Luke 1:26-37 “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 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, he said to her, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 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 name Him Jesus. ‘He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ 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 Child shall be called the Son of God. ‘And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. ‘For nothing will be impossible with God.’” (NASB)
Today’s passage, longer than normal, is the story of Mary being approached by the angel Gabriel who told her all that was about to happen to her. It is from Mary’s perspective then that I’d like to consider this news.
The passage tells us Mary was engaged or betrothed to Joseph when this happens. Nelson’s Manners and Customs discusses the normal situation leading to marriage in that day. It says normally a betrothal took place when a girl was twelve years old. This period of betrothal would last up to a year so even stretching things Mary would have been a very young girl. Perhaps she was a teenager but maybe younger. That alone is worth a WOW!
Can you imagine? This young girl is approached by one of the most powerful of God’s angels, Gabriel. Although Gabriel says, “Do not be afraid, Mary”. The only recorded reaction of Mary is her perplexity. What Gabriel was telling her didn’t make sense, why should she be greeted as, “Favored one”! Why would he say, “The Lord is with you”?
Gabriel goes on to share with Mary various significant attributes and accomplishments this Child will accomplish. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High”. He will be given, “The throne of His father David”. “He will reign over the house of Jacob”, of Israel and the term of his reign will be, “Forever”. “His kingdom will have no end”. What? How? That’s a lot of powerful stuff Gabriel just dumped on little Mary. Now she has to really be wondering “What’s going on”?
The clarification of those early mysteries was answered by an explanation that still baffles us today. Gabriel tells Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God”. WOW!
So not only will the virgin be with Child, that Child will be the Son of God? Can you imagine?
It is my opinion that some make too much of a deal about Mary, elevating her to something beyond human I think. None-the-less, Mary was special. This woman, a child herself would be pregnant with not just any child, but the Child, the Son of God, Jesus. And what did Mary do when she learned of this news? She obediently followed the instructions given to her as did Joseph.
Jesus was born to this humble family in little Bethlehem, the Son of God. This gift of the Christ Child, Savior, and King we celebrate at Christmas was delivered by a young scared teen mom in a strange town. What a gift she gave us! AMEN!
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