Luke 1:26 Gabriel Visits Mary - For The Glory of Jesus

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Gabriel Visits Mary

Gabriel appeared to Mary telling her that she would have a child. The child was to be named Jesus.

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26. “Six months after the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias, he appears to Mary.” (McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume IV: [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983], 246)

27. “The Scripture makes it clear that the Lord Jesus Christ was virgin born.” (McGee, 247)

“In the past attempts have been made to explain the origin of the virgin birth story by proposing that the early church borrowed mythical material from pagan sources. Yet it is clear today that one cannot explain the virgin birth traditions as originating from pagan sources.” (Stein, H. Robert, The New American Commentary Volume 24, Luke. [Broadman Press, 1996], 81)

The virgin birth was foretold in Isaiah 7:14.

“The Holy Spirit wrought the conception through supernatural means.” (MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Bible Commentary. [Nashville, Thomas Nelson Inc., 2005], 1272)

Mary’s Reaction

28. “‘Hail’ was a normal form of address in the NT and the Greek world.” (Stein, 82)

Mary “had not been chosen for this task because she possessed a particular piety or holiness of life that merited this privilege. The text suggests no special worthiness on Mary’s part.” (Stein, 82)

Highly Favored [KJV] “Lit. “‘full of grace’—a term used of all believers in Ephesians 1:6, where it is translated ‘accepted.’ This portrays Mary as a recipient, not a dispenser, of divine grace.” (MacArthur, 1272)

29. “Mary was troubled at the saying of the angel…Believe me, friends, when you have seen an angel, you have a right to be afraid. I think I would be afraid if I saw one.” (McGee, 247)

30. Do not be afraid. [NKJV] “This parallels 1:13.” (Stein, 83)

You have found favor with God. [NKJV]. “Here as in Judges 6:17; 2 Samuel 15:25 (cf. 1 Samuel 1:18) the issue is God’s gracious choice, not Mary’s particular piety (cf. Genesis 6:8); for unlike Luke 1:6, nothing is made of Mary’s personal piety either before or after this verse. The emphasis is on God’s sovereign choice, not on human acceptability.” (Stein, 83)

Messiah

31. “Gabriel then gave her the good news: she would become the mother of the promised Messiah whom she would name Jesus (‘Jehovah is salvation’ see Matthew 1:21).” (Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Volume 1 Matthew-Galatians. [Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2004], 172) Isaiah 9:6

32. “Note that Gabriel affirmed both the deity and the humanity of Jesus. As Mary’s son, He would be human; as the Son of the Highest, He would be the Son of God (Luke 1:35).” (Wiersbe, 172)

“The emphasis is on the greatness of the Son (Luke 1:15), not the greatness of the mother.” (Wiersbe, 172)

“Since a son bears his father’s qualities, calling a person someone else’s ‘son’ was a way of signifying equality. Here the angel was telling Mary that her Son would be equal to the Most High God.” (MacArthur, 1272)

33. “This emphasizes both the Jewish character of the millennial kingdom and the eternal permanence of Christ’s rule over all.” (Isaiah 9:7; Daniel 2:44) (MacArthur, 1273)

Conception

34. I know not a man [KJV] “Mary understood that the angel was speaking of an immediate conception, and she and Joseph were still in the midst of the long betrothal, or engagement period (Matthew 1:18), before the actual marriage and consummation.” (MacArthur, 1273)

“Her question borne out of wonder, not doubt, nor disbelief, so the angel did not rebuke her has he had Zacharias (v. 20).” (MacArthur, 1273)

35. “No man had anything to do with the birth of Jesus Christ. We are told in the Book of Leviticus that the birth of a child caused a woman to be unclean because she brought a sinner into the world. Mary is told that she is not bringing a sinner into the world; He is Holy.” (McGee, 247)

Elizabeth

36. “It seems most reasonable to regard the genealogy of 3:23-38 as Mary’s. This would make her a direct descendant of David. Yet, Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron. Therefore, Mary must have been related to Elizabeth through her mother, who would have been of Aaronic descent. Thus, Mary was a descendant of David through her father.” (MacArthur, 1273)

37. “Compare Genesis 18:14, where the same expression is found; cf. also, Matthew 19:26; Job 42:2; Zechariah 8:6 for the same thought. This refers primarily to Mary’s conceiving as a virgin, but is also alludes to Elizabeth’s conceiving referred to in the previous verse.” (Stein, 86)

38. “Mary was in an extremely embarrassing and difficult position. Betrothed to Joseph, she faced the stigma of unwed motherhood. Joseph would obviously have known that the child was not his.” (MacArthur, 1274)

“Mary’s believing response was to surrender herself to God as His willing servant…A ‘handmaid’ was the lowest kind of female servant, which shows how much Mary trusted God.” (Wiersbe, 173)

References

In this article Scripture quotations taken from KJV.

Stein, H. Robert, The New American Commentary Volume 24, Luke. Broadman Press, 1996
McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume IV: Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983
MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Bible Commentary. Nashville, Thomas Nelson Inc., 2005
Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Volume 1 Matthew-Galatians. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2004

Announcing John the Baptist Mary Visits Elizabeth

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