God sends the angel Gabriel to Mary to inform her that she would give birth to the Christ. Imagine that. Mary was a teenager. She was engaged to Joseph but not living with him yet. It is not a wonder that Mary asks, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” This was not a form of pushback. Mary was trying to understand: “Am I hearing this right? I’m just a girl. I’m not even a woman yet.” She has a brain; she knows her Bible; she loves God.

Gabriel doesn’t leave her confused. He says, with graceful repetition: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.” God is going to use Mary for his great plan, a plan that is as old as history, the plan to crush Satan and to set people free to be the holy children of God.

On separate occasions both Joseph and Mary are told to name the baby “Jesus.” In Matthew 1, Joseph is told to call the baby Jesus “for he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus means Saviour. Mary is told, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Are we hearing this right? Mary’s son “will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High?” Mary’s son is God? As Mary struggles to comprehend this, Gabriel explains in verse 35, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God.” So it’s a miracle. It is a miracle of the Holy Spirit. There will be a conception in Mary’s womb – in other words she will become pregnant – not in the normal way that involves a man, but through the miracle of the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Son of God will reside in her womb, take her flesh, and truly become her Son in his human nature. He is Immanuel – God with us.

Gabriel makes clear to Mary that God would give Jesus “the throne of his father David” and “of his kingdom there will be no end.” That’s the fulfilment of the promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7. When the Son of David comes – he who is both God and sinless man – his kingdom and his throne will be established forever. He would make the once-for-all sacrifice that pays for our sins, reconciling God with us, so that we who are washed in the blood and Spirit of Jesus Christ might become citizens of the everlasting kingdom of heaven.

One day Mary would stand at the foot of the cross and watch her son die a horrible death. Thankfully Mary would see that the cross is not an end, but a beginning. Thankfully the King who saves us and leads us is no longer lying in a manger, or hanging on a cross, or lying in his grave. He has risen and ascended into heaven where he is crowned as King, and reigns forever.

What joy and confidence that gives us. In this Christmas season and the threshold of a new year, we are faced with many turbulent things. But we know that God is with us, reconciling us to himself through the blood of his Son, and promising that nothing can separate us from his love in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For Further Study⤒🔗

1. Why was Mary’s question to Gabriel not punished like Zechariah’s in Luke 1:18?
2. How is it that Jesus does not have original sin like the rest of the human race?
3. What comfort do you have from Jesus your Saviour during difficult times in your life?