(un)EXPECTED

Many years had passed since God has spoken to His people through any of the prophets. In that time, Israel experienced dramatic social and political upheaval through a series of conquerings and uprisings. Through the 400 years between the Old and New Testaments, the Israelites became increasingly interested a “Messiah” figure. Expectations about who this Messiah would be and what he would do are diverse, but generally shared a few common themes. Most expected a warrior-king figure, who would destroy God’s enemies and restore the true worship of God. This warrior-king would restore the purity of the Temple and the priesthood. While most expected these tasks to be accomplished by one individual, some speculated two distinct individuals who would split the warrior and preistly functions between themselves (Barry, The Messiah in Second Temple Judaism).

Suddenly and dramatically, God broke His silence. God sent an angel to Zechariah, a priest. The angel’s message was that Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, who to this point in her life was barren, would have a son. This son would “turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.” He would “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared” (Lk. 1:16-17). Zechariah and Elizabeth’s son would be named John (Lk. 1:13).

Six months later, God again sent an angel to deliver a message. This time God’s message was to a young virgin, Mary. God had set in motion His grand plan to redeem His people and it would look nothing like what His people expected.

This passage teaches that God Is. Through God’s work in all aspects of this event, Mary, a young virgin, would give birth to a child who would be the Son of God. Because Jesus’ birth would be brought on by God’s power enacted in Mary, He would be known as God’s own Son. As God’s Son, Jesus would be the crucial player in God’s plan to redeem His people by saving them from their sins.

This passage also teaches that People are God's Treasure. God went to great lengths in sending His own Son to redeem humanity. 

Luke 1:26 “The sixth month” refers to the month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, as well as the period of time since the angel appeared to Zechariah during his temple service and announced the birth of his son, John the Baptist (Spence and Lang, p. 7). Gabriel, whose name means “God’s strong man,” “man of God,” or “God’s warrior” was sent by God to make an announcement. Gabriel is one of two named angels in the Bible, Michael being the other, who serves as archangel of God’s army (Utley, Luke 2). The geographic detail offered by Luke in specifying that Nazareth is “a city in Galilee” suggests that Luke’s audience was unfamiliar with the geography of Israel (Spence and Lang, p. 7).

Luke 1:27 Gabriel was sent to Mary, whom we are told was a virgin who was engaged to Joseph, a descendant of David. The Greek word translated “Virgin” has a more specific meaning than the Hebrew word translated “virgin” in Isaiah’s prophecy of the virgin birth in Isaiah 7:14. In the Greek, the word specifically means a person who has never had sexual relations with another person. The Hebrew word used in Isaiah refers to a young, sexually mature woman of marriable age (Utley, Luke 1). The Hebrew term leaves the question of sexual experience open, but the use of the Greek term positively asserts Mary did not have sexual relations with anyone prior to conceiving Jesus.

Marriage in first-century Israel always involved a one-year betrothal period. Young girls became eligible for marriage when they turned twelve after being betrothed for one year. When a couple was betrothed to one another, they enjoyed the legal status of already being married but were not permitted to consummate the marriage until the betrothal period was completed. Since the couple was understood to be legally married, only death or divorce could break their union (Utley, Luke 2).

Luke 1:28  Some translations render Gabriel’s first words as “Greetings” as opposed to the New International Version (NIV) “Hail.” This interpretation has led some to believe that Gabriel attributed special significance to Mary. However, Gabriel’s greeting as recorded in the original Greek was a simple customary greeting in the first-century Jewish world and would not have been understood by the original audience to imbue special significance on Mary (Stein, pp. 82-83).

Literally translated, Gabriel’s pronouncement of Mary as “O favored one” is one “having been much graced by God” (Spence and Lang, p. 7). Gabriel’s statement, “the Lord is with you” is not phrased as a wish, i.e. “May the Lord be with you” (Stein, p. 83). Instead, as one who has been much graced by God for the task of bearing God’s Son, the Lord’s presence is already with Mary.

Luke 1:29  Mary’s response was somewhat surprising to us. Instead of joy or happiness, she was “greatly troubled” by Gabriel’s pronouncement. The word used in the Greek means “to cause acute distress.” Two such words exist in Greek, this one has the more emphatic meaning (Louw, Nida, p. 25.246). Mary’s attempt at discerning the meaning of Gabriel’s greeting should not be over-spiritualized, as if she simply waited to see how the face value of Gabriel’s statement settled in on her heart before making an evaluation. The Greek word translated “discern” means “to think or reason with thoroughness and completeness” (Louw, Nida, p. 30.10).

Luke 1:30 Gabriel perceived Mary’s rising distress. The phrasing of his statement, “Do not be afraid” gives the meaning of stopping an act already in progress. Part of Mary’s discerning of his original greeting was to become noticeably fearful (Utley, Luke 1). Some of Mary’s fear was probably at the prospect of what Gabriel’s greeting meant, but it was also common for humans to feel fear when an angel made an appearance (Jdg. 6:17; 2 Sam 15:25). It is important to note that the favor Mary found with God is similar to the favor others found throughout Scripture when God decided to use an imperfect person for His perfect purposes (see Gen. 6:8, 18:3, 30:27; Ex. 33:12) (Utley, Luke 4).

Luke 1:31-33 Gabriel now informed Mary what being favored by God would mean for her. Though she was a virgin, she would “conceive and bear” a child. As an unwed woman, Mary could be stoned for this offense under the Mosaic Law (Dt. 22:24-25). However, Gabriel assured her that her son would be born and would be named, “Jesus.” “Jesus” was an Aramaic name derived from the Hebrew name “Joshua” that was formed from the compound of “Yahweh” and “salvation.” Jesus’ name literally means “The Lord saves” (Utley, Luke 5).

In verses 32-33, Gabriel made five statements that would define Jesus’ life. First, Jesus would “be great.” Jesus’ greatness would contrast with the rest of humanity, which because of its sin was not great. Second, Jesus would “be called the Son of the Most High.” Within the Gospels, “will be called” is synonymous with “will be.” Jesus wouldn’t simply have the reputation of being God’s Son, He would literally be God’s Son. Third, Jesus would be given “the throne of His father David.” God promised David that his “throne would be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:12-13). Joseph was described as a descendent of David in Luke 1:27. Jesus would be understood to be included in this line. Fourth, Jesus would “reign over the house of Jacob forever.” This description further identifies Jesus as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. Occupying David’s throne, Jesus was to rule over “the house of Jacob,” a term synonymous with Israel. Unlike David, Jesus’ reign would be forever. In Jesus, God’s original promise to David of a throne that would be established forever would be fulfilled. Fifth, Jesus’ kingdom would have no end. This is probably an allusion to Daniel 7:14, wherein someone “like a son of man” would reign forever in an everlasting kingdom (Stein, p. 83).

Luke 1:34 Mary’s response is literally, “How can this be since I am a virgin?” Some translations use the word “know” as an euphemism throughout Scripture for sexual relations (Gen. 4:1; 1 Sam 1:19). The angel was clearly not conveying the message that Mary’s conception of a child would come after she and Joseph consummated their marriage. If this were the case, Mary would not have asked, “How will this be?” Childbearing was a normal process after marriage. Mary understood that Gabriel’s message was putting the cart before the horse (Stein, p. 85).

Luke 1:35 Two parallel phrases describe how Mary would conceive a child though she was a virgin. The Holy Spirit would “come upon” her and “the power of the Most High” would “overshadow” her. John the Baptist was said to be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb (Lk. 1:15), but Jesus was conceived by the Spirit of God. Jesus would not simply be filled by the Holy Spirit, Jesus would be birthed by the Holy Spirit (Stein, p. 85). Similarly, God’s power would “overshadow” Mary and result in conception. This experience would not be a sexual one for Mary. Neither God nor the Holy Spirit have a physical body. Mary’s conception would be accomplished solely through God’s power over His creation. The term “overshadow” is the same term used to describe the presence of God on the Mount of Transfiguration (Lk. 9:34) and most likely alludes to His presence in and power over Mary’s life in these circumstances (Utley, Luke 5).

Luke 1:36-37  For a recent example of God’s power, Gabriel informed Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth, who to this point in her life had been barren, was sixth months pregnant. God had already accomplished for Elizabeth what man had deemed impossible. Since God did what was impossible for Elizabeth, it was no large stretch of the imagination that He would be able to have a Son through Mary though she was a virgin (Stein, p. 86).

Luke 1:38  Mary’s statement at the conclusion of Gabriel’s announcement demonstrates exemplary faith. Though Gabriel has informed her that she will be considered an unwed mother worthy of execution by her faith’s tradition, she submits to God’s will for her life. Her phrase “let it be to me according to your word” is phrased as a prayer of submission and/or expressed desire in the Greek. Mary was willing to suffer whatever idignity or trial that would come upon her because she was convinced that this was God’s will for her (Utley, Luke 6).

God’s plan might not always look like what we expect. Many speculated what the arrival of the Messiah would be like. No one thought that the Messiah would be born of a virgin and grow up in Nazareth, a town of little repute. Most thought that the Messiah would deliver Israel from its political enemies through military strength. Instead, God’s plan was to use a relatively powerless young woman to bring a baby into the world who would defeat His people’s true enemy, sin.

We often look for God’s activity in dramatic and large-scale actions. Conversely, God often acts in seemingly small ways to accomplish large purposes. In Gabriel’s interaction with Mary, God set in motion His plan to redeem humanity from sin through Jesus. God’s redemption would not look like many expected and it would not take place in the timeframe that some had hoped for, but God’s plan and timing for the life and ministry of Jesus were perfect to accomplish His purpose.