INTRODUCTION

Four people from the nation of Israel had now been chosen by God to be the key players in God’s eternal plan of redemption and we are studying their stories.  

The angel Gabriel was God’s messenger who brought the news that it was the time for the appearance of the ‘Forerunner’, the one that would precede Messiah’s coming. 

The drama of redemption began to unfold with Gabriel appearing to the aged Zechariah the priest while he ministered in the temple. This was an old man with an old wife. They were well past childbearing age and had apparently given up hope that they would ever have a child. When the fearful Zechariah was told the incredible news that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a son and that the son would be the forerunner of the Messiah, the godly priest did not believe and in response the angel Gabriel pronounced that he would be dumb until the birth of the child. 

 Zechariah went home and as the angel had told him, his wife Elizabeth conceived and then she secluded herself for five months. This was probably to keep her pregnancy a secret until it could not be denied and as well to minimize the amount of times she would have to explain why her pregnancy coincided with her husband’s dumbness. 

Note that the information given to us about Zechariah and Elizabeth contains a great deal of private information which Luke would probably have had to learn from the couple themselves. We will similarly learn much intimate information about the next person which the angel Gabriel will now visit. 

There is much similarity between the account of the meeting of the angel Gabriel and Zechariah and the account we will now study. Both were divinely initiated birth announcements. Both individuals to be born were unique but now Luke’s focus narrows to the person who will give birth to the individual the forerunner was to announce. The father of the ‘forerunner’ had been prominent in the first account but now a young virgin named Mary, the mother of the One the ‘forerunner’ would announce takes center stage. 

Note the contrasts between the elements in the two accounts and consider what it means for your life. Zechariah was a priest of God, an elderly man with an elderly wife who knew much about God. Mary was a virgin, young, probably a teenager, engaged but not yet married, with limited life experience. All of them were godly, but the educated and experienced Zechariah doubted while the young inexperienced Mary believed. Despite the differences in the circumstances of their lives God looked for faith in his word from everyone. We should look carefully at how they behaved and model our behaviour on the best aspects of their behaviour.

THE TEXT

Verse 26. Six months after Gabriel’s visit to Zechariah, God sent the angel to a city called Nazareth located in Galilee. This was a Roman garrison town about seventy miles northeast of Jerusalem and a few miles from the Sea of Galilee. Nazareth was not a very large town and hardly deserves the description of “city”. It was in a remote part of the country and was a tough town.  

Judea had always been regarded as the heart of Israel and this town was nowhere close to that area or position. Galilee had a bad reputation.  The prophet Isaiah had described this tribal territory of Zebulon and Naphtali as follows: “Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, and afterwards did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined”. 

To understand what Isaiah was saying and to appreciate the terrible kind of town in which Mary lived, it must be remembered that in Old Testament times pagan religions had invaded and overrun this area. Many Gentiles and moved there and so it was called Galilee of the Gentiles.  But historically we know that God had never left that area without a witness, for Jonah was a Galilean, and both Elijah and Elisha spent time there. 

At the time of Mary and Joseph, Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee and he brought in Roman idolatry to add to the extensive Greek idolatry already practiced in the province.  Galilee was not a very religious place. 

It is estimated that Nazareth had a population at this time of about fifteen thousand and there were many people traveling back and forth through the area, including the Roman soldiers stationed there and merchants using the nearby caravan routes between Jerusalem and Tyre and Sidon. 

Farmers made up a large part of the population. Most were poor, relatively uneducated and who did not practice the Law of Moses carefully or with much energy and so were regarded as people with low morals. With these kinds of people living there and those transients constantly passing through town, the place developed a reputation for immorality and corruption.  No wonder we read in

John 1:46 when Nathaniel heard that Jesus came from that city Nazareth he said: “Can any good come out of Nazareth?” 

We will now look at the attitude and mindset of a young girl living in a town dominated by ungodly foreign influences, pagan immorality and corruption, but who was pious, knowledgeable about the Scriptures, faithful to her vows and chaste. 

God passed over the great city of Jerusalem, the religious, political, and economic seat of authority in Israel, passed over the Temple that was His appointed ‘dwelling place’ and chose a place of contempt, disdained by the nation, settling on a humble home with its humble inhabitant.

Verse 27.  Gabriel was sent to a ‘virgin’ whose name was Mary, which is the Greek equivalent of the Old Testament name “Miriam”. The name means “exalted one”. The Greek word for “virgin” is “parthenos”, which refers to a young unmarried girl. The word implies virginity and clearly in this context means virgin.  This is an important point to note. 

The name describing her as a young woman, implies that she was a young teenager at the time. She was betrothed to Joseph, a direct descendant of King David through the line of Solomon.  Any son of Joseph, even if a son by adoption, would be a legitimate heir to the throne of David. Mary was also a descendant of David but was in the line of David’s son Nathan. 

A couple became betrothed at a formal ceremony at which a priest officiated and at which a formal agreement was made between the families of the couple. Once betrothal occurred there was a solemn undertaking to get married and so this was a consecrated pre- marriage relationship. Betrothal lasted for one year, during which time the couple lived apart. This relationship was considered so sacred and binding that the betrothal (marriage) could only be ended by death or a formal divorce. If Joseph saw anything untoward in Mary during the period of a year he would have to legally divorce her to terminate their relationship.

Verse 28.  The angel Gabriel greeted Mary with a play on words which really is a comment on her character, for her lifestyle was one of peace, purity, and gracefulness.  One writer comments on this greeting “Hail, O favoured one, the Lord is with you!” 

“Hail” is a greeting, but it is also a cognate of the word “favour”, or literally “grace”.  So his greeting is really, “Grace, O graced one”. The salutation reveals Mary's God developed character, which fits her for the responsibility to which God is going to call her.  Gabriel literally says to her, “Grace unto you.  You are endued with grace.  The Lord is with you.” 

So Mary was told that she was highly favoured, that the Lord was with her and that she was blessed.  Clearly then, the opening words of the Roman Catholic prayer that begins “Hail Mary, full of grace” is quite accurate.  It is undoubtedly true that among woman or any persons, Mary had a unique privilege. But we should note that Ephesians 1:6 tells us that believers in Jesus are also highly favoured even as Mary was.  Ephesians 1:3 also tells us that we are blessed and Matthew 28: 20 tells us that the Lord is with us.

The point to be noted however is that Mary's grace was a grace that she “received” and there is no evidence that she could bestow this grace on others.

Verse 29.  Gabriel's words were extravagant praise and given that Mary was apparently a humble person, she was surprised to hear such words used of her. We are told that she was troubled at what Gabriel said and began examining his statement in her mind to see what it could possibly mean. 

She would be wondering where this visitor came from, whether or not he was trying to ensnare her or amuse himself with her, or flatter her for some unknown reason, or whether there was some important information he wanted to communicate to her.   

She was obviously not one of those people who go around thinking of themselves as righteous and godly.  She was not one of the proud young girls with great ambitions, flattering herself that the world would give her great things.  She was a relatively poor girl and now that she was going to be married, would probably be thinking quite a great deal on how she and Joseph were going to maintain her family and survive in the tough world of Nazareth. 

It was not Gabriel’s unexpected appearance that troubled Mary.  The language used might indicate that Gabriel could have appeared at her door as an ordinary visitor, and excited her fears by announcing that she was the recipient of special divine blessing.  She did not seem to be as unnerved by Gabriel's appearance as Zechariah was when the angel appeared right beside him in the Holy Place.  So we are not sure that this was the typical angelic appearance with glorious light.

Verse 30.  Of course Gabriel realized that she was apparently confused at his greeting. Certainly that kind of greeting could send all kinds of thoughts flooding Mary’s mind, including some that could well be negative.  So Gabriel immediately asserted that God was happy with her and then went on to tell her why.

Verse 31.  With the attention-getting “Behold”, Gabriel pointed to what God would do.  She would conceive and have a son and she should name that child Jesus.  This name was a commonly used name that came from the name “Joshua” which means “Yahweh saves”. 

She should not be troubled for God would give her honour of being a mother.  There was therefore no need for her to be afraid for she had found “grace” or “favor” with God. Gabriel was indicating God had chosen her for some purpose and for her it would be significant when Gabriel went on to tell her that this child of hers must have a specific name.  The name “Jesus”, the Greek word for Joshua, was a popular one and that was the name Moses’ gave to his faithful minister and successor who led Israel's conquest of Canaan. 

Numbers 13: 16 records that Moses changed the name of Oshea the son of Nun to Joshua and sent him among the group to spy out the land of Canaan.  Of course before this he had been Moses’ faithful right hand.  He was one of only two spies who insisted that Israel could triumph over the people in Canaan, even though those people appeared to be extremely powerful and unconquerable. 

Many Jewish boys were named in memory of Joshua and they were all proud of having that name.  In addition, many parents named their son's Joshua in expectation that the child would be the expected One, the Deliverer, the Saviour, the Messiah.

Verse 32.  One can imagine the heightened alertness and attention of Mary. Every Jewish maiden had looked forward to be the mother of Messiah.  Could this person be telling me that I was the chosen one?  She would have thought. So Gabriel continued. 

First, He would be great.  He would have more influence on the world and on history than anyone else. Second, he would be “called” or recognized as the Son of the Highest, belonging to the world of Heaven.  Not only would he be the son of Mary, but He would be the Son of God who of course is the Highest.  He would be of the same nature as his Father, and his Father would regard Him as very dear to Him.  No one would obviously come between the Son and the Father. 

The term “Most High” is a common title for God in the Old Testament and is translated from El Elyon.  (See Genesis 14: 8).  The same name is used in several New Testament texts such as Acts 7:48, 16: 17.  It is to be noted that the Greeks also described their God in the same way “Most High”. 

The word “Son” which is used to describe Jesus is very significant and it is useful for us to understand this concept when we talk about who Jesus is.  One writer says:

“In Semitic thought a son was a ‘carbon copy’ of his father, and the phrase ‘son of’ was often used to refer to one who possessed his ‘father's’ qualities (e.g. the Hebrew translation ‘son of wickedness’ in Psalm 89:22 (AV) means a wicked person).” 

Third, the son Jesus would be the promised Messiah.  It had been prophesied to David that the Messiah would sit on his throne and he would be Messiah's father. 

Verse 33.  Jesus would have the authority and the right to rule Israel forever.  There would be no end to his kingdom, for it would be eternal.  His reign would be absolute in every respect. All of the messianic promises would be fulfilled by this child that would be born.  His fame would have no equal and his ministry would soar past all others. 

The child would have a Father in heaven but He would be a man, a human being and He would have the relationship of a Son to his Father in Heaven.

Verse 34.  Mary now simply, bluntly and quite pragmatically then asked Gabriel the logical question, How would this happen? She wanted clarification, for she was unmarried and a virgin and had no sexual relations with anyone.  This was of course very unlike Zechariah's question where he asked for a sign as proof that what Gabriel had said would happen. 

She would've known that Messiah must be born of a virgin and so honestly wanted to find out how this birth would be achieved for she knew that women would not get pregnant without a man impregnated them.   

It is a good thing that Mary raised this issue, for from her blunt and honest questioning we have learned a great deal about God.

Verse 35.  Gabriel then opened the mystery of the incarnation which the Apostle Paul discusses in Colossians 2.  

Gabriel explained that the Holy Spirit would be God's agent to place the son of God in her womb.  The Spirit would cover her like a cloud similar to the overshadowing of the Shekinah glory cloud overshadowing the sanctuary (Exodus 16: 10, 19: 9, 24: 16), or like the cloud of Transfiguration in Matthew 17: 5, Mark 9: 7, Luke 9:34.  The same word is used in these cases to describe the presence of God. 

The same power of God that was with Moses and the people in the wilderness and others in the Holy Testament, was now going to do a unique work.  Beyond that Gabriel did not go.  One writer notes: “This delicate expression rules out crude ideas of a ‘mating’ with Mary.”

Another writer adds: “There is no overt sexual imagery here.  It is sensitively stated, with reverent reserve.  Yet there is the clear statement of divine activity resulting in conception.” 

So Mary was advised that she would not have to do anything at all, for the conception would occur because of God's miraculous intervention.  It would be a miraculous, virgin conception. As a result of God's divine activity, the child that would be born would be a “holy thing”.  His conception would not be that of ordinary “generation” and so He would not share in the common pollution of human nature. 

There never was another being that was called “That Holy Thing”, for that description belonged only to the being shall be called “The Son of God”. 

So we know that Jesus did not ‘become’ the Son of God at His incarnation.  He was called the Son of God because that simply recognizes His nature from all eternity. We recognize the truth of the Apostle John's statement: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. It him was life; and the life was the light of men…

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth”. 

It is very important that we recognize that the Eternal Word simply changed how He manifested Himself.  He always existed, but now came to reveal God to us, and complete the plan of redemption.  We do not know how Jesus manifested himself before the world was created.  But we do know that He always was the Word, the Speech of the eternal God. 

He became a man to share our nature so that men would look on Him, understand who God is, and by turning to Him come to know the eternal God. So it is clear that Jesus is the God/man, not God indwelling man, but one person with two natures. 

We should now interrupt the sequence and look at verse 37.  For here Gabriel answers the question as to how the pre-existent son of God who is God would become man. Gabriel’s answer stands clear, “For with God nothing is impossible” ; a fact believers must always remember.

Verse 36.  To encourage her faith Gabriel gave her evidence that he was speaking the truth.  He told her that her relative, the aged Elizabeth, was pregnant and had been pregnant for the last six months, though everyone had thought that she was barren and would remain barren forever. 

Since God had done such a great thing for Elizabeth, God would also perform what He had said to her. God had done a great work for Elizabeth and would do an even greater work for Mary. 

Clearly there is no biblical support for the doctrinally unsound, baseless, Roman Catholic doctrine of an Immaculate Conception. Pope Pius 9 made this statement proposing this doctrine of the Immaculate conception on December 8, 1854.

“the blessed Virgin Mary to have been from the first instant of her conception by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ the Saviour of mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin, was revealed by God and therefore, to be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful”. 

When we read the Bible however we see a simply told story. The “child” was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah and now God would bring him in the flesh to ‘redeem’.  His conception is the only unique and supernatural conception.  Mary needed a Saviour and like all other humans would have to be redeemed.  She herself was not immaculately conceived.

Verse 38.  Mary’s responded with submission to God’s will. She affirmed her faith and responded as every believer should respond to the call of God. No one can ask for any better response. She leaves the issue with God. 

Interestingly the good news revealed to Mary was also bad news. Carrying the Messiah in her womb would bring shame and embarrassment. A sword would pierce her heart. 

One writer reminds us that Mary was accepting voluntary slavery by identifying herself as the “handmaid of God”.  She regarded herself as God's property, for He had created her and prepared her for that very moment and for that purpose. 

Note particularly that Mary was very obedient when truth was revealed to her and so she responded

“Be it unto me according to thy word”. This reply was not emotional ecstasy, nor a spiritual high because she faced Gabriel the messenger of God. 

When she faced the revelation of God her response was thoughtful, measured and obedient.  She was single-minded in her commitment to God.  She held nothing back.  She trusted God and allowed God's wise and loving plan to have its way.  She was God's radical disciple.

CONCLUSION

Note carefully that God took people who society did not consider important and blessed them, using them as the central characters to complete His perfect plan.  They were committed to God, obedient to His call and their names will live forever.  They will always be recognized as people who believed that God alone can save and they trusted Him. 

Mary guided her desires by the word of God, and placed her hopes on Him.  

God will perform what He has promised for nothing is impossible with Him. 

Mary was chosen to serve God, and she was willing to be used and to trust God despite all her shortcomings. 

The virgin conception is most significant for it shows the consistency in God’s promises. It proves that Jesus is pre-existent. It was imperative that Jesus must be holy, sinless and blameless, for only then could He redeem others. If Jesus had been only a natural man he could not redeem. Psalm 49:7 states: “Truly no man can ransom himself, or give to God the price of his life.” 

Gabriel showed that all the requirements for redemption will be fulfilled in the life of Jesus. 

If we are feeling insignificant, wondering if God can ever use us. From this lesson we should have learned that there are no insignificant people.  God is not looking for important, socially prominent people.  He is looking for obedient people, people who will offer Him their life, so that He can use it for His purpose.  Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary offered their lives to Him and God used them in a powerful way. 

God filled the womb of Mary with the Messiah and He can fill your life with the life of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. 

Jesus can be living in your life and if He is, you will be blessed, because the world will see Jesus living His life through you.