Luke 1:26-33 Messages from Gabriel
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: June 10, 2018 Luke 1:26-33
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 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.”
(Understanding the Text) Elizabeth was pregnant for five months. Then, in her sixth month, Mary became pregnant. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. Therefore, I think that Mary was with Elizabeth for the birth of John the Baptist. She may have heard all the stories about the angel. Mary may have been Luke’s source for Zechariah’s story also. I think when she was staying with Elizabeth and Zechariah, they all studied the scriptures together to see the prophecies about their children. Based on what the SDA commentary says about Elizabeth hiding herself away in earlier verses, Zechariah and Elizabeth may have already been studying the Messianic prophesies and the prophesies about Nazarites for half a year already. Maybe this was why Gabriel told Zechariah about John being in the spirit of Elijah to give direction to their studies. If they had already studied that long, then they may have been able to guide and teach young Mary about the scriptures concerning her son. If Mary was intelligent as implied by my reading of her reactions to Gabriel, she would have been just as concerned as Elizabeth about raising the Messiah just right. She would have picked up every piece of knowledge and understanding that she could during this time.
Who is Gabriel? Gabriel’s name is found in two places: Daniel and Luke. In Daniel, Gabriel is sent to explain the prophecies concerning the kingdoms that should rise and fall and to explain the 70-week prophecy. Then Gabriel starts the announcements of the Messiah and Elijah. Was that so later people would associate the 70-week prophecy to Jesus’ birth? Gabriel seems to have been Jesus’ second-in-command when Jesus was in the role of Michael, the leader of the angels and the prince of humans who give allegiance to the Father.
The angel calls Mary a favored one and says that the Lord is with her. It says that Mary was trying to figure out what kind of greeting this was. I understand the troubled and do not be afraid parts. That is the usual reaction when humans encounter an angel, but it says that she was trying to figure out what kind of greeting being a favored one was. After all, she was from Nazareth which was considered of no account. The SDA commentary says of Nazareth “An obscure Galilean town not mentioned in the OT or the Talmud, or included by Josephus in a list of 204 towns of Galilee (see on Mtt. 2:23). The childhood and youth of Jesus, the period on which the Scriptures are comparatively silent, were spent in a locality concerning which historical records are largely silent. Here, in a small community, Jesus was free from the rabbinical influence of larger Jewish centers, and also from pagan Greek culture that pervaded ‘Galilee of the Gentiles’ (Matt. 4:15).” Can anything good come out of Nazareth was the reputation it had and for good reason. The people there were not the nicest. Mary’s family feared God, but the majority of people were ignorant and close-minded. Thus, she thought of herself as coming from an obscure little place of no importance and from a family that while perfectly fine and from an ancient lineage was of no importance in the larger Judean world.
(Understanding the Text / Revelation of God) What do we know of Mary’s situation? The SDA commentary says “The fact that in giving so detailed an account of the circumstances of the birth of Jesus Luke makes no mention of Mary’s parents, suggests that they may have been dead at this time, and that Mary may have been living with some of her relatives (see DA 144, 145). Almost without exception, Jewish writers identified those of whom they spoke, as the sons and daughters of certain named persons.” This may have been another reason why Mary did not expect to be honored. She may have been an orphan living on the charity of relatives. Mary was betrothed to Joseph who was a carpenter in Nazareth. He was probably a relative. Maybe, he chose Mary to be his wife (maybe his second wife and stepmother to his children) partly as a responsibility to an orphaned relative. Maybe, she was already taking care of his children sometimes already. Joseph was a kind spiritual man who had probably chosen Mary because he knew that she was also spiritual and kind. This passage also shows that she was a thinker. She questioned the angel rather than simply trembling in fear. The SDA commentary points out that God’s timing and planning were perfect here. By waiting until she was betrothed but not yet married, “God had already provided her with a helper and protector before announcing to her the coming birth of Jesus.”
(Understanding the Text) Guzik’s commentary gives information about the betrothal’s back then. “Mary is said to be betrothed to Joseph. There were three stages to a Jewish wedding in that day: engagement (a formal agreement made by the fathers), betrothal (the ceremony where mutual promises are made), and marriage (approximately one year later when the bridegroom comes at an unexpected time for his bride). i. When a couple was betrothed, they were under the obligations of faithfulness, and a divorce was required to break the betrothal. This was not a casual promise.”
I notice similarities between Zechariah and Mary. The same angel dealt with both of them. They were both approached in private. The angel tells both of them not to be afraid. Both Zechariah and Mary are promised babies in impossible situations. They both point out the impossibility of the action. They both submit gladly to God’s will. The differences are that Zechariah is told that the situation is in answer to his prayer while Mary is told that she is in favor with God. Also, when Zechariah asks for a sign/points out the impossibility of the action, he is made mute because of disbelief. Mary, on the other hand, is not scolded for disbelief when she points out the impossibility of the action. Instead, Gabriel explains more. Why the difference to the seemingly similar reactions? I think it indicates that there were different attitudes behind the words. Zechariah had lots of life experience and had prayed for a child for many years. There was a lack of faith built up over the years that Gabriel was dealing with. Also, Zechariah had examples from the scriptures (Abraham and Samuel) of God performing this kind of miracle before. Mary was being told something that she could never have expected, and her question was more along the lines of trying to figure out what was going on and what it meant to her life. There was no previous example of a virgin conceiving. Gabriel was giving Zechariah a blessing for which he had longed for years, and yet Zechariah was not gladly receiving the gift that he so desired. Mary was being offered a chance that she had never expected and needed facts upon which to base her decision. Once she had the facts, she not only believed but gladly accepted the unexpected gift.
(Revelation of God) God deals with each of us according to our needs and who we are. Both Zechariah and Mary were honored by God, but were very different in their life experience and background, so God dealt with each one differently. God also deals with us differently according to the needs of His plans. It was important to draw attention to the conception and birth of John, but it was important to keep the conception and birth of the Messiah quiet for the safety of the pregnancy and so that Jesus could fulfill the first part of his mission in normal human circumstances.
The SDA commentary has an interesting lesson from this. “As He so often does with us today, God first let Mary become fully conscious of the fact that the anticipated event was beyond human power, that it was impossible from man’s point of view, before presenting to her the means by which it would be brought about. It is thus that God leads us to appreciate His goodness and His power and teaches us to have confidence in Him and in His promises.”
Gabriel’s instructions included the name: Jesus/Yeshua which means Jehovah is generous or Jehovah saves. In other words, Gabriel was telling Mary to name her baby the Savior. Gabriel tells her that her son will be called the son of the Most High. Her son will be great and receive the throne of David from God. Finally, she is told that her son will be king forever. She knew from this that she was being told that she was to bear the Messiah. F. F. Bruce’s commentary says that the term great is “a title which, unqualified, is usually reserved for God Himself.” Isaiah predicted this: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the growth of his government and peace there will be no end. He will rule over his kingdom, sitting on the throne of David, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies will accomplish this.” (Isa 9:6-7).
(Application / Prayer) Since I know that God deals with me uniquely based on who I am and the plans He has for me, I should feel honored and beloved because He has given me so many ways to serve Him, and He has given me so many signs that He is working in my life. Teach me to feel gratitude and not take anything that You do in my life for granted. I want to continue to serve You. Steer me away from anything that would taint that service.