Luke 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
To add to Mary’s intense anxiousness and confusion, Mary is being told she is the chosen vessel for the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Mary is going to be the promised sign.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
A couple of word studies on His name. In the Hebrew of Isaiah 7, Immanuel means: with us is God.
The New Testament Greek name is Ἰησοῦς/Iésous. The Greek name is translated from the Hebrew Yehoshua or Yeshua which means “Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation”.
In English, we call Him Jesus or Joshua.
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Behold… The English translation of ἰδού/idou does not grab the intensity of the term in the Greek. This is an imperative verb. Look! See! Gabriel is attempting to further gain Mary’s attention.
…you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
Gabriel is going to give Mary four points of information.
- You are going to get pregnant.
- You are going to give birth.
- The child will be a boy.
- Name Him Jesus.
Luke 1:32 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,
Then Gabriel goes on to explain the character of her Promised Son.
He will be great or μέγας/megas. This Greek term is where we get the English prefix “mega”. For example, lottery players hope to win “mega” millions. Jesus will be great in the grandest sense.
…will be called the Son of the Most High.
Gabriel is announcing Jesus is the Son of God or Most High or Highest. The point is, there is none above Him. He is Deity.
Definitions and translations provided by Strong’s Concordance.
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And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of his father David…
Gabriel connects the dots from Mary back to King David. The prophets foretold of a coming time when a ruler would come from the line of David. The boy to be named Jesus, who is about to be born, is the fulfillment of the promise God made to King David.
2 Samuel 7:12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish His kingdom.
Mary herself knew she was of the line of David. Luke points this out in his documented genealogy of Jesus from Mary back to David. See Luke 3:23-31.
Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
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Luke 1:33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.
Gabriel makes the point two times to Mary. When your earthly son assumes the role of King, it is His non stop. His kingdom will be without end.
The eternal nature of Christ’s kingdom is promised to King David in 2 Samuel 7 and multiple places in Psalms 45 and 89. The prophet Daniel in chapters 2, 4, 6 and 7 makes multiple, definitive and emphatic statements. His kingdom will never end.
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever…
The same promise Gabriel made to Mary over 2,000 years ago is true for us today. Jesus is coming. And when He comes back the second time, He will be firmly planted as King for eternity.
Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
