Now
in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be. The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and give birth to a son, and will call his name ‘Jesus.’
Luke 1:26-31
Luke 1 [21.] The people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marveled that he delayed in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple. He continued making signs to them, and remained mute. When the days of his service were fulfilled, he departed to his house. After these days Elizabeth, his wife, conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying, “Thus has the Lord done to me in the days in which he looked at me, to take away my reproach among men.”
Luke 1 [26.] Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”
Luke 1 [29.] But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be. The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and give birth to a son, and will call his name ‘Jesus.’ 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”
Luke 1 [34.] Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”
Meaning:
Six months earlier the angel Gabriel had appeared to the priest Zacharias in the temple at Jerusalem to announce the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-25). Now the same angel is sent to a young woman in an obscure village in Galilee. Luke sets the two announcements side by side. Zacharias was an old priest in the holy place; Mary was a young, unknown girl in a despised region. God’s greatest work began in the humblest setting. Matthew tells the same events from Joseph’s side (Matthew 1:18-20); Luke tells them from Mary’s.
- “in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God”
The sixth month refers to Elizabeth’s pregnancy (see Luke 1:36). Gabriel is one of only two angels named in the Bible. He had come to Daniel “about the time of the evening offering” to explain the prophecy of the seventy weeks, which looked forward to the coming of the Anointed One (Daniel 9:21). His appearance signals that those ancient promises are about to be fulfilled.
- “to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth”
Nazareth was a small farming village, never mentioned in the Old Testament. Later Nathanael would ask, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Galilee itself was looked down on by many in Judea because of its mixed population. Yet God chose this place to raise his Son, and Jesus would be known as “Jesus of Nazareth” (Matthew 2:23).
- “to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house”
Luke twice calls Mary a virgin. In Jewish custom a betrothal was a binding agreement, usually made when the girl was in her early teens. It lasted about a year before the wedding, and could only be broken by divorce, yet the couple did not live together during that time. Joseph belonged to the royal family of David. Through Joseph, Jesus would be the legal heir of David’s line, the line to which God had promised, “Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you” (2 Samuel 7:16). The virgin birth fulfils Isaiah’s sign: “Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
- “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you.”
The greeting means that Mary has received grace. She is “favored” not because she earned it, but because God freely chose to show her kindness. The words “The Lord is with you” echo the angel’s greeting to Gideon: “Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Judges 6:12). When God says he is with someone, he is usually about to give them a task that is beyond their own strength.
- “she was greatly troubled at the saying”
Mary was not troubled by the sight of the angel so much as by his words. She was a humble girl, and she wondered why such a greeting should be given to her. The angel answered her fear first: “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Throughout Luke’s birth stories, heaven’s first word to frightened people is “Don’t be afraid” (see also Luke 2:9 and Luke 2:10).
- “you will conceive in your womb, and give birth to a son, and will call his name ‘Jesus.’”
The name Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, meaning “Yahweh saves.” The angel told Joseph the reason for the name: “it is he who shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The angel goes on to describe the child’s greatness, the throne of David and a kingdom without end (Luke 1:32-33).
The Significance of Luke 1:26-31
- God chooses the humble
God passed over palaces and the temple to choose a young woman in Nazareth. He still delights to work through ordinary people who are willing to trust him. No one is too small or too unknown for God’s purposes.
- Favor is grace, not reward
Mary is called “highly favored” because God gave her grace. Every believer stands on the same ground: what we receive from God is a gift of his kindness, not a payment for our goodness.
Cross-References:
Isaiah 7:14: "Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son," the sign promised to the house of David.
Matthew 1:21: "You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins." The meaning of the name.
Judges 6:12: "Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!" A similar greeting to Gideon before his calling.
2 Samuel 7:16: "Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you." God’s promise to David’s line.
Conclusion: In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent Gabriel to Mary, a virgin in Nazareth pledged to Joseph of David’s house. The angel greeted her as one who had received God’s grace and assured her that the Lord was with her. Calming her fear, he announced that she would conceive and bear a son and call him Jesus, the Saviour promised to the line of David.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible