Luke 1:26-38

Mary Receives the Promise that She Will Bear the Messiah and She Responds In Willing Obedience (1:26-38).

These verses represent a unit in themselves, being connected with what precedes by the reference to the sixth month. It is arranged as a chiasmus around the central question as to how this wonderful thing could be when the chosen woman, Mary, had had no sexual relations with a man. This emphasises the fact that the One Who came, came directly from God through Mary. (We should note that the aim of this passage is not specifically to teach ‘the virgin birth’, for that puts too much emphasis on Mary. Mary is kept in the background as far as possible. It is to teach the birth into the world of One Who was the unique Son of God, and not therefore conceived as a result of the seed of a human father).

The name Mary (Mariam, Maria) is the same as Miriam and is a common name, possibly meaning ‘exalted one’.

The passage can be analysed as follows:

a The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary, and he came in to her,

b And he said, “Hail, you who are highly favoured, the Lord is with you.”

c But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God, and behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and will call his name JESUS”.

d

“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,

And he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever,

And of his kingdom there will be no end.”

e And Mary said to the angel, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?”

d ‘And the angel answered and said to her,

“The Holy Spirit will come on you,

And the power of the Most High will overshadow you,

For which reason also the holy thing which is begotten

Shall be called the Son of God.”

c “And behold, Elisabeth your kinswoman, she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For no word from God shall be void of power.”

b And Mary said, “Behold, the slavegirl of the Lord. Be it to me according to your word.”

a And the angel departed from her.

Note how in ‘a’ the angel comes to her, while in the parallel he departs from her. In ‘b’ he hails her as highly favoured, and in the parallel she responds in humble submission. He has favoured her, she is His slave. In ‘c’ she is assured that she will conceive and bring forth a son, and in the parallel she learns that Elizabeth has conceived and brought forth a son. Note how by means of the parallel the ‘no word from God shall be devoid of power’ speaks as much to Mary’s situation as Elizabeth’s. In ‘d’ we have the angel’s annunciation of Who is to be born, opening with His being ‘called the Son of the Most High’, and in the parallel we are told how it is to be so, closing with the reference to His being ‘called the Son of God’. These two statements surround the central pivot of the chiasmus, which is itself a question, bringing out their importance. And central to it all, with great emphasis placed on it, is the question that would be asked by all. How could this be as she had had no sexual relations with a man? And the answer will be, because of the supernatural activity of God in a way unknown before or since.

We should note that the emphasis is not on the virgin birth as such, but on the activity of God through a virgin. However, that birth from a pure virgin is being declared is undoubted. Her purity and untouched state is seen as necessary for what has been promised and what follows. It has to be made clear that God’s divine activity will take place through a pure and untouched source. The ‘otherness’ of Jesus has to be made clear.