And what is fascinating is this word "baby" found in verse 41, referring to John the Baptist, is the Greek word "brethos." And that word "brethos" is used elsewhere in the New Testament to refer to an infant and to a small child. God sees it all the same. He sees no difference between the baby inside the womb and the baby outside the womb. Here was a baby who was being controlled by the Holy Spirit of God in Elizabeth's womb.

Now notice this verse 41 says, "And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit." Why is that important that Elizabeth was controlled by the Holy Spirit? Because of verse 42. "Elizabeth cried out when she saw Mary with a loud voice and said, 'Blessed among women are you and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?'" Now wait a minute. How did Elizabeth know that her cousin Mary was going to be the mother of the Messiah? All Mary had said when she came through the door was hello. Now how did she know this? The answer is right there in verse 41. She was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gave Elizabeth this information.

And notice how Elizabeth praises Mary. In verse 45 she says, "And blessed is she," talking about Mary, "who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what has been spoken to her by the Lord." Mary was uncomfortable with that kind of praise, and so she quickly turns the attention to God himself. And in verses 46 to 56, you have some of the most beautiful and poetic words in all of the scripture—Mary's praise to God. We many times refer to it as Mary's Magnificat. The Magnificat. It comes from the Latin translation "magnify" that you find in verse 46 when Mary said, "My soul magnifies."

We don't have time to look at these verses, but look at just the first four with me. "And Mary said, 'My soul exalts, magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, for he has regard for the humble state of his bond slave. For behold, from this time all the generations will count me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me and holy is his name.'" Remember, this is coming from a 13-year-old. Just two things I'd point out about these verses. First of all, notice how she begins by referring to God as her Savior. God, my Savior. Mary was under no illusion that she was sinless. She was a sinner, just like all of us are sinners. She needed a savior just like we.

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All needed need a savior.

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The second thing I notice about these verses is how many references there are to the Old Testament. She is endlessly quoting the Old Testament scriptures. Just jot these down: 1st Samuel 2, Psalm 34, Psalm 35, Psalm 103. Her words are dripping with quotations from the Old Testament. This 13-year-old girl knew the Scripture backward and forwards. It's the Scriptures that gave Mary the foundation to understand what God was doing in her life. Mary recognized that her selection by God was the result of God's graciousness in her life.

Now I know we read this and we think, well, certainly this helps me understand the virgin birth of Christ, but what does this have to do with me? I mean, after all, this event was a once-in-history event, the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. How does what happened to this peasant teenage girl 2000 years ago impact my life? You know, I think all of us hopefully desire to live more than an ordinary life. Wouldn't you like for God to use you to do something extraordinary, something that would really make a difference in the world and His kingdom?

As I read through this passage and look at the life of Mary, I think we can learn three characteristics of the kind of person God chooses to use in an extraordinary way. First of all, jot these down: God uses those who are pure. He uses those who are pure. Look, let's not turn Mary into a plaster saint. She wasn't. She was a normal teenage girl with all the normal drives of a teenage girl. And she was in love; she was engaged. I mean, couldn't she and Joseph have rationalized any premarital sexual relationship? They'd already decided they were going to get married; they would be married soon. They certainly, I'm sure, were tempted, just like other young adults, to enter into a premarital sexual relationship.

But had Mary done that, it's not that she couldn't have been forgiven. Of course, she could have been forgiven, but she would have been disqualified from this unique role that God had prepared for her. You see, given a choice between using someone who is pure and someone who is impure, God will always choose the pure vessel over the impure vessel. Let me illustrate that for you. Let's say, let's fast forward to the first week in August. It's 120 degrees in Dallas, Texas. You've been out working in the yard, you come back in at noon, you're dying for a drink.

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Of water.

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The only problem is there are no clean glasses in the house. And the only choice you have is a crystal goblet that is sitting in the sink that has been there for a week, caked over with grime and film. The only other choice is an empty peanut butter jar that has been thoroughly cleaned out. It's clean, but it was a peanut butter jar. Now, which vessel would you use to get a drink of water from the grimy crystal goblet or the clean peanut butter jar? You choose the clean peanut butter jar.

And that's what Paul has in mind in 2 Timothy chapter 2 when he writes, "Now, in a large house, there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work." Given the choice between pure and impure, God will always choose pure.

Think about Mary's situation. I'm sure in Nazareth there were teenage girls who were more beautiful, more talented, more gifted than Mary. But Mary was pure, and that's why God chose her. You might say, "Well, Pastor, I've messed that one up. I guess God can't use me anymore because I have fallen in that area." No, God can cleanse you. He can forgive you. And you can make a commitment to God from this point on that you're going to be a pure vessel available for God's use. In an extraordinary way, God uses those who are pure.

Secondly, God uses those who believe his word. Remember what Elizabeth said about Mary? "Blessed, happy is she who believes that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her." A simple reason that God chose Mary was Mary believed what God said. She had faith. You know, Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God."

What is faith? Well, let me tell you what faith is not. Faith is not believing that God is going to do what I want him to do. That's what most people teach. Faith is picturing in your mind what you want the most and then just believe, believe, believe. And if you believe long enough and hard enough, God will bring it to pass. That's not faith. That's presumption. Faith is not believing God will do what I want him to do. Faith is believing that God will do what he has promised to do.

We don't know whether God is going to heal that person we care about so much who is ill. We don't know if God is going to bring us this job or not. We don't know if God's going to heal this relationship or not. We can't know ahead of time. Faith is not believing that God's going to do what we want him to do. Faith is believing that God will do what he's already promised to do. God had already spoken to Mary. He said, "You're going to be the mother of the Savior." And Mary believed God. God uses those who believe his word.

Finally, God uses those who are willing to sacrifice that which is most important to them. When Mary said to Gabriel, "I'm your bondservant, God, to do whatever you want to do," she was only 13, but she knew what she was saying. She knew that her acquiescence to being the mother of the Lord might very well end the relationship with the man she loved more than any other person on earth. She knew this might lead to the breakup of the engagement. You know, that's an extraordinary sacrifice for anybody to make. But for a teenage girl, think about that. That was an extraordinary sacrifice.

But Mary was able to make it to sacrifice that relationship because of her love for and her commitment to God. What about you? Do you desire to be used by God in an extraordinary way? God uses those who are pure. He uses those who believe his word, and he uses those who are willing to sacrifice that which is most important to them.

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There's much more we need to learn from Dr. Luke's detailed account of Jesus' life. My teaching series is called Celebrate the Savior. And in just a moment, David will explain how you can receive a copy of the entire collection of video and audio recordings.

But first, I want to send you the brand new Pathway to Victory daily devotional for 2026. It's ready right now. When you respond today, you'll receive this in plenty of time to start the new year. And best yet, because of the $1.7 million matching challenge, every gift to Pathway to Victory is doubled in impact.

Right now, all of us agree that we're fighting the powers of darkness in our culture. Our nation is polarized by politics and fraught with fear. God's word holds the answers, and together, we have the opportunity to shine a light of hope in American cities. And because of the matching challenge, now's the perfect time to pour resources into Pathway to Victory. Every dollar is matched so that your generous gift of $100 becomes $200 or a gift of $500 becomes $1,000.

You know how Pathway to Victory has impacted your life, and now you're in a position to provide this ministry for someone else. Whether this is your first-time gift or it's been a while since you've stepped forward with a contribution, now's the time to do so.

In advance of receiving your gift to the Matching Challenge, let me thank you for investing in this worthy mission to point people all around the world to the person of Jesus Christ. We couldn't do this without you. Here's David with all the details.

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When you give a generous Year-end gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, we'd like to say thanks by sending you the brand new 2026 Pathway to Victory Daily Devotional. To request your copy, call 866-999-2965 or it's even easier. Simply go online to ptv.org, and when your gift is $100 or more, you'll also receive the DVD, video, and MP3 format audio discs for Celebrate the Savior, a collection of the best Christmas teaching messages by Dr. Robert Jeffress.

Remember, your contribution right now will be doubled in impact through our Now Is the Time Matching Challenge, so be sure to get in touch right away. Call 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. You could also send your donation by mail. Write to P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, TX 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. Every year at Christmas, we pause to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. But often the busyness of the holiday season distracts us from its true meaning. So join us for a fresh look at the most important birth in human history. That's Friday on Pathway to Victory.

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