Mary, Highly Favored

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”  Luke 1:26-28 

A lot is unpacked in the scripture Luke 1:26-28; let us unpack verse 27 and the importance of Mary being married to Joseph, a descendent of David. Even though Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father, he was still considered his legal father. It fulfilled the genealogy qualification of the Messiah being from the lineage of Abraham and David. The genealogy of Jesus is found in Matthew 1, verse 16, And Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. The genealogy of Jesus is also found in Luke 3:23-38, and it traces the males in Mary’s family, and she was from David’s lineage. You might be thinking, well, why is that important because it confirms the qualifications of being a virgin and the lineage. It goes from the lineage to a shocking greeting that I am sure caught Mary off guard. Can you imagine getting ready to be married and then Gabriel showing up delivering the news that you were a virgin but with a child? But what an honor to be called highly favorable, but that did not just happen by chance that Mary was the chosen one. In Luke 1, verse 28, it is clear that Mary was a woman of significance and had lived a pleasing life to God. She was in her teenage years, but God still chose her to be Jesus’ mother. Mary was highly favored, and because of the way she lived with humility and grace, she was chosen for the most important task: to birth the Messiah. We can learn from Mary that you can do great things for the kingdom without needing accolades. She was humble and lived to honor God. Mary had to remain faithful, she was a teenage girl getting married but put important things on hold to give birth to the Messiah, savior of the world. 

Pastor Kendra Scott