Luke 1:28: And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
The scene in today’s verse is the announcement of the coming birth of the Messiah – Jesus. A young virgin named Mary who was betrothed – like being engaged in those times – is quietly in her home likely doing her daily routine. Out of nowhere arrives the archangel Gabriel, and he invites himself into Mary’s room. He tells her she should rejoice and then gives her three reasons why: 1) she is highly favored; 2) the Lord is with her; and, 3) she is blessed among women. The angel’s arrival and the message he brought with him no doubt caught her completely off-guard. It’s probably safe to say she was not at all expecting such a visitor and pronouncement.
Many Bible commentators estimate she was likely 14-16 years old at this time. Given the fact that Mary was chosen to be the birth mother of Jesus, she was undoubtedly a very special young woman – likely very humble and very devoted to God. To hear such incredible news would send most people into a prideful mode bragging, “Look at me! I am carrying the Messiah!” Blessings from God are indeed wonderful, but they come in various forms – some are not so immediately apparent. Let’s take a moment to think about how her circumstances are about to change and, from an earthly perspective, one would have to question the benefit of being highly favored or being blessed among women.
Because the Holy Spirit would impregnate her, she was going to have to deal with the extreme shame and embarrassment of admitting to her betrothed, Joseph, as well as her family, that she was pregnant out of wedlock. What do you think the likelihood of the acceptance of this story was to those she told of it? She would later have to leave the country to avoid her son being killed under the orders of Herod. Ultimately, she would have to witness the mockery of a trial and the murder of her Son. With these facts in mind, being highly favored and blessed among women doesn’t ring true – again, from an earthly perspective.
She was able to endure all of this because of one of the key proclamations Gabriel brought – the Lord was with her. When the Lord is with you, you can endure and be victorious in the face of difficult circumstances. A similar promise was made to a man named Gideon. An angel of the Lord came out of nowhere and told Gideon that he was a mighty man of valor and that the Lord was with him. Gideon would go on to lead a very small army and gain a great victory over a much bigger army of Midianites. However, imagine what he was thinking as the Lord told him to trim back his army from a size that would seem to have a more reasonable chance to win to the average person to a mere 300? He probably wasn’t feeling worthy of being labeled a man of valor at that point.
The difference for Mary? The difference for Gideon? The Lord was with them. These two individuals likely had no idea how blessed they were and how extraordinary their lives were about to become because of the mere fact the Lord was with them. What does this mean to the believer? Upon confession of Jesus as Savior and Lord, the believer is given the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as a guaranty of becoming a child of God. For the believer, the Lord is not just with you, He is in you. That makes you highly favored and blessed. Life for the believer sometimes does not initially feel that way, but God also gives you the courage and strength to endure and gain victory. You can do this because the Lord is with you because the Lord is in you.
This Christmas season and beyond, if you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, hold onto the hope that the Lord is always with you – He will never leave you nor forsake you. That’s His gift and promise to you, and you can trust Him because He can’t lie. Will you believe Him?