Context No. 3815 of 4322 · Luke

Luke 1:26-33: in context

26Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!” 29But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be. 30The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and shall name him ‘Jesus.’ 32He 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, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”

The angel Gabriel comes to a young woman in an obscure town with an announcement that will change the world: Mary will conceive and bear a son, Jesus, who will be great, the Son of the Highest, given the throne of David, whose kingdom will have no end. Mary is troubled and surely bewildered, and Gabriel's word to her is, do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God.

Two things are worth holding here. God's great work entered the world not through the great and prominent, but through a humble young woman in a forgotten village whom God had graciously favored. He delights to work through the lowly. And the promise made to Mary is of a kingdom without end; the child she would bear is the eternal King, whose reign over his people will never cease. The One announced in that small room in Nazareth is the King of a kingdom that will outlast every earthly throne. God chose the humble to bring his eternal King into the world.

Do I trust the God who delights to do his great work through the humble and lowly, and do I gladly belong to the kingdom of the eternal King whose reign will never end?

Sources

Luke 1:30-31: "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 shall name him Jesus."
Luke 1:32: "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."
Luke 1:33: "He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom."