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31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He 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, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. ~ Luke 1:31-38
God chose to come to earth to solve mankind's sin problem through the womb of a virgin. The Lord Jesus is the Son of God, not the son of Joseph. And, as a result, He is divine as God’s Son, and human as Mary’s son. Throughout the Old Testament God gave promise after promise pointing anyone with ears to hear to the day when a son of David would come, a king, an heir to the throne. In v.31 Gabriel directed Mary to name her child Jesus which means "YHWH is savior, deliverer or rescuer."
The first thing Luke wants Theophilus to know about the Lord Jesus in v.32 is that "He will be great." Luke sets out in this gospel to present a new view of greatness. In Luke 9:48 we learn from the Lord Jesus that, "He who is least among you all is the one who is great." Luke is telling Theophilus that this Jesus is going to be great, now learn greatness from Him. But be forewarned that His definition of greatness is quite different than ours.
The second thing Gabriel tells Theophilus about the Lord Jesus is that "He will be called Son of the Most High." This means that when God entered the universe, the person He became was both divine and human. The king who rules the world is not just the king of Israel as the son of David, He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords as the Son of God. To have this king as our king is to rest under His sovereign care.
At the end of v.32, we read, "The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David." This means the Lord Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the king of Israel. The Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy to David found in 2 Samuel 7:14 where God promises that the offspring of David would be His son.
In v.33, we read, “and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” The king of Israel, who is also king of the universe, will never be replaced. His kingdom is forever. Therefore, salvation and His protection of our lives are forever.
In v.34, Mary expresses her difficulty with understanding the words of Gabriel by saying, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" Even though we struggle to understand God and His ways, it was through the virgin birth that God chose to demonstrate His sovereignty to mankind. According to Matthew 1:25, Mary and Joseph had no sexual relations until after Jesus was born. Joseph's desire to put Mary away proves this, as well. And, even Joseph had difficulty making sense of this plan.
Instead of the normal means of conception, the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and the power of the Most High overshadowed her and the greatest event in the history of mankind happened: God became a man and man played no role in it. He couldn't because we were the ones in need of His salvation. The Lord Jesus is God's Son, begotten by God and come to earth to redeem man by His perfect life and death on the cross.
In v.35, we read, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." The unique sonship of the Lord Jesus comes from the fatherly agency of the Holy Spirit in His conception. God, not Joseph, was His only father, whose nature He shares. And, because of His divinity, the Lord Jesus dealt a death blow to death itself, making it possible for us to know His eternal life.
In v.36, Gabriel encourages Mary with news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. God is not just doing a miracle through Mary, He is doing something extraordinary in the womb of a barren woman. God always does what He says He will do, even if what He says He will do seems preposterous. Barren woman who are at least sixty years old, do not become pregnant. And, virgins do not become pregnant without human relations. But, with God, all good things are possible.
In v.37 we are reminded that "no word of God will ever fail." Nothing can thwart the will of God. Perhaps Mary knew that this had been prophesied in Isaiah 7:14 where we read, "A virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and you shall call His name Immanuel, God with us." How much more explicit could God be some seven hundred years beforehand. Although Luke does not refer to Isaiah's prophecy, Matthew does in his account.
In v.38, Mary's response is of one who has come to understand the sovereignty of God. Mary says, “I am the Lord’s servant.” The servant of the Lord will always make himself available to the One who makes possible the impossible. As a result, Mary suffered acute embarrassment before all. No doubt, suspicious neighbors in Nazareth questioned her and refused to believe her honest answers. There are times when we bow our will to God that we experience humiliation before those who themselves have not yet submitted to the will of God.
Finally, ever since Adam and Eve had chosen to eat of the forbidden tree in order to be like God, independent of Him and wise in their own right, the human race has been enslaved to a rebellious heart that hates to rely on God but loves to make a name for itself. However, when we enter into a personal relationship with God through His Son, we are realigned with God's goal in creating us in the first place: that we might show forth His glory to others. It is in this context that we realize our greatest joy.
