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Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary About Jesus’ Birth

The Feast of the Annunciation is one of the earliest Christian feasts, and was already being celebrated in the fourth century. The feast of the Annunciation comes every year on the 25th of March. There is between it and the Feast of the Nativity which comes on the 25th of December, a period of nine months that constitutes the period of the holy pregnancy with the Lord Christ.

There are two main parts to the Annunciation: the message itself, and the response of the Virgin. The message fulfills God's promise to send a Redeemer (Genesis 3:15): "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed; he shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for his heel." The Fathers of the Church understand "her seed" to refer to Christ. The prophets hinted at His coming, which they saw dimly, but the Archangel Gabriel now proclaims that the promise is about to be fulfilled.

The background of the Annunciation is found in the Gospel of St. Luke (1:26-38): "Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary."

In verses 1:26-27, Luke tells us the persons, place, and time, of Jesus' birth announcement, just as he had with John's (1:5) As mentioned earlier, the birth announcement of Jesus is patterned the same way as John's to make comparison and memorization easy. There are clear similarities between John and Jesus, both men will be key agent's of God's salvation. But Jesus is clearly the greater, since He is the Son of God as well as man, etc.

"Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God"
"In the sixth month" refers to the six month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, rather than the six month of the Jewish or Roman year.

Once again, the angel Gabriel is sent by God with a salvific message of great importance. That Gabriel is sent again (rather than another angel) shows that the announcement of Jesus' birth was of no less importance than John's. Rather, as we will see, it is of greater importance.

"to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,"
Only Luke mentions that Joseph and Mary were from Nazareth before Jesus was born. Matthew gives the impression (but it is only an impression) that Mary, Joseph, and Jesus settled in Nazareth only after Jesus was born and only because Archelaus was ruling in Judea. All the Gospels recognize that Jesus had been brought up in, and therefore, was "from" Nazareth (Mt. 2:23; 21:11; Mk. 1:9; Lk. 4:16; John 1:45-46; Acts 10:38).

"to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary."

Notes: Mary is clearly identified as a virgin not once, but twice. This is strengthened by Mary's admission in 1:34 that she had not known a man and Gabriel's explanation of how such a conception could take place. Many "Christian" studies have denied that Mary was a virgin and the resulting supernatural virginal conception of Jesus. The real reason for their denial of the virgin birth is their bias against the supernatural, i.e., they don't believe that the miraculous described in Scripture really happened or can happen. Because of this bias against the miraculous they then try to argue that the text doesn't really say that Mary was a virgin when she conceived.

There is nothing in the Gospel of Luke text that disallows that Mary and Joseph could have had sexual relations soon after Gabriel's announcement. While Matthew's Gospel makes it clear that this did not happen (Matthew 1:18, 25: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit . . . she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus." Matthew also has the explicit quotation of Isaiah 7:14, which Luke does not have: ""Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel."

Mary's question in 1:34, however, along with the angel's explanation of how the conception would take place in 1:35 ("The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God."). Contrasting Mary’s virginal conception with John's birth announcement, John's conception and birth was clearly a miracle (in that Elizabeth was old, like Sarah had been before her), but there is nothing in the text that suggests that Elizabeth's conception happened in anything but a normal way. i.e., through sexual relations with Zechariah. But with Mary clearly something greater is happening here.

The Nicene Creed nicely summarizes this glorious teaching of the virgin birth. Jesus, "true God of true God" . . . was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man."

Luke says that Mary was already "betrothed" to Joseph. Although it was regarded as equally binding as marriage, the girl having the same legal position as a wife, it was not normal for sexual relations to take place during this period. We also know from Matthew 1:18 that Joseph and Mary were not yet living together.

The name Joseph means "May He (God) add (sons)." Most commentators understand the words "of the house of David" grammatically to be referring to Joseph here. Many in the early church, however, understood this phrase to be asserting Mary's Davidic lineage, including Origin, Ignatius (in Eph. 18:2), Justin (Dialogue 43, 45, 100, 120).

The virgin's name was Mary, Mariam ܡܪܝܡ in the Aramaic/Syriac, and Greek though it is spelled as Maria in Luke 1:41 and 2:19. The name Mariam means "exalted one." It was a common name being the equivalent of the Old Testament Mariam, Moses' sister (Ex. 15:20).

Luke 1:28 – "And the angel entered to her, and said to her, Peace be to you, full of grace! our Lord is with you, you are blessed among women!" (Peshitto)

"And the angel entered,"

Notes: Whereas, Gabriel "appeared" to Zechariah, he "enters" or "comes in" to Mary, which can mean that he merely walked in the door or entered in miraculously. Clearly, though this conversation happened indoors.

"and said to her, Peace be to you, full of grace! our Lord is with you,"
The greeting contains three parts. (1) "Peace be with you (Greetings)," (2) "Full of grace!" (3) "The Lord is with you."

(1) The angel greeted Mary with a common Aramaic word "Shlomo" like "hello" nowadays. Luke under the Spirit's guidance simply chooses the common Greek word that conveyed the same thing "χαιρε" which was a common expression of greetings among the Greeks which normally means "rejoice" or "be glad".

Seeing Mary here as the embodiment of God's people or typological identification of Mary with the daughter of Zion is nowhere explicit, and it would tend to distract attention from the coming of the Messiah to the mother. And also in this situation of Mary, Mary symbolizes the daughter of Zion, that is, the people of God, the Church.

(2) Gabriel next calls Mary "Full of grace" (κεχαριτωμενη kecharitomene, the perfect passive participle of χαριτόω charitoo) which means "to bestow grace/favor" is the verb form of the noun charis, "grace, favor." The passive form ensures that Gabriel is addressing Mary as the recipient of God's grace or favor, rather than the giver of it.

(3) Gabriel says to Mary, "Our Lord is with you." This is a marvelous OT greeting (Judges 6:12; Ruth 2:4; 2 Samuel 7:3) which is meant to be a statement of fact rather than a wish. It also speaks to more than God's presence, as in "The Lord is physically or spatially with you." It carries the meaning that the "The Lord is on your side to help you." This statement does not refer to the incarnate Lord within her womb, because the incarnation had not yet occurred.

Luke 1:29 - "But when she saw, she was troubled at his words, and reasoned what this salutation is."

Notes: Mary's reaction was that she became "perplexed" or "troubled." The Greek word behind these translations was is διεταραχθη, it is actually a more accurate translation might be "greatly confused." In addition to denoting fear, the word family can also indicate being moved with deep emotion, such as sadness (see, for example, John 11:33; 12:27; 13:21). This is the only time that diatarasso is used in the NT.

An important difference: Mary became greatly disturbed by Gabriel's words, whereas Zechariah became frightened by Gabriel. It was Gabriel's greeting that confused Mary. Why? Likely because he greeted her in such exalted terms, similar to the way great men of the OT had been greeted (e.g., Gideon, Judges 6:12). Not because it was unusual for a man to greet a woman, as has sometimes been suggested. The second part of the verse bears this out. It was the highly unusual nature of the message, not the message itself that confused and frightened Mary.

Luke 1:30 - The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God."

Gabriel spoke the same μη φοβου me phobou ("fear not") to Mary that he had spoken to Zechariah in 1:13. The present imperative with the negative commands someone to stop an action already begun, so "Stop being afraid, Mary" would be the sense here.

The expression, "for you have found favor with God," gives the reason why Mary should not fear. "You have found favor with God," is a Semitism and is found in the Old Testament, for example, in Gen. 6:8: "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." See also Judges 6:17 and 2 Sam. 15:25. The word "favor" is actually a translation the Greek word charis (from the same word family as charitoo in 1:28), which is normally translated "grace" (as in Acts 15:11, Eph. 2:8).

To have "found favor with God" means to be approved by him not because of anything praiseworthy in her, but because of His gracious choice. Luke uses a similar expression in Stephen's speech in Acts 7:46: "David found favor in God's sight."

The Birth Announcement

Luke 1:31 - "And behold, you will conceive and bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus." Isaiah 7:14; Matt 1:21;

"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son"
Though Luke, unlike Matthew (1:22-23), doesn't quote Isaiah 7:14 or explicitly reference it, the words of Gabriel in 1:31 sound very similar to Isaiah 7:14: "Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." A key difference in Luke's account of course is in the naming. About this, see below.

More importantly, Gabriel is declaring that the incarnation of the Son of God shall be similar to the conception of any child in one sense. In other words, God's Son will be conceived and gradually develop in the womb just as any other child does. Amazing!

But "you shall call His name Jesus."
As in the case of John, God himself names the child. The name Ἰησοῦς Iesous is a Greek form of the Hebrew yeshûa, which is a shortened form for yehôshua, יְהוֹשׁוַּע Yhowshuwa` (yeh-ho-shoo'-ah) (or Yhowshua {yeh-ho-shoo'-ah}) that is, "Joshua" the name of the successor of Moses. The Hebrew name for Joshua is translated as Ἰησοῦς (Jesus). The name Jesus was a common name up until the second century A.D. After this both Christians (out of respect) and Jews (out of contempt) stopped naming their children "Jesus". See Luke 3:29 and Col. 4:11, for examples of other men who bore the name "Jesus." The meaning of the name, which Matthew makes clear in Mt. 1:21, is "Yahweh saves."

The Jewish scholar Philo (first century B.C.) writes, "Jesus [Joshua] is interpreted salvation of the Lord, a name for the best possible state." In this passage Mary is commanded to name the child and in Mt. 1:21 Joseph is. In the OT both father (Gen. 4:26, 5:3) and mother (Gen. 4:25) named children. Of course, Matthew spells out the significance of this: "for He shall save His people from their sins" (1:21).

Jesus' Identity and Mission Explained
Luke 1:32-33 - "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; Isa 54:5; 2Sam 7:12; Ps 132:11; Isa 9:7; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end." 1Chr 22:10; Ps 45:6; Ps 89:36; Jer 23:5; Dan 7:14; Dan 7:27; Mic 4:7; Heb 1:8.

"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High"

As mentioned previously, whereas John's greatness is qualified (in the sight of the Lord; cf. 1:15) the greatness of Jesus is unqualified by a simple statement: "He shall be great."

Does the fact that the text says "He shall be called" (κληθησεται) rather "he shall be" the Son of the Most High indicate that Jesus was not the Son of God by nature but in name only? Hardly, for "to call" in the NT can be the same as "to be" as a comparison of Matthew 5:9 and Luke 6:35 shows:

Matthew 5:9 - "for they shall be called sons of God."

Luke 6:35 - "and you will be sons of the Most High."

This is not merely Jesus' title, it is a statement of who He shall be, not merely a name but a description of being.

The expression "ὕψιστος hupsistos (hoop'-sis-tos)" ("the Most High") is very common in the OT Hebrew el elyôn. The first occurrence of it is in Gen. 14:18: "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High." It also occurs in Balaam's fourth oracle in Num. 24:16. It is fairly numerous in the Psalms appearing at 7:17; 13:5; 21:7; 77:10; 82:6; 91:1; 107:11 [note that these are the Hebrew and English translation references]. It is especially plentiful in Daniel, occurring 12 times. In the NT, it is used most often in Luke, 7 times and four of these are in the infancy narratives.

Jesus will be the "Son" of the Most High God. This is Messianic title and is perhaps an allusion to 2 Samuel 7:14, where God says to David about the Messiah, "I will be a Father to Him and He will be a Son to Me."

"and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of His father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom shall be no end."

This is the direct reference to 2 Samuel 7:12-13, a prophesy of God's Messiah, who would save Israel: "When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish His kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever." That these words were not spoken about Solomon is clear from the eternal nature of the reign of David's descendent (see also 2 Sam. 7:16). The promise of the Messiah who reign over the house of David forever was repeated throughout the OT period.

Psalm 89:3-4 - "I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever and build up your throne to all generations."

Isaiah 9:6-7 - "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."

Isaiah 11:1-5, 10 - "Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist . . . Then in that day the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; and His resting place will be glorious."

Jeremiah 23:5-6 - "Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, 'The Lord our righteousness.'"

Daniel saw a vision of the Messiah (which he calls the "Son of Man") receiving His kingdom:

Daniel 7:13-14 - "I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed."

Gabriel's words tell Mary unmistakably that the Son to be born to her will be the Messiah, the Son of David. Jesus himself would later take up this very question to silence the Sadducees: "Then He said to them, how is it that they say the Christ is David's son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms, 'the Lord said to my Lord, "sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet."' "Therefore David calls Him 'Lord,' and how is He His son?" (Luke 20:41-44). The answer, of course, is that the Christ was both God and man in one person! He was Son of David according to His human nature and Son of God according to His divine nature.

It was also for this reason that Jesus was hailed as the "Son of David" throughout His ministry (Luke 18:38-39; Matthew 9:27; Matthew 15:22). When Jesus entered Jerusalem on "Palm Sunday" the crowds addressed Him as "Son of David": ""Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!" (Mt. 21:9). Even those who were not convinced were wondering, "All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, `This man cannot be the Son of David, can He?'" (Mt. 12:23). This was also the preaching of the apostles, as recorded in the Acts (2:30 and 13:22-23). See also Rom. 1:3 and 2 Tim. 2:8. In Rev. 5:5 Jesus is referred to as "the root of David" and "the lion that is from the tribe of Judah," a clear reference to Gen. 49:10. And in Rev. 22:16, Jesus says of Himself, "I Am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."

Luke 1:34 - "Mary said to the angel, `How can this be, since a man is not known to me?'"
Mary's simple question has been the subject of intense and microscopic scholarly debate. Behind many of the interpretations is a basic problem. Gabriel had told Mary that she would conceive and give birth in the future. Therefore, it seems odd that Mary questions how the conception would occur since she would soon be married to Joseph. In other words, Gabriel said the conception would happen in the future; Mary was going to be married to Joseph in the future. So what does her present virginity have to do with it?

Some of church fathers hold that Mary had made a vow of perpetual virginity and this was the reason for her question. There is no evidence for this position in the book, however.

Others are convinced that Mary's question is merely a literary device invented by Luke. Mary actually never asked the question. This view is to be dismissed because it does not take the historical nature of the text seriously.

The best answer, which is also the traditional one, is that Mary understood Gabriel to be saying that the conception of Jesus would happen in the immediate future, very soon, long before her marriage was consummated with Joseph. Therefore, her present virginity was a logical obstacle in her mind! In addition, it is possible that Mary was familiar with Isaiah 7:14, that a virgin would conceive and bear the Messiah, and this was also caused her to ask the question.

Though some scholars go to ridiculous lengths to deny it, it is clear that Luke intended to teach the virgin birth in this section. In addition to this verse, he twice referred to Mary as a virgin in 1:27. Plus, Gabriel's answer to Mary's question in 1:35 is obviously describing a miraculous conception, rather than a natural one.
As part of the step parallelism in this passage, Mary questioned the angel's word as Zechariah had before her (1:18). The questions, however, though similar, are not identical.

Mary: "How will this be because I do not know a man?"
Zechariah: How will I know this, because my I am old and my wife is advanced in days?"

At least one commentator makes much over the fact that Mary was not asking for a sign, since the form of her question ("How will/can this be?") is different from Zechariah's ("How will I know this?"). This, however is making too much out of the grammatical difference. Both questioners (in the form of a causal clause) state the reason why their question is necessary. Mary's virginity makes her question the angel's announcement that she would soon conceive a son. Zechariah and Elizabeth's old age make him question Gabriel's announcement of the birth of John. Both questioners are asking for an explanation of how such incredible births will be possible.

Two differences are worth noting, however. First, whereas Gabriel struck Zechariah mute because he had not believed the angel's word (which also became the sign) (1:20), Mary is not punished in any way. It is a simple and honest question she poses. A parallel to this is God's acceptance of Abel's offering and rejection of Cain's (Gen. 4:3-5). As the letter to the Hebrews explicitly tells us, God's different attitude toward the two brothers is to be explained by faith: "By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous" (Heb. 11:4). Abel's offering was "by faith," whereas, by implication, Cain's was not. Likewise, Mary's question contained no disbelief, whereas Zechariah's question did.
Whether or not Mary was asking for a sign, Gabriel gave her one, as recorded in 1:36: the miraculous birth of Elizabeth is the sign that what Gabriel had said to Mary would indeed come true. This is the reason Mary went "with haste" to the hill country to visit Elizabeth (1:39).

Now in contrast to Eve, who was readily deceived by the serpent, the Virgin did not immediately accept the Angel's message. In her humility, she did not think she was deserving of such words, but was actually troubled by them. The fact that she asked for an explanation reveals her sobriety and prudence. She did not disbelieve the words of the angel, but could not understand how they would be fulfilled, for they spoke of something which was beyond nature.

Luke 1:35 - "The angel answered and said to her, `The Holy Spirit shall come, and the power of the Most High shall descend upon you; on account of this, He who (shall be) born from you is holy, and shall be called the Son of God.'"
This is a magnificent statement. It is one of only two explanations in all of Scripture of one of the most significant events of our salvation: the incarnation - that the Son of God became flesh, human. The incarnation is confessed and stated in various places in Scripture (e.g., Is. 7:14; 9:6-7; Micah 5:2-5a; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1- 4, 14-18; Heb. 2:9-18; Rom. 1:1-4; 8:1-4; 2 Co. 8:9; Gal. 4:4-7; Phil. 2:4-11; 1 John 4:1- 3). Only here and in Matthew 1:20, however, is an explanation of the how of the incarnation, albeit a simple one, given.

Gabriel says that the incarnation will happen in the following way:

"The Holy Spirit shall come"

The same Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity, who was intimately involved in creation (Gen. 1:2) is involved in our Lord's incarnation.

Isaiah prophesies of a day when the Holy Spirit was to be "poured upon us from on high" (Is. 32:15 where the same Greek verb, eperchomai, is used).

The language of the Holy Spirit "coming or pouring upon" Mary is also suggestive of the way the Holy Spirit had inspired the OT prophets for prophesy, leadership, or great deeds. Thus, "the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah," one of the judges who delivered Israel (Judges 11:29); the Spirit of the Lord came on Samson mightily giving supernatural strength (Judges 15:14); the Spirit of Elijah came to rest on Elisha (2 Kings 2:15); "the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded," so that he went and prophesied to King Asa (2 Chron. 15:1); and "the Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest," so that he prophesied to the people and in turn was stoned to death by them (2 Chron. 24:20). Indeed upon the root of Jesse himself (Messiah) himself will the Spirit rest (Is. 11:2), something that was fulfilled at Christ's baptism (Luke 3:22). And in the last days God will pour out His Spirit on all mankind (Joel 2:28-29), something that was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2).

Amazingly, before He ascended into heaven Jesus promised that all those who believed in Him "will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon (eperchomai) you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.

All this is not to suggest that the Spirit's "coming on, descending" other saints was identical with the way He came on Mary in the incarnation. Certainly, His interaction with Mary in bringing forth the incarnation of the Son of God was unique. Only this one time, only with Mary, did the Holy Spirit act in this awesome way. The point of the foregoing is that the Spirit had also "come on" other believers to accomplish the great acts of God.

Gabriel also states that "the power of the Most High shall descend upon you."
As mentioned previously, the name "Most High" (hupsistos) refers to God Yahweh, the entire Trinity, not just to the Father alone. In some inscrutable way, God's power will "overshadow, cover" or as it is in Aramaic "descend upon" Mary in order to bring about the incarnation. The Greek verb episkiazo (overshadow, cover) is often used in connection with clouds. Significantly, during the exodus (Ex. 13:21-22; 14:19-31) and during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, Yahweh's presence to His people was manifested as a pillar of cloud by day (Deut. 1:33). We are told that, "Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses." (Ex. 33:9). Moreover, "throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel." (Ex. 40:38; Num. 9:15-16). In fact, in Exodus 40:35, we are told that, the presence of Yahweh in a cloud overshadowed (episkiazo) the tabernacle, so that Moses was not able to enter. God warned Aaron through Moses that never was he to enter the most holy place inside the veil (except for the day of atonement) "for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat." (Lev. 16:2).

When the Israelites had finished Solomon's temple, after the priests had placed the Ark of the Covenant in the holy of holies, the glory of the Lord appeared in the form of a cloud, filling the temple. (1 Kings. 8:10-11).

Finally we are told that at the transfiguration of Jesus, a cloud overshadowed (episkiazo) him and his disciples, and God the Father's voice spoke from the cloud (Luke 9:34; Mark 9:7; Mt. 17:5 - Matthew's gospel says, a "bright" cloud). This is not to suggest that such an overshadowing cloud was an ordinary water-based cloud; rather God manifested His powerful presence in a visible form that resembled a water-based cloud.

Gabriel's explanation was certainly not meant to satisfy inquiring minds (especially not inquiring "post-modern" minds). This was never intended to be a scientific explanation of the incarnation. Its intention was to declare that the incarnation would be a miracle, made possible by the action of the Holy Spirit and the power of God. Nor is there anything here that would support the silly theory that Luke is describing a divine and human mating, as in Greek mythology.

"on account of this, He who (shall be) born from you is holy, and shall be called the Son of God."
It is because of the incarnation that Mary's Child Jesus will be called the Son of God. Luke almost gives the impression that Jesus would become the Son of God when He was conceived in Mary's womb by the power of God. Many passages in the OT and NT show that this is an inaccurate understanding. Rather the incarnation involved the eternal Son of God taking to himself human nature from Mary, so as to become a new Person, a Person who was now both Son of God and man in one Person. The divine nature of Jesus existed from eternity; the human nature of Jesus did not. But when the incarnation occurred, both natures, because they were united in the one Person of Christ, shared in the qualities of the other nature. Nor did the Son of God lay aside His human nature when He rose from the dead (Jehovah's Witnesses) or when He ascended into heaven, so that the Jesus in heaven will only be the Son of God. Our Savior will be the God-man (Emmanuel) for eternity, one united nature of incarnated God.

Another false understanding of the incarnation might arise from an incorrect interpretation of passages like John 1:14 ("and the Word became flesh") and Phil. 2:6-7 ("who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.") These passages have been wrongly interpreted to mean that after the incarnation Jesus was no longer the Son of God because He "became flesh" (human) and had "emptied Himself" of His divine nature. The Word did become flesh but without giving up being the Word (God). The Philippians passage means that our Savior did not make full use of His divine nature during His earthly ministry, but He was still very much God. The very fact that Jesus accepted and did not rebuke those who confessed or questioned whether He was God or the Son of God demonstrates this:

Mark 14:61-62 - But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" And Jesus said, "I am;"

Matthew 16:16-17 - Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."

John 1:49-50 - Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel." Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these."

John 20:28-29 - Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."

Mark 3:11-12 - Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, "You are the Son of God!" And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was.

Gabriel refers to Jesus as a "holy" Child. Jesus will be holy because He will be conceived and born by the Holy Spirit, and therefore will be without sin (2 Co. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 7:26). He would be conceived and born without sin because He had no earthly father, through whose seed original sin is passed on. Jesus was human in the truly authentic sense, as God had intended, human without sin, without corruption, without the curse of death. Since Jesus had no sin, would He have aged or died if He had not been crucified. Interesting question, that! 

Luke 1:36-37 - "And behold, Elizabeth your kinswoman, She also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month to her who is called the barren." "For For nothing is difficult to God."  Job 42:2; Jer 32:17; Zech 8:6; Matt 19:26; Luke 18:27.

"And behold, Elizabeth your kinswoman"

For the first time we are told that Mary was related to Elizabeth. Elizabeth is described as συγγενής suggenes (soong-ghen-ace') which means a "female relative, a kinsman (by blood)" likewise in Aramaic ܐܚܝܢܬܟܝ, but not necessarily a cousin. The word is only used here in the NT. Though Jesus and John your relatives, it appears that, other than the meeting described in Luke 1:39-45, while both were still in their mother's wombs, the two had not met. This deduction is based on John 1:31, 33, where John says twice, "I did not recognize Him" until the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at His baptism.

"She also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month to her who is called the barren." "For For nothing is difficult to God."

As mentioned above, it is not clear whether Mary, like Zechariah, was asking for a sign when she inquired, "How shall (can) this be?" (1:34). Regardless, Gabriel gives her one. Elizabeth's wondrous conception is held before Mary as proof that God's word will be fulfilled for Mary also. "For nothing is difficult or will be impossible with God": This passage removes all doubt that Elizabeth's pregnancy is to be considered miraculous. It is miraculous both because she was in her "old age" (γήρας geras (ghay'-ras), used only here in the NT, though it is used often in the OT, (e.g. to describe Sarah's giving birth to Isaac in her old age, Gen. 21:2, 7) and because she had so long been "barren." As we have seen, signs were typically of miraculous nature. That Mary understood this to be a sign is confirmed by her hurried trip to the Zechariah and Elizabeth's home in the Judean hill country (1:39).

Nothing is too difficult, too impossible for God's power to do, to solve, or to overcome. This is the God who created the entire universe, out of nothing, who spoke His word, and so it was.

Luke 1:38 - "And Mary said, "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her."

"Behold, the handmaid of the Lord"

Mary refers to herself as a δούλη doule (dou'-lay), which is the female form of "servant" or "slave." The word means "female servant." Paul often used the masculine form (doulos) to refer to himself (e.g., Rom. 1:1). Hannah had referred to herself in the same way when beseeching God to grant her a son (1 Sam. 1:11). In all humility Mary submits herself to the Lord, as an inferior to a superior.

"be it to me according to your word."

The expression "be it to me" the word can also be translated "let it be to me as your word" Aramaic/Syriac, the sense of the whole passage is "let it happen to me exactly as you have said it will."

This is marvelous expression of faith! For by these words, Mary demonstrates that she firmly believes that what God's Word through Gabriel had told her would indeed occur. Mary's faith was of great importance to the incarnation.

Mary's faith was also a statement of willing submission to God's promise and will for her, as all statements of faith are. She willing accepted God's promise and plan for her life, including all the inconveniences and risks attached to it. These inconveniences included the possibility that Joseph would divorce her, that her reputation would be destroyed, etc… Even given all this potential personal loss, Mary willingly submits in faith to God's Word and plan. There is risk in agreeing to go God's way, but as the Lord's servant, she willingly goes, this is a model of faithful servant of God and good example to us as faithful Christian.