The Annunciation of Jesus’ Birth

July 23, 2023 – Luke 1:26-38 – The Annunciation of Jesus’ Birth

After telling how the angel Gabriel announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias and Elizabeth, Luke now describes how this same angel announced the birth of Jesus to Mary. Look at verses 26 and 27…

26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by 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. The virgin’s name was Mary.

Notice six details that are written in these two verses. First, notice the timing of Gabriel’s visit. He appeared to Mary when Elizabeth was six months pregnant, so this wasn’t very long after Gabriel had visited Zacharias.

Second, notice the authority Gabriel carries. Verse 26 says that “the angel Gabriel was sent by God.” We shouldn’t think of Gabriel’s words, therefore, as anything less than the authoritative word God. God told Gabriel what to speak, so Gabriel has been vested with the authority of God.

Third, notice the place where Gabriel was sent. God sent him to “a city of Galilee named Nazareth.” Galilee was the region; Nazareth was the city. So this is like saying that God sent Gabriel to a city of Sacramento County named Elk Grove.

Fourth, notice the person Gabriel was sent to. Verse 27 says he was sent a woman named Mary.

Fifth, notice that Mary was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. Betrothal was similar to what we call “engagement,” only it was much more binding. When a man and woman became betrothed, they still lived independent from each other until the day they were married, but the betrothal agreement was so binding that separation could be effected only by death or divorce.

And sixth, notice that Mary is a virgin. Not only does verse 27 establish this point, but it’s repeated again in verse 34.

These six details are necessary for us to make sense of what follows. Some of these details may seem insignificant at first, but they’re important for us to understand the narrative of our sermon text. For example, look at the beginning of verse 28 and notice how Gabriel entered Mary’s home. He simply entered in. He didn’t knock on the door. He didn’t ask permission to come in. Nor did he receive any kind of an invitation from Mary. Gabriel simply entered Mary’s home and began speaking to her. He said, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” And how did Mary respond to this intrusion into her privacy? Verse 29…

But when [Mary] saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.

Ask yourself, what gives Gabriel the right to barge into people’s homes and invade their privacy? Well, it’s because Gabriel has been vested with the authority of God. This is one of those six details that Luke laid out in verses 26 and 27. Gabriel was on a mission from God. He was sent at this specific time, to this specific place, to this specific woman, to speak a specific message from the Lord. So without any invitation or consent from Mary, Gabriel did what the Lord told him to do.

This is an example of the Lord’s sovereign election. Children, if you don’t know what sovereign election means, let me explain it to you. The word “sovereign” means having supreme power or authority. So when we speak of God being sovereign, we’re saying that God has absolute power, authority, and control over all aspects of creation. We’re saying that God is the supreme ruler and independently determines everything that happens in the universe.

And when we speak of the Lord’s election, we’re talking about the Lord chooses certain individuals to be the recipients of His grace. Out of the whole human race, God chooses certain individuals to be recipients of His grace and certain individuals to be the recipients of His justice. This is election, and God’s is according to the free purpose of His will. In other words, His election is sovereign. God has the supreme power and authority to say, “I’m going to give My grace to this person and that person, but not to these other people.”

Now, let me take this one step further. God’s sovereign election not only determines who receive His grace, but it’s also determined the measure of grace a person receives. In other words, not every receives the same measure of grace. In saying this, I need to be very careful to qualify what I’m actually saying, because we can easily become confused or misled on this matter. When God elects a sinner to salvation, He liberally gives of His grace to accomplish that person’s full and complete justification. We never want to suggest that some Christians are more justified than others. No, when God declares a person to be righteous in Christ, then that person is 100% righteous in Christ. Every Christian enjoys this same status.

Yet when it comes to the callings and giftings we receive from the Lord, He doesn’t always give the same measure of grace. Ephesians 4:7 says, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” And in the following verses, it becomes clear that the “grace” being written about pertains to one’s calling and gifting, because it goes on to say that God has given some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, and so on.

Likewise, in 1 Corinthians 12, in the context of describing different gifts of the Spirit, verse 11 says…

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

So when I say that Gabriel’s abrupt intrusion into Mary’s privacy is an example of the Lord’s sovereign election, I’m saying a couple different things. [1] I’m saying because the Lord is sovereign, He doesn’t need Mary’s permission to enter into the private affairs of Mary’s life. God has the power and authority to do what He wills with her. [2] And I’m saying that because of the Lord’s election, He had chosen, according to the free purpose of His will, to give grace to Mary. [3] And what Gabriel is revealing in his greeting to Mary, is that God has chosen to give an uncommonly high measure of grace to Mary. In his greeting, Gabriel describes Mary as being “highly favored.” The literal translation of the word in verse 28 is “much graced.” Gabriel is telling Mary that she is a woman who is much graced of God.

And notice Mary’s response to Gabriel. Verse 29 says that she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Normally, when read in the Scriptures of an angel appearing to a human, the human’s response it to be frightened. And then the angel always says, “Do not be afraid.” That happens here with Gabriel and Mary, as well. In verse 30, Gabriel says to Mary, “Do not be afraid.” So it’s apparent that Mary was frightened when Gabriel made a sudden appearance in her home, but our sermon text doesn’t focus on that part of Mary’s reaction. Rather, it focuses on her bewilderment that Gabriel addressed her as a woman who is ”much graced” by the Lord. She was trying to make sense of what he meant when he said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

It’s good and proper that we join with Mary in contemplating what manner of greeting this is because Gabriel’s greeting has been the subject of much controversy in the history of the church. As you’re probably aware, the Roman Catholic Church has a prayer which is called the “Hail Mary.” This prayer begins, “Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” As you can probably detect, these first two parts of the Hail Mary prayer are taken from Scripture. The first part comes from Luke 1:28, which is Gabriel’s greeting to Mary, and the second part comes from Luke 1:42, which is Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary.

Some of the controversy over the Hail Mary prayer has to do with how it’s used in Roman Catholicism. Because it’s part of the Rosary, Catholics are taught to pray this prayer repetitively. Each time they pray through the Rosary, they’ll pray the Hail Mary prayer 53 times. Protestants “protest” against this practice, citing Jesus’ instruction in the Sermon on the Mount as prohibiting this as vain repetition. Jesus said Matthew 6:7…

And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

But beyond the controversy concerning vain repetitions is a controversy over the translation of Luke 1:28. Many Catholic translators render Gabriel’s greeting differently than Protestant translators do. If you look at verse 28, your Bible probably has Gabriel referring to Mary as “highly favored one,” or just, “favored one.” But Catholic translators have Gabriel referring to Mary as, “full of grace.” Theologically, there’s a big difference between being “highly favored” and being “full of grace.” To be “highly favored” means Mary is a woman whom God has given an uncommon measure of grace to. But for Mary to be “full of grace,” as Roman Catholicism teaches, is for Mary to have always been in a state of sinlessness. This is exactly how Pope Francis explained it in a homily he delivered in 2017 at a feast held in honor of the Virgin Mary. He said…

Today we are contemplating the beauty of Mary Immaculate. The Gospel, which recounts the episode of the Annunciation, helps us to understand what we are celebrating, above all through the Angel’s greeting. He addresses Mary with a word that is not easy to translate, which means “filled with grace”, “created by grace”, “full of grace” (Lk 1:28). Before calling her ‘Mary’, he calls her full of grace, and thus reveals the new name that God has given her and which is more becoming to her than the name given to her by her parents. We too call her in this way, with each Hail Mary. What does full of grace mean? That Mary is filled with the presence of God. And if she is entirely inhabited by God, there is no room within her for sin. It is an extraordinary thing, because everything in the world, regrettably, is contaminated by evil. Each of us, looking within ourselves, sees dark sides. Even the greatest saints were sinners and everything in reality, even the most beautiful things, are corroded by evil: everything, except Mary. She is the one “evergreen oasis” of humanity, the only one uncontaminated, created immaculate so as to fully welcome, with her ‘yes’, God who came into the world and thus to begin a new history. Each time we acknowledge her as full of grace, we give her the greatest compliment, the same one God had given her. (The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Saint Peter's Square, December 8, 2017)

You’ll notice that Pope Francis acknowledged that the questionable word in Gabriel’s greeting is “not easy to translate.” Pope Francis said, “[Gabriel] addresses Mary with a word that is not easy to translate, which means ‘filled with grace’, ‘created by grace’, ‘full of grace’ (Lk 1:28).”

Let me just say that sometimes Greek words are difficult to translate because there’s not an equivalent word or phrase in the English language, but other times words are difficult to translate because the translator has a preconceived notion of what he wants a text to say, but the actual words in that text don’t accommodate the desired meaning. So, yes, it’s not easy to make a word say what the translator wants it to say when the actual meaning of the word says something else.

That’s what Roman Catholicism has done with Gabriel’s greeting to Mary. He addresses her as “highly favored,” not as “full of grace.” The difference is between a sinful person who, according to the sovereign election of God, has received an uncommon measure of grace, or a sinless person who is so full of grace that she functions are an intercessor for people.

By the 12th century AD, the Hail Mary prayer was in widespread use within the Roman Catholic Church. But understand that in the 12th century, the prayer only consisted of those two quotations from Luke 1:28 and 1:42. As heresies concerning the person and work of Mary continued to evolve, however, the Hail Mary prayer was expanded. By the sixteenth century, it included a petition for Mary to make intercession on behalf of the person praying. This is the form Catholics still use today. When they pray the Hail Mary, they pray the two quotations from Luke 1, and then they conclude with, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

I hope you can see, brothers and sisters, that there are some serious errors—heresies, in fact—that exist within the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings on the person and work of Mary. The Protestant reformers of the 16th century rightly discerned that Rome was practicing “Mariolatry,” that is, the idolatrous worship of Mary. And much of this Mariolatry developed from a bad translation of Gabriel’s greeting in Luke 1:28. Gabriel is not saying that Mary is “full of grace,” rather, he’s declaring that she has received special favor from God. And what exactly is that special favor? That’s the question Mary was asking herself. This is what she was pondering when she was trying to discern the manner of Gabriel’s greeting. So Gabriel gave her the information she was searching for. Verse 31…

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give 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.”

In short, Gabriel is telling Mary that she’s going to give birth to the Messiah. For 4,000 years, women had been hoping that they would give birth to the Messiah. Ever since the Garden of Eden, where God first prophesied that the Seed of the Woman who would crush the head the serpent, women had been longing for the privilege to bear the promised Messiah. It’s probable that Eve, when she gave birth Cain in Genesis 4:1, mistakenly thought that she had given birth to the Seed. Her exclamation that she had acquired a man from the LORD is understood by some biblical scholars to be a celebration that the prophesy God made in the garden had been fulfilled.

So for 4,000 years, godly women had been hoping for the privilege of bearing the Messiah into this world. And now, Mary is being told by an angel who’s speaking with the authority of God that she is going to bear the Messiah into this world. That is the manner of the Gabriel’s greeting. That is what he was referring to when he declared that Mary is highly favored by God.

Sometimes, receiving an answer to a question elicits more questions. That was certainly the case with Mary. She went from wondering why Gabriel was saying she’s highly favored of God, to wondering how she can be the mother of a child… because Mary understood where babies come from… and she knew that she had not been with a man… so she’s trying to piece this mystery together in her finite mind. Look at her response in verse 34…

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

Mary’s response does not indicate a lack of faith. Zacharias’ response indicated a lack of faith. When he was told that Elizabeth was going to bear a son, his response was, “How shall I know this?” Zacharias was basically saying to Gabriel, “You say that my wife is going to bear a child, but how can I know that what you’re saying is really true?” Mary wasn’t challenging the truth of what Gabriel had just told her. She accepted what he told her, but she was confused how it would happen. So she asked for clarification. She asked, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

Gabriel explained in verse 35…

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

The term “overshadow” may not be a word you’re familiar with. If I asked you to explain what it means to be “overshadowed,” you might be challenged to provide an answer you’re confident in. But know that this is the same term that Luke uses to describe the cloud that descended upon the mount of transfiguration. While Peter was suggesting that they could make three tabernacles on top of the mountain, we read in Luke 9:34 that a cloud came and “overshadowed” them. It’s the same word. A cloud descended upon the mount of transfiguration and “overshadowed” them.

We don’t have much of a problem making the connection between the cloud on the mount of transfiguration and the glory cloud that appeared in the Old Testament. We read about the glory could appearing (1) in the wilderness, (2) on Mt Sinai, (3) in the most holy place of the tabernacle, (4) at the dedication of the first temple, and so forth. We know from these Old Testament incidents that the glory cloud represents God’s presence with His people. And so when the glory cloud descended upon the mount of transfiguration, we interpret this in the same way: God was making His presence known in a special way. And this interpretation is immediately confirmed in Luke 9:35, which says a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”

So the “overshadowing” that’s being described to Mary is Gabriel’s way of telling her that God is going to be present with her in a special way. This is not intended to be a scientific explanation of how Mary is going to conceive; it’s simply a way of telling her that the Spirit of God is going to work a miracle in her body so she’ll conceive without the involvement of a man. We’re not told, so we can only speculate, but I think it’s quite probable that when God performed this miracle in Mary, the glory cloud would have appeared and covered her body. That would be consistent with every other incident recorded in the Scriptures when God overshadowed someone or something. Why is Gabriel underscoring this point to Mary? And why is Luke emphasizing this as an important part of the narrative in our sermon text? Because the virgin birth of Jesus is essential to the purpose of His incarnation.

There are many professing Christians today who are willing to write off the virgin birth of Jesus as a myth. They say that it’s not scientifically possible for a virgin to conceive, so they dismiss what the Bible about the miraculous conception of Jesus says as a myth. But that’s a tragedy, not only because it’s not taking the Bible seriously, and not only because it’s not taking the miraculous power of God seriously, but because it has theological implications that undermine the purpose of Jesus’ incarnation. Let me give you three reasons why it was necessary for Jesus to be born of a virgin.

The first is so that He’s not involved in Adam’s guilt. Adam was not a mere individual, but he was the federal head and representative of all his posterity. So when Adam violated the covenant which God had made with him, he brought a curse, not only on himself, but also upon all his descendants. If Jesus had descended from Adam in the natural way of a man and woman coming together to make a child, then Jesus would have been conceived under the same sentence of condemnation that everyone else who descended from Adam is under. Instead of becoming a deliverer to others, He would have needed a deliverer for Himself. But because Jesus did not have a human father, He escaped the being involved with Adam’s guilt.

The second reason it was necessary for Jesus to be born of a virgin is so that He didn’t partake in Adam’s corruption. This is related to the first reason, but sufficiently different to warrant a separate explanation. Whereas the first reason had to do with inheriting Adam’s guilt, this second reason has to do with inheriting Adam’s corrupted human nature. You see, when Adam fell, not only did he fall under the condemnation of his sin, but the depravity of sin corrupted every member of his body, including every faculty of his mind and soul. And we are told in Genesis 5 that “Adam begot sons in his own likeness.” So he didn’t begot sons in the likeness of God, as Adam was when he was created, but he begot sons in his own likeness as a fallen creature. Stark evidence of this truth can be seen in Adam’s very first offspring. Cain grew in his hatred of Abel, and eventually murdered him.

So the first reason Jesus needed to be born of a virgin has to do with His legal standing. It was necessary that He didn’t share in Adam’s guilt. The second reason has to do with Jesus’ ability to walk in obedience to the Lord. It was necessary that He didn’t receive a corruption human nature that was in bondage to sin.

The third reason is that the plan of salvation might be fulfilled in Him. As we’ve already noted, the very first promise which announced His future birth identified him exclusively as “the Seed of the woman.” We may not have understood the importance of this designation if other prophecies had not thrown greater light on it, but Isaiah 7:14 very clearly says that “the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” And we’re assured in Matthew 1:22-23 that this Isaiah passages has an exact and literal fulfillment in the birth of Jesus…

22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

So Jesus needed to be born of a virgin because that’s what the Scriptures prophesied of Him. Imagine how this announcement from Gabriel was landing upon Mary’s heart and mind. She just learned that she’s going to conceive a son through the power of the Holy Spirit. And she just learned that this is going to happen before she’s married to Joseph! If Elizabeth thought that she was reproached among the people because she was barren, consider the reproach Mary was about to experience by being pregnant out of wedlock!

It’s not very difficult to imagine what a woman of lesser faith might have done in that same situation. She would probably say to Gabriel, “You want me to do what!?! What do you think my fiancé is going to say about this? Do you really think he’s going to believe me when I tell him that I’m pregnant because a glory cloud descended upon me? And even if he does believe me, what will the people in the community think? What will my friends think? People are going to say terrible things about me. They’re going to whisper behind my back, speculating who the father of my baby is. Is this what you’re calling “highly favored”? Does God really want my reputation to suffer? Does He really want me to have to endure this type of reproach?”

But Mary’s response is nothing like this. That’s because she’s a woman of strong faith, and people of strong faith are aware that their personal comfort is not as important as their personal obedience to God, and their approval from man is not as important as their approval from God. So Mary was willing to trust that the Lord will work out all the details. And she was will to truth that His grace will be sufficient for getting her through whatever challenges and difficulties may lie in the immediate or distant future. And so she says to Gabriel in verse 38…

“Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

Brothers and sisters, Mary’s response was a response of faith. From beginning to end, she was believing what God was telling to her through the angel Gabriel and she was trusting that His plan will bring the Messiah into the world. Yet, this doesn’t mean that it was an easy response for Mary. It must have taken a lot of courage in the face of fear, and trust in the face of what was still unknown. In this regard, we should notice how graciously Gabriel was at encouraging Mary to make the right decision. Before letting her make her reply, Gabriel told Mary two pieces of truth that were intended to embolden her faith.

First, he told her that her aunt Elizabeth had conceived a child in her old age. Mary wouldn’t have known that because Luke 1:24 informs us that Elizabeth had hidden herself in her home ever since she discovered she was pregnant. The point Gabriel was making is that the same Spirit that was going to accomplish a miracle in Mary’s body had already accomplished a miracle in Elizabeth’s body.

And second, Gabriel reminds Mary of a very important truth about God. He says in verse 37, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” As we see Gabriel’s gracious treatment of Mary in our sermon text, we should recognize that this is God’s customary manner of dealing with us in our weakness. The Lord regularly and routinely reminds us that our lives are not about our doing, but about His doing. Yes, there are all sorts of things that are outside of our control. Yes, there are all sorts of things our enemies can do to us. Yes, there are all sorts of things that can go wrong if that future depended on us. But these things have not been left to us. These things were never in our control in the past, they’re not in our control in the present, and they won’t be in our control in the future. This is because they’re in God’s control.

Remember the meaning of the word sovereign? God is sovereign, which means He has supreme power and authority. There is nothing in all of creation that’s able to prevent God from doing what He has determined to do. Which is why Gabriel is able to say with confidence, “With God nothing will be impossible.”

Do you believe this, brothers and sisters? I’m not asking if you mentally consent to the statement as a theoretical principle, I’m asking if you believe in the depths of your soul that nothing is impossible for God. I’m asking if you believe this to the degree that it makes a difference in the plans and decisions you make each day. I’m asking if your Christian walk is impacted and directed by the truth that God is sovereign over all creation.

You’ve heard of the butterfly effect? The butterfly effect is the idea that small, seemingly trivial events will ultimately result in much larger consequences. It’s said that when a butterfly flaps its wings in India, that tiny change in air pressure will eventually cause a tornado in Iowa. So do you believe that God is sovereign over the butterflies? Do you believe that He exercises power and authority over the butterflies so that tornadoes develop wherever and whenever the Lord desires them to?

To really believe that nothing is impossible for God is an aid to your inward peace. Questions and doubts about situations in your life will often arise in your mind. Our faith is often very feeble. Our knowledge is often clouded with the unknown. But an antidote to our doubting, worrying, and anxiety is a sure conviction in the supreme power and authority of God. With Him who spoke the world into being and formed it out of nothing, everything is possible.

There is no sin too heinous to be pardoned. The blood of Christ cleanses from all sin.

There is no heart too hard and wicked to be changed. The heart of stone can be made a heart of flesh.

There is no work too hard for the Christian to do. We may do all things through Christ strengthening us.

There is no trial too difficult to endure. The grace of God is sufficient for you.

There is no promise too great to be fulfilled. Christ’s words never pass away, and what He has promised He is able to perform.

And there is no difficulty too great for you to overcome. If God is for us, who shall be against us?

4 Every valley shall be exalted

And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough places smooth;

5 The glory of the LORD shall be revealed,

And all flesh shall see it together;

For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:4-5)

And old-time preacher said that faith never rests so calmly and peacefully as when it lays its head on the pillow of God’s sovereignty. May you experience the comfort of that pillow, brothers and sisters. And may your sleep be sweet. Amen.