Luke 1:26–33 (ESV)
Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month
the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one,
the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive
in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom
there will be no end.”
We just found out yesterday that Elizabeth is pregnant with John. She is six months pregnant when the angel Gabriel was sent to Nazareth to tell Mary that she was going to have a baby. Elizabeth was barren
and old in age, probably meaning that she had gone through menopause. For Mary, it is not that she is old that makes it a miracle, but the fact that she is a virgin. Both fall in the miracle category, but Mary’s will fulfill prophecy due to the
virgin birth. A lot of details are given to help establish this as a fulfillment: “angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And
the virgin’s name was Mary.” Mary was “greatly troubled” or what the angel Gabriel had to say. I probably would be troubled if I had an angel speaking to me as I would be trying to verify is this a good angel or
a bad angel. Gabriel says “Do not be afraid, Mary, “for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his Jesus.” I would be scared too, so it would be
comforting to hear the angel saying “Do not be afraid.” It is interesting that God named John and Jesus. He told the angels what to say. Also, the kingship is established prophesied by the angel by saying: “32
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” This kingship is correct,
but greatly misunderstood. The Gospel in all this is that it is God who is at work and making this all happen, for your benefit. I pray: Lord, I know that I sin daily and I repent of my sins. Help me in my daily walk to keep my eyes focused
on you and your kingdom. I know that your kingdom is not of this world, help me to stay focused even when I don’t understand all that you do for me. Amen.