In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, 33 and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” 35 And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 36 And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; 37 for nothing will be impossible for God.” 38 Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Luke places this scene at a decisive moment. Elizabeth is already six months pregnant, and now the angel Gabriel is sent by God to Nazareth, a small and obscure town in Galilee. The setting matters. Just before this, Luke told of the angel’s announcement to Zechariah, the priest who would become the father of John the Baptist, in the temple in Jerusalem. This announcement, by contrast, takes place in Nazareth, a humble village in Galilee, a place so unlikely that Nathanael would later ask, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (Jn. 1:46). God is beginning the fulfillment of His promise in a place the world would not consider important. That pattern runs through all salvation history. God often chooses what is humble so that His power and purpose may be clearly seen.
Mary is introduced as a virgin betrothed to Joseph, who is of the house of David. That detail is important because the child to be born will fulfill God’s promises to David. Gabriel says that the Lord God will give him “the throne of David his father” and that “of his kingdom there will be no end” (Lk. 1:32-33). These words reach back to God’s covenant promise in 2 Sam. 7:12-16 and to the hope that the Messiah would come from David’s line and reign forever. The child Mary will bear is not only a son for Israel. He is the promised King whose coming gathers together the hopes of God’s people.
Gabriel greets Mary in a striking way: “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you” (Lk. 1:28). Mary is troubled, not because she rejects God, but because she is trying to understand what this greeting means. Luke presents a contrast between Mary and Zechariah in the preceding passage. Zechariah asked for a sign to confirm the angel’s message (Lk. 1:18), but Mary asks how this will happen. Her question is not unbelief. Unlike Zechariah, she does not ask for proof. She asks how this will happen, since she has had no relations with a man.
Gabriel then announces the identity of the child. He will be called “Son of the Most High” and “Son of God” (Lk. 1:32, 35). Luke makes clear that Jesus is truly born of Mary and therefore truly man, but he is also conceived by the Holy Spirit and therefore is the Son of God in a unique and full sense. The child in Mary’s womb is the promised Davidic Messiah and also the holy Son of God.
Mary asks, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” (Lk. 1:34). Gabriel answers that “the holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Lk. 1:35). This is God’s direct action. The language recalls the Spirit of God at creation (Gen. 1:2) and the cloud of God’s presence that covered the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34-35). The same God who created the world and dwelt among His people is now acting in a new and greater way. He is bringing about a new beginning. Matthew states the same truth from Joseph’s side when he says that what is conceived in Mary is “through the holy Spirit” (Mt. 1:20).
Gabriel also gives Mary a sign: Elizabeth, once called barren, is now with child in her old age. This sign links the two annunciations and shows again that God can do what human beings cannot. The words “for nothing will be impossible for God” (Lk. 1:37) echo the promise spoken when Sarah was told that she would bear Isaac despite her age (Gen. 18:14). The God of Israel still creates life where there is no human hope.
Then comes Mary’s answer: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38). This is one of the great responses of faith in Scripture. Mary does not demand more than God gives. She does not draw back from what is being asked of her. She entrusts herself to God’s word. Her consent is personal, free, and complete. In this she stands in sharp contrast to Eve. Where disobedience opened the way to sin, Mary’s obedience becomes part of God’s saving work. Luke presents her as the servant of the Lord who responds wholeheartedly to His plan.
This passage fits Lent very well because Lent calls us to do what Mary does here. Lent is a season of repentance, trust, surrender, and readiness for God’s saving work. It teaches us to stop resisting God’s word and to receive it with faith. Mary’s answer shows the disposition every disciple must learn: humble acceptance of what God asks, confidence that His word is true, and willingness to let His plan take shape in our lives. As we move toward Holy Week and the mystery of Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection, the Annunciation reminds us that salvation began with God’s initiative and with the faithful consent of one who said yes.
Mary’s yes did not remove every trial. It began a life of faith. But through that yes, the Son of God entered the world to save it. Luke invites us to see that God’s promise took flesh in history through His power and through the obedience of faith. The same Lord still asks for that obedience from His people now.
Lord God, teach us to receive Your word with faith. As You worked in Mary by Your grace, work also in us. Remove fear, deepen trust, and help us to say with sincerity, “May it be done to me according to your word.” This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Sources and References
- New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. Luke 1:26-38 and NABRE notes.
- Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, eds. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010, 104-107.
- José María Casciaro, gen. ed., The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition (Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008), 243-245.
- Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990, 680-681, para. 19-20.
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018, 1038.
- John J. Collins, Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, and Donald Senior, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2022, 1302-1303.
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