Luke 1:26-38 · Read 4 min · think and write 15 min
Luke’s Gospel begins with an old couple: a priest named Zacharias, who “had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth” (Luke 1:5). “But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years” (Luke 1:7). Later, “Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she hid herself five months” (Luke 1:24).
This lesson reads what happened in the sixth month.
26Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”
29But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be.
30The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and shall name him ‘Jesus.’
32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”
34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”
35The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.
36Behold, Elizabeth your relative also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”
38Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
The sixth month. “Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth” (v. 26). He was sent “to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary” (v. 27). The passage introduces her first as a virgin, then as pledged to Joseph, and only last by her name.
Greatly troubled. “Having come in, the angel said to her, ‘Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!’” (v. 28). “But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be” (v. 29). The passage records two responses: she was greatly troubled, and she considered.
Don’t be afraid. “The angel said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God’” (v. 30). Then the angel spoke of the child: “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and shall name him ‘Jesus’” (v. 31); “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David” (v. 32); “There will be no end to his Kingdom” (v. 33).
How can this be? “Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?’” (v. 34). She asked the question that was in her heart. The angel answered her: “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God” (v. 35).
Nothing is impossible. The angel went on to speak of her relative: “Behold, Elizabeth your relative also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren” (v. 36). “For nothing spoken by God is impossible” (v. 37).
According to your word. “Mary said, ‘Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word’” (v. 38). After that the passage has only one line: “Then the angel departed from her” (v. 38).
Afterwards. “Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste” (Luke 1:39), to see Elizabeth. The next lesson reads the day they met.
Long before, at the door of Abraham’s tent, when Sarah was well past the age of bearing children, the LORD said: “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Gen 18:14). This is in Abraham, Lesson 4.
Readers can see this: what the angel said to Mary was, “For nothing spoken by God is impossible” (v. 37).
Perhaps there is something in front of you that you do not understand: news that suddenly changed your plans, a burden you never asked for and do not know how to carry, something you are still ‘considering’.
This lesson does not say that good believers never have questions when they hear God’s word; nor does it say that you have not obeyed until you can say ‘let it be done to me’ at once. What it shows you is this: when Mary heard, “she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered” (v. 29); she asked, “How can this be?” (v. 34), and the angel answered her (vv. 35–37); then she said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word” (v. 38).
This week: Think of one thing you do not understand right now. This week, tell God about it honestly every day; where you do not understand, ask, as Mary did in verse 34. If you like, write down one sentence you want to say to God.
Scripture: World English Bible.