Commentary on the Four Gospel Books
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
G008 The Angel Announces the Birth of the Lord Jesus
Luke 1:26-38

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All New Testament verses quoted in this article are from the English Majority Text Version, and Old Testament verses are from the King James Version, unless otherwise noted.

Luke 1:26-38

26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by *God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

29 But when she saw him, she was greatly perplexed by his saying, and she wondered what sort of greeting this was.

30 Then the angel said to her, “Fear not, Mary, for you have found grace with *God.

31 And behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord *God shall give Him the throne of His father David.

33 And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”

34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy Baby which is to be born shall be called the Son of God.

36 And behold, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for she who was called barren.

37 For with *God nothing shall be impossible.”

38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! May it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ was introduced by the prophecy of the angel Gabriel concerning the birth of John the Baptist. About six months later, it was continued by the angel Gabriel announcing to Mary about the birth of the Lord Jesus.

We take note of this detail: Concerning the birth of John the Baptist, the angel spoke to Zechariah, his father. For John the Baptist belonged to the lineage of Zechariah, being born in the womb of Elizabeth by Zechariah. But concerning the birth of the Lord Jesus, the angel spoke to Mary. For the Lord Jesus was human but did not come from any earthly father. He was begotten by the God in the womb of the virgin Mary. According to the flesh, the Lord Jesus belonged both to the Son of the God and to the lineage of a woman. That fulfilled the prophecy of God in the beginning of creation, right after mankind fell and sinned:

″And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.″ (Genesis 3:15)

In this lesson, we will study the meaning of each verse in Luke 1:26–38, which records the angel Gabriel announcing to Mary about the birth of the Lord Jesus.

Luke 1:26-27

26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by *God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

″The sixth month″ refers to the sixth month since Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist. Right after knowing she was pregnant, Elizabeth hid herself for five months, perhaps to set apart time for fellowship with the Lord, to meditate on the special grace God had granted to her and her husband, and to glorify and give thanks to Him. When her pregnancy entered the sixth month, God again sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth to meet Mary and announce the birth of the Lord Jesus. Mary was a relative of Elizabeth. It is possible that Mary was Elizabeth’s cousin on her mother’s side. Mary’s father was Heli, of the tribe of Judah, but perhaps Mary’s mother was the sister of either Elizabeth’s father or mother, of the tribe of Levi.

Nazareth was a small town in the southern part of Galilee (also called Lower Galilee). The name ″Nazareth″ (G3478) means ″one who is guarded″ or ″a guarded place.″ The name ″Galilee″ (G1056) comes from Hebrew and means ″circle″ or ″cycle.″

Nazareth was about 24 km southwest of the Sea of Galilee, about 5.6 km southwest of Cana, and about 37 km east of the Mediterranean Sea. Its population at that time was about 300 people, living by farming and herding. You can watch films and view pictures of Nazareth on the website holylandsite.com [1].

We do not know how old Mary was at that time or what her occupation was. We only know that when the angel came to her, she was a virgin but had already been betrothed to Joseph. We also do not know how old Joseph was then. The Bible tells us that he was a carpenter (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3). Both Joseph and Mary belonged to the tribe of Judah, the lineage of King David. Their hometown was Bethlehem of Judea. Bethlehem was about 128 km south of Nazareth. The Bible does not tell us why both of them had moved and were living in Nazareth.

According to Bible scholars, the Israelites had the custom of betrothing females at the age of 12 and males at the age of 13, but only when both had reached at least 18 years old would the wedding ceremony take place. Before the wedding, the female would still live with her family. That custom still continues to this day. According to a tradition in the Church, Mary was 12 years old and Joseph was 13 when they were betrothed. It is likely that Mary gave birth to the Lord Jesus when she was about 15 or 16 years old.

If that tradition is true, then we must acknowledge that Mary and Joseph were truly a pair of young teenagers with steadfast faith in the Lord and much knowledge of God’s Word. May the youths in the Church meditate much on Mary and Joseph and also have faith in the Lord and obedience to Him as they did. The adults in the Church should all the more reflect upon and imitate Mary and Joseph’s godly life of faith and obedience to the Lord so that they may be worthy examples for the younger generation, especially for their own children and grandchildren.

The name ″Joseph″ (G2501) comes from Hebrew and means ″he will add″ or ″one who causes to increase.″ The name ″Mary″ is a shortened form of ″Miriam″ (G3137), also from Hebrew. Some Hebrew dictionaries suggest that ″Miriam″ means: (1) rebellion; (2) beloved; or (3) myrrh [2]. Meaning (1) fits Miriam, the sister of Moses, because she once opposed Moses and was punished by God (Numbers 12). Meanings (2) and (3) fit Mary, the mother of the Lord. One who has found favor with the Lord is naturally beloved. Myrrh is one of the ingredients used to make the special incense offered to God, symbolizing reverent worship of Him. Mary indeed was a beloved person and a woman who feared and worshiped the Lord.

Luke 1:28

28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

The word ″Greetings″ (G5463) comes from a root verb meaning ″Rejoice!″ This word was used by the Israelites as a salutation, both when meeting and when parting.

The angel told Mary that she was one who had found favor because the Lord was with her. One who has found favor is a person to whom God has granted grace. Grace is mercy and lovingkindness. The greatest grace a person can receive from God is His being with them. There are two verses in the Bible about receiving the Lord’s grace and His presence that we need to remember, for they will comfort and encourage us whenever we face hardships, adversities, or persecution.

″The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?″ (Psalms 118:6)

″But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than them all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.″ (1 Corinthians 15:10)

All the goodness in us and all that is accomplished through us are because of the grace God has given us and because He is with us.

The phrase: ″Blessed are you among women″ implies that among women, you have been blessed the most. We should note that this statement is expressed in the perfect tense, meaning that Mary’s being blessed above women was something that God had already fulfilled in her. He had chosen and granted her the grace to be the mother of the Christ. Indeed, in the history of mankind, no one has ever received a blessing as great as Mary did.

Luke 1:29

29 But when she saw him, she was greatly perplexed by his saying, and she wondered what sort of greeting this was.

When hearing the angel speak in such a way, the young girl Mary, likely about 15 or 16 years old, was concerned about the meaning of those words and felt troubled. Perhaps she thought to herself that she was only an ordinary country girl—how could God grant her such grace and bestow such an extraordinary blessing? She may have tried to understand what hidden meaning lay behind that greeting and affirmation.

Luke 1:30

30 Then the angel said to her, “Fear not, Mary, for you have found grace with *God.

Confusion leads to bewilderment. Bewilderment leads to fear. Therefore, the angel spoke to reassure Mary, telling her not to be afraid, for she had found favor with God.

The expression ″found grace with *God″ implies that a person who fears the God wholeheartedly seeks Him, and in seeking Him, that person receives abundant grace from the God. Grace is the God’s exceedingly generous giving to a person, even when that person is unworthy to receive His gift. A person must first receive the mercy of the God; only then can that person receive other graces from the Triune God.

For nearly two thousand years, the God’s mercy has been given to humanity through the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Anyone who sincerely confesses themselves as a sinner, having violated the God’s Ten Commandments, earnestly desires to turn from a sinful life, and fully trusts in the atoning death of the Christ immediately receives the God’s mercy; that is, the God forgives all their sins. Following that, the person receives grace from the Lord Jesus and the Spirit. They are cleansed of their sinful nature in the soul by the Lord Jesus, and God the Spirit regenerates their spiritual body, the spirit, and sanctifies their physical body. Their physical body becomes the Temple of God, and God, in the person of the Spirit, dwells within, granting strength and spiritual gifts so that they may live a holy life according to God’s Word, overcome all temptations, and bear much good fruit.

The sad reality today is that worldwide, approximately 2.2 billion people confess themselves as disciples of Christ [3], yet most of them still live in sin, deliberately violating the God’s commandments. In other words, they do not truly repent of their violations of the God’s Ten Commandments. Their faith in the Lord is merely an affiliation with a religion. Therefore, they lack the God’s grace and the power to overcome sin. The commandment most openly violated by those who claim to be disciples of the Christ, often with excuses to justify their wrongdoing, is the commandment that is explained most extensively in the Ten Commandments. It is also the commandment mentioned most frequently in the Bible: the fourth commandment.

Luke 1:31-33

31 And behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord *God shall give Him the throne of His father David.

33 And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”

The purpose of the angel’s appearance to Mary is summarized in the angel’s words, as recorded in the three Bible verses above. It was to announce to Mary the extraordinary work that the God would accomplish for her and through her.

• Mary would conceive and give birth to a son. Since Mary was a virgin, her conception and giving birth fulfilled the prophecy in the Old Testament.

″Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.″ (Isaiah 7:14)

The title ″Emmanuel″ was used as one of the names of the Lord Jesus; it means ″the God with us.″ The pronoun ″us″ in the phrase refers to all mankind. The title ″Emmanuel″ implies that although mankind sinned greatly, the mercy of the God is exceedingly great. He did not abandon mankind to suffer eternally in the consequences of sin. He still remains with mankind, granting them salvation and calling them to believe in His salvation. He is pleased to receive and restore to the position of being children of the God all who truly believe in His salvation.

• Mary would name her child ″JESUS.″ In this verse and in Matthew 1:21, 25, the name ″Jesus″ is written in uppercase in some Bible translations. This is because the translators wanted to emphasize the fact that the child born of the virgin Mary must be named ″Jesus.″ The name ″Jesus″ means ″the Self-Existing and Eternal One is the Savior.″ We must remember that the title ″the Self-Existing and Eternal One″ is the personal name of the Triune God. Therefore, the name ″Jesus″ implies that the redemption of mankind from sin is the grace and work of the entire Triune God.

• Mary’s son would become great and would be called the Son of the Most High. For the Israelites, the title ″the Most High″ was a name reserved only for the God. The Son of the Most High is therefore the Son of the God. And that is an exalted position. Furthermore, He would also be the eternal King of an eternal kingdom.

• The Lord the God would give Mary’s son the throne of David. The throne of David is the kingship over the kingdom of Israel. It is the God Himself who would grant the Lord Jesus kingship over the people of Israel. And that kingship is inherited from King David, for the God promised that the throne of David would remain forever.

″I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations.″ (Psalms 89:3-4)

• He would reign over the house of Jacob, that is, the kingdom of Israel, forever, and His kingdom would have no end.

We have also studied the prophecies concerning King David reigning over the kingdom of Israel during the time frame of the Millennial Kingdom:

″And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.″ (Ezekiel 34:23-24)

″And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.″ (Ezekiel 37:24-25)

″Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.″ (Hosea 3:5)

So how are we to understand it when the Bible tells us that both David and the Lord Jesus will reign as kings of Israel during the Millennial Kingdom? In human monarchy, we see cases where a king appoints the crown prince to rule as king alongside him. In the Millennial Kingdom, the Lord Jesus will not only be King of Israel but also King over all other nations. His title is ″King of Kings and Lord of Lords″ (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16). Therefore, we understand that each nation and each people will have a king or ruler directly governing them, but all those kings and rulers will be under the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is even possible that those kings and rulers will be under the authority of the Church, for at that time the Church will reign forever with Christ.

The day when Christ comes to take the Church out of the world is very near, as near as the very next breath we take. We are about to step into everlasting exaltation and glory with the Christ. Do not, for any unlawful desire, for abominable pride before the Lord, or for misguided self-love that only seeks to exalt oneself, fall into sin, miss the portion of grace, and perish eternally after having tasted the mercy of the Lord (Hebrews 6:4–8; 10:26–31).

Luke 1:34

34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

Mary’s words in reply to the angel do not show that she disbelieved what the angel said, but only that she wondered how it would happen, since she was a virgin. The verb ″know″ (G1097) in Hebrew idiom means to have sexual relations. Mary ″knew″ Joseph, her betrothed husband, in the sense that she knew who he was, what his character was, and what his relationship to her was. But Mary had never “known” Joseph in the sense of having sexual relations with him.

Luke 1:35

35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy Baby which is to be born shall be called the Son of God.

The noun ″holy spirit″ (G4151 G40) in this verse in Greek does not have the definite article preceding it; therefore, it does not refer to God in the person of the Spirit but rather to the power of God. The supernatural strength of God would come upon Mary to accomplish what God desired for her and through her.

The noun ″power″ (G1411) refers to authority and strength.

The expression ″to be overshadowed″ or ″to be covered under wings″ suggests the shade of a rock in the desert protecting a traveler or the wings of an eagle brooding over its young. When used in the Bible, it implies being cared for and protected absolutely by the God. The theological term is the providence of God. In theological usage, it refers to God’s care and protection of all His creatures. If any evil occurs, it is also what He allows in order to fulfill His good will toward all His creatures.

Mary would bear a Holy One. This statement means that from the very moment He was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary, the Lord Jesus was already the Holy One. The adjective ″holy″ has two meanings:

• When applied to God, ″holy″ means complete, entirely distinct from all creation, independent of anyone or anything, and perfectly good. The Lord Jesus is holy because He is God.

• When applied to humans or objects, ″holy″ means set apart for the God’s use. The Lord Jesus, in His human nature, was set apart for the God to use Him to accomplish the salvation of mankind and therefore is called the Holy One. Those who receive the God’s gift of salvation are called saints because they are set apart by the God for Him to use them in His purposes. The Church is the collective body of saints set apart by the God to reign together with Christ in the Kingdom of the God.

Because the God used His divine power to bring forth the physical body of the Lord Jesus in the virgin Mary, His human nature had no human father, and that physical body is the Son of God because the God is God. In other words, Jesus is “the Son of the God” and “the Son of God.”

Thanks be to the God. Our resurrected or transformed bodies, on the day when Christ comes to take the Church out of the world, are likewise bodies mysteriously born by the God. Therefore, we are called sons and daughters of the God and indeed children of the Living God (Romans 9:24–26).

Luke 1:36-37

36 And behold, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for she who was called barren.

37 For with *God nothing shall be impossible.”

Modern Literal Version

37 because no word from *God will be powerless.

In the Greek of the Bible, the word ″ῥῆμα″ (rēma – G4487) /hray’-mah/ commonly means a spoken word, but it can also refer to a thing or event. Therefore, some Bible translations render it as ″For with *God nothing shall be impossible,″ while others translate it as ″because no word from *God will be powerless.″ Both translations are correct. However, in the context of the angel’s message to Mary, the translation ″because no word from *God will be powerless″ is more precise, emphasizing the God’s promise.

The angel informed Mary that Elizabeth had conceived a son and was now in the sixth month of her pregnancy. Mary knew well that Elizabeth, being both elderly and previously barren, must have been greatly rejoicing and encouraged. She would rejoice for her relative and be encouraged because this was evidence that, indeed, as the angel had said, ″because no word from *God will be powerless.″ Therefore, all the words the angel had spoken to Mary would also come to pass. For this reason, Mary responded with eagerness to the angel, as recorded in verse 38.

Luke 1:38

38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! May it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary acknowledged herself as the Lord’s servant. The noun ″Lord″ in this verse could be understood as Mary addressing the angel to show her obedience, similar to how the Apostle John addressed an elder in a vision (Revelation 7:14). In Hebrew, Greek, and even English, the word ″Lord″ can refer either to God or to someone who has authority over oneself, such as a wife to her husband, a servant to a master, or people to their ruler. However, since Mary called herself a ″maidservant,″ the term ″Lord″ here should be understood as her addressing the God, because angels also serve the God as humans do (Revelation 19:10; 22:9).

The phrase ″May it be to me according to your word″ demonstrates Mary’s faith in every word spoken by the angel.

Today, as we read the Bible, we see many promises of God for those who believe in His salvation. Since we have sincerely received the Lord’s salvation, we too should follow Mary’s example: whenever we read the God’s promises or the prophecies about the future of His people, we should boldly say to the God, ″May it be to me according to Your word.″

We conclude this lesson here.

May the Holy Spirit guide us into all the truths of God’s Word (John 16:13). May the Word of God sanctify us (John 17:17). May the Faithful *God of Peace Himself sanctify our spirit, soul, and body entirely, without blame (1 Thessalonians 5:23), at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Beloved Savior. Amen!

Timothy Christian Huynh
Priscilla Christian Huynh
10/01/2022

Notes:

[1] https://www.holylandsite.com/nazareth-overview

[2] https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Miriam.html

[3] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-countries-have-the-most-christians-around-the-world.html

About Using “*God”, “the God” and “holy spirit”

Wherever the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts of the Bible use a definite article with a noun to denote GOD, we translate it into English as *God or “the God” to refer to God the Father. We understand that “God,” without a definite article, was used as a collective noun for all and any of the three Persons of the Godhead. And “God,” with a definite article, was used to refer to God the Father.

In the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the term “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) without the definite article “the” (το) is used to denote the power of God, which is given by God the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit” (το πνευματι το αγιω) is God, and “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) is the power that comes from God.