26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat
46 And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. Luke 1: 26-56 ESV
Luke 1: 26-56
In the sixth month - The angel explains this for us in verse 36; it is the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy.
Gabriel was sent from God - The name means "God is my strength" or "hero of God". This seems to be the angel God chooses for His most important messages. He first came to Elizabeth to tell of the birth of John the Baptist, and he is also the one who came to bring Daniel understanding.
20While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning His holy mountain— 21while I was still praying, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22He instructed me and spoke with me, saying: “O Daniel, I have come now to give you insight and understanding.… Daniel 9: 20-22
To a city of Galilee named Nazareth - Galilee is a famous inland sea or lake with a healthy fishing industry.
To a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph - Mary and Joseph were engaged to be married and both are of the kingly line of David. Their culture was a bit different than many, very different than ours today, and so being of a godly persuasion they had not yet known each other intimately. This is as the prophet foretold.
· Engagement (a formal agreement made by the fathers).
· Betrothal (the ceremony where mutual promises were made).
· Marriage (approximately one year later, when the bridegroom came for his bride at an unexpected time).
i. When a couple was betrothed, they were under the obligations of faithfulness, and a divorce was required to break the betrothal. This was not a casual promise. - E Word
…13Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God as well? 14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel. 15By the time He knows enough to reject evil and choose good, He will be eating curds and honey.… Isaiah 7: 13-15
Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God - Again, these are no ordinary experiences, and it is more than an encounter of the spirit world, alien or other meetings that we find connected to the superstitious, the "close encounters of the third kind" sort of thing. The fear here is because the messenger has been before God, and he reflects such holiness. We are tarnished beings, shattered images, and such otherliness puts us immediately in a state of fear. We are intrigued by the burning bush, frightened by the angel, but it is an unfathomable amount of grace that prepares us for the face to face, otherwise our souls implode and we melt away.
…29And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD. 30Aaron and all the Israelites looked at Moses, and behold, his face was radiant. And they were afraid to approach him. 31But Moses called out to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them.… Exodus 34: 29-31
You shall call His name Jesus - This name was common in Israel, especially considering the Messianic hopes. His name means "deliverer, Savior; to rescue".
Son of the Most High - This is why the angel comes to a virgin, for Joseph is going to be the father by adoption. Mary is the birth mother, but God is the birth Father. The eternally begotten Son of God is going to be knit into the womb of a young virgin girl, just as Isaiah called for. This is not procreation, but rather a divine work of Creation, taking the eternal and adding humanity to it, God becoming man. It is even more marvelous and beyond my ability to comprehend, much less explain. In Greek and other mythology, gods came down and impregnated women, making demi-gods like Hercules, but this is not the way of the real God. When men, conscious of the eternal, the unexplainable, try to conceive from their opinion and fallen natures, from their depraved state, what God is like; they fashion a god in their own image. God has to make Himself known or else men convince themselves that they are god, that there is no higher, or they make some new god from their imagination.
…4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me. 6In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight.… Hebrews 10: 4-6
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.… John 1: 1-3
And the Lord will give Him the throne of His father David - He is simultaneously the Son of God and the Son of David, but look at Jesus' words here.
…43Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’? For he says: 44‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’ 45So if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how can He be David’s son?”… Matthew 22: 43-45
He will reign over the house of Jacob forever - This is another name for Israel, Jacob was the father of the twelve tribes.
How will this be - Now Zacharias asked this same question earlier in the chapter, and he ended up speechless for the duration of his wife's pregnancy. The difference is the heart attitude, his was a question from unbelief, and hers is one from humble awe, like, "how does that work?" She is also a good girl and there is a stigma, especially there among these people, about being pregnant out of wedlock. It is also against God's design, for such a union was to be within the bonds of marriage, and to claim a virgin conception would get a lot of rolling eyes. It would be a disgrace on her, her family and Joseph, who she was betrothed to. She understands the birds and the bees, which is miraculous in its own right, but this is a stumper, a lot to get her head around.
The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you - This sounds like the Creation narrative in Genesis, and above in John 1 we see the Son as the Word of God. We see in Genesis 1, God (Elohim) a plural form, followed by a singular verb, created. This is part of our doctrine of the Trinity, we know that there is only one God, but He is three persons, the Father, Who speaks, "Let there be light", the Son, known as the Word of God, through Whom and for Whom all things were created. And we see the Spirit of God all in the description of Christ's (the Word's) conception. It is the same formula for conversion, the Father calls us by election, the Son makes this possible through justification by atonement, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies us conforming us to the image of the Son.
1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.… Genesis 1: 1-3
…25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’ 26When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father— the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father— He will testify about Me. 27And you also must testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.… John 15: 25-27
Therefore the child to be born will be called holy - the Son of God - Man is fallen, the Bible, which I believe to be God's word, tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and that the wages of sin is death. It also calls us dead in our trespasses and sins, that is our present state. One does not wake of their own will from this, but rather you must be born again. God has bypassed this through the virgin birth, forming a new Adam from God the Son, taking to himself a human body. He must become man in order to pay for men, in order to set things straight. He is called holy in that He is fashioned apart from sin, not of Adam's seed but the Seed of the woman. This is one of the most baffling mysteries of history, the God/Man, Christ.
For nothing will be impossible with God - The angel has told her of Elizabeth's child, a child born from a dead womb.
I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word - This is humble resolve, and I doubt it is without any reservation. I can't pretend to know her thoughts, but the idea of single motherhood back then must have been terrifying to someone in their early teens. But she has faith, and God is going to work out all the impossible details.
The baby leaped in her womb - The Holy Spirit was with John the Baptist at quite an early age, which shows that salvation is of the Lord. Elizabeth is then filled with the Holy Spirit and understands the baby's reaction. She refers to the infant as her Lord.
My soul magnifies the Lord - This is Mary's song called the Magnificat.
This song (often called the Magnificat, after the Latin translation of the first few words) resembles Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel 2:1-10, but it also has at least 12 other allusions to the Old Testament. This means that Mary was a woman who studied and knew God’s Word. The Scriptures were on her heart, and came out through her song.
i. “It appears by the whole frame of this holy song, that the blessed Virgin was well versed in the Scripture, which she here makes so much use of in sundry passages…She had by her much reading made her bosom Bibliothecam Christi, Christ’s library, as a Father saith; and may seem to have been exercised in the good word of God from her infancy.” (Trapp)
ii. Mary was great gifted, highly privileged. She did exactly what such greatly blessed people should do: Mary magnified the Lord. This remedies pride and self-congratulation and is something every blessed believer should do. - E Word
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior - Unlike the Roman Catholic Mary, this Mary of Scripture needed God to save her, which salvation He provides through His Son, so Mary needs Jesus as much as we all do. She cannot save people, but she was a vessel for the Savior.
“Mary answered the Roman Catholic dogma of the immaculate conception, which holds that from the moment of her conception Mary was by God’s grace ‘kept free from all taint of Original Sin.’ Only sinners need a Savior.” (Liefeld)
ii. “Mary was a member of the sinning race…but the honour conferred on her was of the highest, and our thoughts of her, our language concerning her, should at least not lack the dignity and respect manifested in the word of Gabriel. Hers was the crown and glory of all Motherhood, and we should ever think and speak of her reverently.” (Morgan)
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