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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
1:26-38 The Birth of Jesus Foretold. Luke moves from announcing the birth of John the Baptist to announcing the birth of Jesus. The mighty work of God through John's conception and ministry will be surpassed by the greater miracle of virginal conception and the greater work of Christ.
1:26 sixth month. The sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy (v. 24). Luke's specifying that Nazareth was a city of Galilee suggests that his intended readers were not from Palestine and would therefore be unfamiliar with the city's location (cf. 4:31). Excavations at Nazareth have located tombs, olive presses, wells, and vaulted cells for wine and oil storage, indicating that the village was a small agricultural settlement. However, Nazareth was located on a road leading from nearby Sepphoris into Samaria. The current Church of the Annunciation lies atop previous early Byzantine church structures and caves (from the or possibly earlier); these commemorated the early life of Jesus and his family.
1:27 Virgin describes Mary's state both before the conception and during pregnancy (Matt. 1:25). betrothed. A legally binding engagement breakable only by divorce (Matt. 1:19). Joseph is a descendant of David (cf. Matt. 1:16, 20; Luke 1:32-33; 2:4; 3:23-38).
1:30 you have found favor (lit., "grace"; Gk. charis) with God. Mary is the recipient of God's grace, not the giver of grace. Cf. Gen. 6:8.
1:32 Most High. This name for the true God comes from Gen. 14:18-22 (see note on Gen. 14:18), where Melchizedek, king of Salem, identifies Yahweh as "God Most High" (cf. Balaam [also a Gentile], Num. 24:16: "the Most High;" "the Almighty"). It became a common title for the Lord among the monotheistic Israelites, especially in the Psalms. (In Dan. 3:26; 4:24, 34 it is the title for God that both Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar hold in common, and is a favored name in the intertestamental book of Sirach.) Whereas John is the "prophet of the Most High" (Luke 1:76), Jesus is the "Son of the Most High." He is the promised successor to the throne of David (see 2 Sam. 7:12-13, 16).
1:34 since I am a virgin (lit., "since I know no man"). Mary assumes that she will conceive (v. 31) while still a virgin.
1:35 The Holy Spirit will perform this great miracle, so that Mary will become pregnant without having sexual relations with a man. Therefore indicates that Jesus' holiness derives from his being conceived by the Holy Spirit. Though Jesus was a genuine human being, he did not inherit a sinful nature and disposition from Adam, as all other human beings do (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22; 1 John 3:5; by contrast, Ps. 143:2; Eph. 2:3).
1:38 Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. The section ends with Mary's example of true discipleship, in submission to God's word and promise.
