Luke 1:28

Luke 1:26-28, Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

Oh, what a glorious verse about our God is verse 28 – the announcement to Mary.

Let’s set the times.  It had been 400 years since God had last spoken when He told through Malachi that an Elijah was coming.  That surely gave the people hope for Elijah was a powerful man of God who faced down bad politicians.  Rather, what they found was silence – 400 years of silence!  [Yes, about a year earlier there was a report of an angel speaking to the elderly priest Zecharias when serving at the Altar in the Temple in Jerusalem.]

Over many years, God had been justifiably angry with His people for their rebellion and He had dealt severely with them.  Even when they returned to the land under Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, and Ezra around 500 BC it was only a small number and they came back to brokenness and life under a foreign government.  And such had been the state of the nation for centuries.  God was distant and angry.  Yes, God had promised a Messiah and a return to good days but that was 1,000 years ago under David.  Ever since then God had been troubled and troubling.  It was surely hard to be passionate about such a God.

But, such about God was only part of the truth!  To Mary, the angel Gabriel brought a heart-warming and endearing message – Luke 1:28, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

The message began with a call to rejoice!  Who says God doesn’t want and expect joy?  God is happy and He wants happy people!  When we hear from God and about God’s plans we too should respond with joy.  Yes, Joy to the World!  Rejoice!  And Christmas gives us a bunch of reasons to rejoice – this message to Mary revealing things about God being one of them!

Then Mary was told that she was highly favored.  That meant that God was observing the blue print in detail and had Mary in focus.  WOW!  God was ruling every atom in the universe, dealing with Satan, keeping all the names of the stars remembered, dealing with cries and prayers of the poor and oppressed, etc. and all the while He had His eye on Mary.  What a personal God!  Furthermore, He was working a plan and had selected Mary as part of it.  God was keenly aware and moving!  A great truth for today!

The angel then told Mary that God was with her.  The God of the universe was near Mary holding, directing, and helping her all along the way.  God was personally engaged in her life!

Lastly, the message was that Mary was to be blessed even more than other women.  That meant God was going to gift, grace, and glorify her.  God was about her life having value and impact!  God was a giver!  Again, a great truth for us to take in and believe.

So the just God was righteous in His discipline of those to whom He had richly blessed for centuries despite their persistent rebellion and adultery.  And this God was also joyful, selecting people to serve Him, walking through life with His people, and gifting those who loved Him.  He was and is a good, good God worthy of our adoration and obedience.