A Visit From an Angel

Mary's visitor, as you may know, was no mere man. It was the angel Gabriel.  When he called Mary "highly favored one," she was "deeply disturbed" by his words and wondered about this unusual greeting.  (Luke 1:29) Highly favored by whom?  Mary did not expect to be highly favored among men.  But the angel was speaking of the favor of Jehovah God. That mattered to her. Still, she did not proudly presume that she had God's favor. If we strive for God's favor, never haughtily assuming that we already have it, we will learn a vital lesson that young Mary fully understood. God opposes the haughty, but he loves and supports the lowly and humble. -James 4:6. 

Mary would need such humility, for the angel held out to her an unimaginable privilege. He explained that she was to bear a child who would become the most important of all humans. Gabriel said:  "Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule as king over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of his kingdom." (Luke 1:32, 33) Mary surely knew of the promise God had made to David more than one thousand years earlier-namely, that one of his descendants would rule forever. (2 Samuel 7:12, 13) So her son would be the Messiah that God's people over the centuries head been hoping for!

What is more, the angel told her that her son would "be called Son of the Most High."  How could a human woman produce God's Son?  Really,  how could Mary produce a son at all?  She was engaged to Joseph but not yet married to him.  This question Mary put into frank words:  "How is this to be, since I am having no intercourse with a man?"  (Luke 1:34) Note that Mary spoke of her virginity without a trace of shame. On the contrary, she treasured her chastity. Today, many youths are eager to cast off her virginity and quick to ridicule those who do not. the world has certainly changed. Jehovah, however, has not changed.  (Malachi 3:6) As in Mary's day, he values those who adhere to his moral standards. -Hebrew 13:4. 

Although she was a faithful servant of God, Mary was an imperfect human. How, then, could she produce a perfect offspring, the Son of God? Gabriel explained:  "Holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. For that reason also what is born will be called holy, God's Son.  (Luke 1:35) Holy  means "clean," "pure,"  "sacred."  Normally, humans pass on their unclean, sinful state to their offspring. In this case, though, Jehovah would perform a unique miracle.  he would transfer the life of his Son from heaven to the womb of Mary and then use his active force, or holy spirit, to "overshadow" Mary, shielding the child from any taint of sin. Did Mary believe the angel's promise?  How did she respond?

Next time: Mary's Response to Gabriel

From the Watchtower magazine, 2008