Mary (Hebrew “Miriam”) may mean “bitter,” or “exalted one.”
My sister Mary prefers “Myrrh: bitter, but healing and fragrant when crushed.”
***
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy,
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee,
27 to a virgin named Mary.
She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph,
a descendant of King David.
***
A small-town teenager.
A virgin, legally betrothed but not yet wife, with ordinary dreams.
Until now.
***
28 Gabriel appeared to her and said,
“Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.
***
Mary is surprised by such extravagant words.
***
30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her,
“for you have found favor with God!
31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.
***
Jesus (“Jeshua”) means “Jehovah is salvation.”
(And again, the angel addresses Mary by name.)
***
32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.
33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
***
“He will … God will.” A certainty.
***
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
***
Zechariah’s question expressed skepticism.
Mary’s expresses wondering logic and faith.
***
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
***
Overshadow means “to cover with cloud,”
the manifestation of the glory and presence of God.
***
So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.
***
“Technically speaking, however,
the angel predicted a virginal conception,
rather than a virginal birth.
As far as anyone can tell, the actual birth of Jesus was normal;
not so his conception.”
(Pate, quoted by Guzik – Enduring Word)
***
36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age!
People used to say she was barren,
but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.
37 For the word of God will never fail.”
***
God’s blessing for Elizabeth was encouragement for Mary.
***
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant.
May everything you have said about me come true.”
***
“It was inevitable that clouds would gather around her character,
which would sorely perplex the good man to whom she was betrothed.
But as soon as she realized that this lot was ordained for her by God,
she humbly acquiesced, with these model words of patient faith.”
F. B. Meyer
***
And then the angel left her.
Luke 1:26-38 NLT