“God looks to the human being to accept His plan, but does not depend on the human being for its implementation.” – Mark Coleridge
“To live in hope is to live in the energy field of the future.” – Christiaan Mostert
Luke 1:26-38
John 1:46
Notice that the angel greets Mary as “O favored one.”
We Protestants call it God’s electing grace.
Mary’s virginity is presented as an obstacle to conception that can only be overcome by the miraculous, creative power of God.
Luke 1:29 – Word Troubled – dietarachthe – It can also be translated as “perplexed.”
She is perplexed because she feels unworthy.
Luke 1:34 – “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” The literal translation is, “Since a man not I know.”
MARY DOES NOT ASK IF IT WILL HAPPEN – MARY ASKS HOW IT WILL HAPPEN.
Seven promises from God in these verses
- Earlier, an angel told Zechariah’s wife will bear him a son. Here, Mary, an unwed virgin, has no husband. Therefore, she bears no son for him. Yet she will conceive.
- While Luke gives no origin of the name, Mary is told her baby is to be named Jesus.
- While Zechariah is told John will be “great before the Lord,” Mary is told that her son “will be great.”
- Her son “will be called the Son of the Most High.” In other words, this is a declaration of the divinity of Jesus Christ. Used in this historic moment, Jesus is the Son of God from the point of conception.
- The promise of the “throne of David his father” emphasizes the child’s role as ruler. There is no mention of his suffering. Luke will build toward that essential truth.
- Mary is told, “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.” That is clearly a Messianic promise. We hear this echoed in Micah 4:7, “And the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.”
- But there’s more. “And of his kingdom there will be no end.” Jesus’ miraculous conception reveals that he is uniquely related to God in a way that moves beyond Messianic expectations. That plays a huge role in God’s salvation history.
Mary learns that her child will be uniquely powerful and will fulfill God’s plans for our salvation.
SOLI DEO GLORIA…To the Glory of God Alone