About the time that Jesus was born, a priest name Zacharia was visited by the Archangel Gabriel. Gabriel informed Zacharia that his wife Elizabeth was going to become pregnant and bear him a son. Zacharia and Elizabeth were past the usual age of childbearing. Up until that time, they had not been able to have children. Zacharia did not believe what Gabriel was telling him. So, his ability to speak was taken away from him until after Elizabeth gave birth. The child was John the Baptist. (Luke 1:5-25, 57-62)
Mary was related to Elizabeth, and when Elizabeth was in the sixth month of her pregnancy, Gabriel appeared to Mary in Nazareth. He told her about her part in God’s plan.
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He 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, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Mary’s response was different than that of Zacharia. Instead of doubting the angel’s message, she asked for an explanation of how it was going to happen. She believed.
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
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. 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. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:26-38 NIV) [1]
Please note Mary’s willingness to do the will of God. Now, in those days an unwed mother would be ostracized, and her child would be considered a second-class citizen. Mary was betrothed to Joseph. How would he react? Yet, Mary said, “May your word to me be fulfilled.”
The Word says that an angel of the Lord God showed Joseph in a dream that Mary was innocent of any wrongdoing, and that he was to take her as his wife:
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’”
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-25 NLT) [2]
Joseph also believed and
obeyed God. Praise the Lord.
