Gabriel told Mary that her Son would be the Son of the Most High. This devotional reading unpacks all that means.
Nuggets
- Mary was about to be told she was going to have a very special Baby.
- Mary’s Son would be exalted above every other man.
- The Messiah had several Son of titles that heightened the expectation of His mission.
In the last devotion, Gabriel came to Nazareth to give Mary exciting news. This teen-aged virgin was going to have a baby.
We looked at Mary and her response to the message. We didn’t look at Who the angel said her Son would be.
Let’s dig into that now.
Let's Put It into Context
To read devotions in The Battle for the Heart theme
Devotions in the Preparing for the Christ Child series
Who Yeshua Would Be
“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. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” (Lk. 1: 30-33 NLT)
He Will Be Very Great
Mary was about to be told she was going to have a very special Baby.
There is an interesting contrast here. Go back to Gabriel’s last visit. Zechariah was told that John would “… be great in the eyes of the Lord …” (Lk. 1: 15 NLT).
Here, Gabriel doesn’t put any qualifier on great but rather adds an adverb that expands the definition. Yeshua would be very great.
But great can be relative sometimes, can’t it? We may see it as boundless or abundant.
When she heard the word great, Mary probably thought gādôl (גָּדוֹל). She would have hooked it to Scripture.
- “Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods” (Ps. 96: 4 NLT).
- “‘But my name is honored by people of other nations from morning till night. All around the world they offer sweet incense and pure offerings in honor of my name. For my name is great among the nations,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies” (Mal. 1: 11 NLT).
- “Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them” (Ps. 111: 2 ESV).
- “And David became greater and greater, because the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies was with him” (II Sam. 5: 10 NLT).
- “(Now the Lord had caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the people of Israel. And Moses was considered a very great man in the land of Egypt, respected by Pharaoh’s officials and the Egyptian people alike.)” (Ex. 11: 3 NLT).
Mary would have understood great to mean exalted.
Think about it. Here was this teenager, excitedly planning her upcoming marriage. She heard the angel tell her that she was going to have a baby. She wouldn’t have the stigma of barrenness that Elizabeth had carried for so many years.
Son of the Most High
Mary’s Son would be exalted above every other man.
Yeshua’s greatness would not merely describe His influence or reputation. It would flow from who He is – the promised Messiah, the Son of the Most High, and the eternal King.
Mary was about to be told she was going to have a baby in an unimaginable way.
Gabriel told Mary that she was going to have a Son – not just any son, but the Son of God. Mary’s Son would “… be called the Son of the Most High …” (Lk. 1: 32 NLT). This identified Him as fully divine. “And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt. 1: 21 NLT).
Son
The Messiah had several Son of titles that heightened the expectation of His mission.
The Hebrew word for son is ben (בֵּן). This means more than biological ancestry. It refers to membership, character, covenant relationship, inheritance, or reputation.
In Hebrew thought, a son was expected to represent his father’s character, authority, and mission. Thus, son often described identity and function rather than merely ancestry.
Don’t miss the character part. We say many times that we have the character traits of our parents. But the first-century Jews would know this could designate a metaphysical relationship.
I can understand that. I’ve spoken of my Springfield Mom several times. That relationship is and has been very important to me – even though there is nothing biological about it.
Here, it also has the aspect of bearing another’s authority. The son represents the father and exercises his delegated authority.
Son of God
The title Son of God is one of the richest Messianic designations in Scripture. While we see it through the lens of modern theology, first-century Jews saw it through language of the covenant, kingship, and divine appointment.
For Christians, the title ultimately reveals the Messiah’s eternal relationship with the Father. First-century Jews, however, would initially have understood it through the language of covenant, kingship, and divine appointment. “Then you will tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son. I commanded you, “Let my son go, so he can worship me.” But since you have refused, I will now kill your firstborn son!’” (Ex. 4: 22-23 NLT).
The Gospels, however, deepen our understanding of the title as Yeshua tried to deepen their understanding. He was the covenant heir to David’s throne and the rightful King of Israel. The kingdom, however, was the Kingdom of God — renewing covenant people and extending the blessing to all the nations.
The Throne of His Ancestor David
Son of David
Mary’s Son was going to sit on the throne of David.
The title Son of David is one of the clearest Messianic titles in first-century Judaism. It strengthened the hope that the Messiah would restore the kingdom of Israel by recalling the Davidic covenant. “Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever” (II Sam. 7: 16 NLT).
This Son was going to be the promised Messiah because “… His kingdom will never end” (Lk. 1: 33 NLT).
By Yeshua’s time, centuries of theological development had intertwined with covenant, kingship, Temple, and restoration. Son of David had become virtually synonymous with Messiah.
To call Yeshua the Son of David was not merely to identify His ancestry but to confess that He was the promised heir to David’s throne and the One through whom Jehovah would fulfill His covenant promises.
This was how the promise came down. Messiah — King — victorious. All three things were true — just not in the way the Jews were looking for Him.
Gabriel was talking to Mary in covenant language. What he was saying fulfilled II Samuel 7: 16. David was promised an unending dynasty when one of his Descendants would rule for eternity.
In this section, Gabriel doesn’t go into the miraculous part of the conception. What he does talk about is a normal, run-of-the-mill pregnancy. This stresses that Jesus is going to be fully human and fully divine.
Making the Connections #1
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise …” (Isa. 61: 1-3 NLT)
Isaiah 61: 1-3 gives some more items on Yeshua’s job description. Let’s pick them out.
- Bring good news to the poor
- Comfort the brokenhearted
- Proclaim and release the captives
- Sent to those who mourn
- Give a crown of beauty for ashes
- Give joyous blessing
- Give festive praise
Isaiah talked about the poor and those who mourn. They are the first two Beatitudes.
Brokenhearted doesn’t mean the common heartbreak we humans suffer. It means we have a sinful heart, but we are remorseful about that. “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (Jas. 5: 15 ESV).
Is there anything else on Yeshua’s job description – or maybe a more concise way to say it?
- Offer salvation and eternal life through faith in Him to the captives who are poor in spirit.
- Fulfill Old Testament prophecies as the Messiah.
- Serve as a mediator between God and humanity.
- Teach love, compassion, and forgiveness to all people.
- Perform miracles to demonstrate divine power and compassion.
- Model a life of humility, service, and sacrifice for others.
Making the Connections #2
“My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid” (Hag. 2: 5 NLT)
“Then he said to me, ‘This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies’” (Zech. 4: 6 NLT)
These two verses represent the last time Jehovah had spoken with Israel. That was approximately 520 BC.
The Israelites were back from exile. They were building the Second Temple.
Then … silence. Four hundred long years of silence.
Then Gabriel went to see Zechariah. Next, he went to see Mary.
This time, to that sweet young girl, who welcomed Gabriel into her world for that five minutes. This time, he talked about the Holy Spirit.
In the Old Testament, the Ruach Elohin Ruach Elohim (רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים) – Spirit of God – or the Ruach YHWH (רוּחַ יְהוָה) – Spirit of the LORD – had several duties.
- Brought order out of chaos (Gen. 1: 2)
- Empowered individuals for tasks (Samson, Gideon, David)
- Prophetic inspirations
- Moral/Spiritual renewal promised but not fulfilled (Ezek. 36: 26-27; Joel 2: 28)
The Spirit had not yet come to permanently indwell God’s people. He was selective, temporary, and task oriented.
Even before Yeshua said He had to go so the Spirit could be sent (Jn. 16: 7), He was in John in the womb. Elizabeth and Zechariah were filled with the Spirit, and Mary was overshadowed by it.
What changed?
We have to realize that the work the Spirit is doing in Luke 1 is the ignition point. It is temporary still, but He is working.
Making the Connections #3
Before we continue, let’s step back a moment to look at the biblical background. To understand why Gabriel’s words were so astonishing, we need to understand what Mary already knew.
Gabriel’s announcement didn’t happen in a vacuum. He was announcing the fulfillment of promises Jehovah had been making for centuries.
If we don’t understand those promises, we’ll miss much of what Mary would have heard in his words. This is going to be important for all of our dive into the Gospels.
The coming of the Messiah was foretold through the covenant promises. It provided Israel with a covenant identity. Their covenant identity was the identity Jehovah gave, defined, sustained, and governed through the covenant relationship with Himself. It was corporate, covenantal, relational, and generational.
Jehovah introduced the Messianic promises through a series of covenants.
After the original sin – commonly called the Fall – Jehovah judged the man, the woman, and the serpent, declaring the spiritual conflict that would follow between the serpent and the woman, and between his seed and hers. This promise climaxed with the declaration that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head while sustaining injury Himself.
This marked the beginning of the expectation and the hope for a Messiah.
The covenant with Abraham dramatically expanded the scope of Messianic hope. In Genesis 12, 15, 17, and 22, Jehovah pledged a variety of promises Abraham (then called Abram). The promise to bless all families of the earth revealed the outward reach of God’s redemptive plan.
The covenant underscored continuity through a chosen line. Although that line traces back through Adam’s son Seth and Noah’s son Shem, it was not formally established as the covenant line until Jehovah made His covenant with Abraham.
Jacob introduced royal and kingship imagery that profoundly shaped later Messianic expectation in his last words to his son Judah. It was through him the Messiah – the scepter – shevet (שֵׁבֶט) – would come and never depart (Gen. 49: 10).
The people of Israel didn’t demand a human monarchy until the days of Samuel the Prophet. Jehovah’s choice of David, from the tribe of Judah, as king was significant because it moved the future hope from an abstract promise into the framework of royal history and theology.
Making the Connections #4
Gabriel wasn’t simply announcing a pregnancy. He was announcing the fulfillment of thousands of years of covenant promises. Mary’s Son would be the Son of God, the Son of David, Israel’s Messiah, and the eternal King whose kingdom would never end.
Heart Check
Think about the battle Yeshua is engaged in for your heart. Ask yourself the following questions.
- Have you received Jesus only as a good teacher, or have you trusted Him as the Son of God and your King?
- Is there an area of your life where you need to surrender to His authority as the eternal King?
How Do We Apply This?
- Thank Jehovah for His faithfulness in fulfilling His covenant promises.
- Worship Jesus as the Son of God and rightful King.
- Submit your life to His authority today.
- Thank Jehovah for keeping His covenant promises through Christ.
Father God. Your Promises last generation to generation. And regardless of how long we have waited for them to be fulfilled, You will fulfill them on Your timetable – and it will be wonderful. Thank You for sending Your Son to allow us to restore our relationships with You.
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