The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called [b] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail."
38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me according to your word." Then the angel left her.
Dig Deeper
I knew a guy many years ago who could tell some incredible stories. He had experienced an incredible life and so, his stories were just as incredible. He could keep anyone mesmerized for hours as he told stories of his adventurous childhood, growing up with parents that sounded so wise, loving, and even exciting. He had been born, he told us, in a small village in Africa while his parents were there on a mission trip. The entire story that surrounded that whole event was interesting enough but that was just the beginning of his incredible life. He had traveled the globe with his parents and seen so many countries and fascinating places that I just couldn’t believe that one person had experienced so much. We all were impressed and respected this guy a great deal if, for nothing else, all the things that he had seen and done in his life. Then one day I met his cousin who had briefly come to town to visit him. He seemed reluctant for me to spend time with her but eventually it worked out that we had a little time alone and began to talk. I was eager to here her perspective on my friend’s parents and their many adventures but quickly found out why he was so reluctant for us to spend any time together. None of what he had told us about his life was true. He had actually experienced a rather tough life. He never knew his father, his mother abandoned him at three and he spent the rest of his life bouncing between foster homes and the houses of relatives. He spent his childhood reading and dreaming of a life that he could only imagine. So, when he had a chance to start over he did. He created a new narrative of his life and just edited out all of what he thought were the embarrassing details of his life and substituted impressive ones instead.
That’s generally the way it is when people make up stories, especially important ones. When people lie, make up a story, or even just embellish one to look more impressive than it is, they don’t include the embarrassing details. Those are edited out. This is one of the sure markers of determining whether an account is true or not. Does it have those little details that aren’t always the type of thing you would want others to know or does everything fit together impressively and beautifully? This is one of the things that just makes it nearly impossible to believe that the gospel of Luke is an invented or embellished story meant to make Jesus out to be something that he was not. Oh sure, there are critics who claim that, but those claims just don’t hold water when we actually look at Luke’s Gospel. There are too many embarrassing details that someone in the first century just would not make up if they were creating a story that they wanted others to believe. Not the least of those components is the role of women in the Gospel of Luke. Some of Jesus’ most loyal followers are women and they will be the ones to discover and be the first witnesses of his resurrection. That’s not something a first century writer would have made up unless it was true because women weren’t considered reliable witnesses. As we go through Luke we will find many such details like that. We are given details of Jesus showing emotion and weakness, his disciples abandoning him, and here an insignificant young virgin from the middle of nowhere giving birth to the one who would be the Messiah and true King of the universe. It would just be too much to make up. It would actually harm your story . . . unless it was true.
If Luke were inventing a story about the Messiah who would one day claim the allegiance of the entire world to his eternal kingship, this is hardly the way he would start it out. There is no pomp, no circumstance, and nothing about his earthly circumstances that are befitting a king. How could this child possibly be offered as an alternative to the mighty and powerful Caesar? How could this impress anyone? Perhaps that is the entire point as everything about this coming birth echoes Paul’s description of Jesus’ incarnation: “have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Phil. 2:5-7).
There was nothing about Mary that would distinguish her in the eyes of the world as worthy of the vocation that Gabriel brings to her. She was a young Jewish girl of marrying age which would probably put her somewhere in the range of 12-16 years old. She was from Galilee, a region that was, at best, a backwater part of Israel, which was itself a backwater part of the territory of the Roman Empire. Mary was betrothed to Joseph who was a handyman day-laborer, so there was nothing particularly distinct about him either, save for his status as a descendant of David (which would make Jesus, even if not his biological son, a rightful heir in the descendancy line of David).
Jewish marriage involved a formal engagement including a contract and exchange of bridal price, and then a year’s preparation period after which came the formal wedding. The engaged couple would not engage in sexual relations until the formal wedding so Gabriel came to this young lass while she was still a virgin. It has become quite popular in the last century or so to claim that the original biblical writers only intended to describe Mary as a young unmarried girl but the clear implication of both Luke and Matthew, in their separate accounts, are that Mary was indeed a virgin. This is confirmed by Mary’s response in verse 34 which would be virtually pointless if the idea that Luke was conveying was that she was simply a young maiden. It only makes sense if she had followed Jewish custom and was a complete virgin.
One of the most striking things about Mary was her response to the vocation that the angel laid out to her. When Gabriel came to Zechariah his response stood in a long line of humans who were called by God for his purposes only to initially argue that they weren’t up to such a task. Moses was called by God to free his people from Egypt but Moses argued about his capabilities for such a task (Ex. 3:10-13; 4:1, 10-17). Gideon was called by God to lead his people against their enemies but Gideon questioned his worth and ability (Jud. 6:10-18; 26-38). Saul was chosen to be the King of Israel but questioned his worthiness and even tried to hide (1 Sam. 9;17-21). Mary, however, stands in stark contrast to all of that. She certainly had many reasons that could have made her feel unworthy or incapable of such a task. Yet, she doesn’t argue. She doesn’t claim to be incapable. She trusts God’s ability and power more than her own inability and impotence. Mary understood that the role of true faith in the life of one committed to God is to trust in God’s ability and not our own weaknesses. She seems to have grasped the fact that she was not chosen by God because of her own merit or ability but simply that she was chosen by God. She is, in fact, the first in a line of faithful and honorable women that Luke will highlight in his Gospel, something that wouldn’t really have helped his case, as we’ve already mentioned, in the eyes of his first-century readers and thus has the ring of truth to it. Truly the obedient humility of Mary is a constant call for us to echo her heart and willingness to be used despite our lack of earthly credentials.
Some have wondered about a seeming parallel between her response and that of Zechariah’s but a closer look reveals the important difference. Zechariah’s response is one of doubt. He just doesn’t see how it is possible for such a thing to happen and Gabriel responds sharply with a sign that will serve the dual role of a punishment. Mary, however, doesn’t display a lack of faith but a simple and faithful question. How is this all going to work out? It is a question of clarification not of doubt. Gabriel’s response is a clear indicator that her question was a humble request for information not an expression of faithlessness. Gabriel doesn’t give her all the details but it is enough to know that she doesn’t need to lie with Joseph, the power of God will work out the details. And to verify all this, she will be given a sign even though she didn’t ask for it. She will go to her aged cousin, Elizabeth. Her pregnancy will be the sign for Mary that God certainly has the power to fulfill his promises.
This scene continues the pattern of echoes that Luke has already established for his account. This story certainly echoes the previous one of John’s birth announcement, but Luke also wants to establish the concept that John will be important but Jesus’ role will be far more important. The clearest echoes, however, seem to clearly go back to 2 Samuel 7 where David is promised that his throne and kingdom would be established forever (although certainly this is not the only OT passage that Luke wants us to hear echoed in this passage as is demonstrated by a quick perusal of Isaiah 7:10-17). The promises to David are consistently picked up and echoed here, and dare we even say, in Luke’s mind, fulfilled by the coming of Jesus. David is told that his name would be great (2 Sam. 7:9) and we are told that the coming Messiah will “be great” (v. 32) David is promised that the throne of his kingdom will be established forever (2 Sam. 7:13) and here we are told that “the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David” (v. 32). The Lord promises David that his descendant will be his son (2 Sam. 7:14), and Luke declares that he will be called “the Son of the Most High” (v. 32). Your house and your kingdom, David is told, will be established forever (2 Sam. 7:16) and Luke writes that “he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end” (v. 33). Surely Luke saw the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, as the fulfillment of the promise and the hope that someday a descendant of David would lead his people in a new Exodus to their eternal promised land (Gen. 49:10; 2 Sam. 7:9-16; Isa. 9:1-7; 11:1-3).
Again, as in the previous section, we shouldn’t lose sight of either the very real human story of the obedience of Mary despite the coming ridicule that an unmarried pregnant woman would receive (Her faith continues to challenge Christians 2,000 years later), or the larger story of which Mary’s personal story is but one thread. The child to be born will be the Messiah of the house of David and will somehow be God’s own Son. All of the promises that God had given that had been hanging unfulfilled have finally been answered. When we really boil down the gospel of Luke to its simplest terms, it is the account of God fulfilling all of the promises that he had given to his people. God would heal the world and deal with evil and he would do so through something so unimpressive as a baby.
Devotional Thought
When you are called to serve God in different ways, what is your usual reaction? Do you try to think of all the reasons why you cannot or do you humbly trust God to provide you with the resources to do what he has called you to? Make a decision right now that when God calls you to do something (through prayer or through another Christian) that you will be willing no matter how incapable you feel of doing it on your own. Remember, that’s exactly the point: You’re not on your own.
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