Gabriel

Key Phrase: you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins

Intro

The angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her she will have a son who will be king forever. To confirm the prophecy, Mary’s relative Elizabeth will have a baby in her old age. Mary’s pregnancy presents a problem because Joseph, her soon-to-be-husband, thinks Mary has been unfaithful. An angel visits Joseph and explains the prophecy of Isaiah about the coming Messiah. (Isaiah was a prophet to the nation of Judah. He speaks to four of their kings about 800 years before Christ is born.) Then, the angel tells Joseph he is to marry Mary and name her child Jesus, which means Savior.

Gabriel

 Luke 1:26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you![1]”

 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.33 And he will reign over Israel[2] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

 34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

 35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.[3]”

 38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. . .

Matthew 1:20 . . . 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. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,[4] for he will save his people from their sins.”

 22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
      She will give birth to a son,
    and they will call him Immanuel,[5]
      which means ‘God is with us.’”

 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 

Connect

Both Joseph and Mary are descendants of King David which makes Bethlehem the stage for the birthplace of Jesus because they must travel there for a census ordered by the Emperor of Rome.

Footnotes

[1] Luke 1:28 Some manuscripts add Blessed are you among women.

[2] Luke 1:33 Greek over the house of Jacob.

[3] Luke 1:37 Some manuscripts read For the word of God will never fail.

[4] Matthew 1:21 Jesus means “The Lord saves.”

[5] Matthew 1:23 Isa 7:14; 8:8, 10 (Greek version).