Luke 1:26-38

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
 ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call 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, 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.

Gabriel appears again, not with an entirely new message but with the culmination of his previous message. The news of John, like the ministry of John, is a buildup to the news and ministry of Another.

Greeting Mary as “highly favored” reminds us of Gabriel’s greeting to the prophet Daniel as “greatly beloved” 500 years previous when he came to explain a prophecy looking forward to “Messiah the prince” (see Dan. 9:23,25). The time for that ancient prophecy’s fulfillment was fast approaching.

Like the announcement of John, Gabriel announces a Son. But this Son would be both “Son of the Highest” and have as “His father David”. Both divine and human. This is not divinity present in humanity, as baby John would be “filled with the Holy Spirit” (1:15). Rather, it is the fullness of divinity being manifested as a human individual. The incarnation.

The title “Son of the Highest” should not make us think of this promised child as anything less than the Highest. Recall Gabriel has already announced Him to be the God of Israel (1:16,17). The title of “Son” of both humanity and divinity recognizes His unique ability to fully identify with both. “By His humanity, Christ touched humanity; by His divinity, He lays hold upon the throne of God” (The Desire of Ages, 24). This is the uniqueness of Jesus.

But how would such a thing happen? It was a natural question for Mary to ask. The explanation that “the power of the Highest will overshadow you” is an important insight. As son of David, one may wonder if Jesus would be born into the same problem that David and every other post-fall person has been. For David properly lamented, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). Sin is more than just wrong actions, it is also a state we are born into: me, you, David, Mary, and everyone else.

So would Jesus also be born into this sin state? How could He? He is God and the sin state is a symptom of separation from God. Jesus, “Son of the Highest”, could not enter into such a state without forsaking His divinity. Thus He was not conceived a sinner, but “that Holy thing”. Throughout His life He would still face unimaginable temptation to participate in sin. And like Adam He would face the possibility of falling. Daily His experience would be like that of ours. But by accepting a weakened mortal body and life of struggle He would be able to fully relate to us each and provide a perfect example. Yet, Christ wasn’t born just to experience and understand humanity, but to change humanity. Hence the need to maintain His full divinity, as evidenced in His unique birth. Jesus’ different kind of birth anticipates the hope that we also might experience a new kind of birth.

It is in response to this awesome news that Mary forgets the shame her neighbors will cast on her for her premarital pregnancy and proclaims by faith, “Let it be to me according to your word.”