Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25, 2021) Gospel (Luk 1:26-38)

Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel. GEN 3:15

Rashi

I will put enmity—Your sole intention was that Adam should die by eating it first and that you should then take Eve for yourself (Bereishit Rabbah 20:5), and you came to speak to Eve first only because women are easily influenced and know how to influence their husbands; therefore “I will put enmity.”

He shall bruise your head—Like (Deu 9:21), “And crushed it” which is translated by Onkelos as “I pounded it.”

And you shall bruise his heel—You shall have no height and you shall bruise him on the heel, and even from there you shall kill him. The word תְּשׁוּפֶנוּ is like (Isa 40:24): “He blows (נָשַׁף) on them.” When a serpent comes to bite, it blows with a kind of hissing sound, and since the two words coincide i.e., they sound alike, they are both used here.

28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

John Gill

She was greatly troubled at the saying—At his speaking to her; she was surprised at the sight of him, and more at what he said to her;

And tried to discern—Or thought and reasoned within herself,

What sort of greeting this might be—For it was not usual with the Jews for a man to use any salutation to a woman; with them it was not lawful to be done in any shape or form; not by a messenger, nor even by her own husband; so that Mary might well be thrown into a concern what should be the meaning of this; and especially, that she should be addressed in such language, and saluted as a peculiar favourite of God, and blessed among women.

30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

John Gill

And the angel said to her—Observing the consternation and confusion she was in;

Do not be afraid, Mary—He calls her by her name, signifying that she was well known to him, as the saints are to the ministering angels, who are often sent to them, encamp about them, and do them many good offices; and bids her not be afraid, he had no ill design upon her, nor brought any ill news to her:

For you have found favor—Or “found grace with God;” and what that particular grace and favor was, is expressed in the following verses.

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

John Gill

And behold, you will conceive in your womb—Though a pure virgin, which never knew a man; and therefore, a “behold” is prefixed to it, as being what was extraordinary and wonderful; as it is also, in the prophesy of it, in Isa 7:14 to which the angel manifestly refers, and is, by Matthew cited, as accomplished hereby (see Gill on Mat 1:22-23);

And bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus—Which signifies a “Saviour;” and a Saviour Christ is of God’s appointing, providing and sending; and a very suitable one, being a spiritual Saviour, and a complete one, both able and willing to save to the uttermost all that believe in him; nor is there any other, nor salvation in any other: he is the Saviour of his people, whom the Father has given him, even of all the elect, whether of Jews or Gentiles; and of them from all their sins, and from all their enemies; and whom he saves with a spiritual and eternal salvation.

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,

11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.

Rashi

From the time that I appointed—It is connected to what preceded it, and shall afflict them no more, as before, i.e., before the days of the judges. And as they also did from the days of the judges until now.

Moreover, the Lord declares to you—Today, through me, that he will establish a monarchy for you to have your son sit on your throne and he will secure the monarchy for you. And it is he that will build the house.

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.

13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 2SA 7:11-13

33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

John Gill

And he will reign over the house of Jacob—Not over the Jews, the posterity of Jacob, in a literal sense; but over the whole Israel of God, consisting of Jews and Gentiles. For as his father David reigned over the Idumeans, Syrians, and others, as well as over the house of Judah and Israel, so this his son shall reign over both Jews and Gentiles: his kingdom shall be from one end of the earth to the other, even over all the elect of God; who in successive generations call themselves by the name of Jacob, and surname themselves by the name of Israel, of whatsoever nation they be; and this reign of his shall be “forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end;” referring to Isa 9:7 see also Dan 2:44; 7:14 he shall reign in the hearts of his people here unto the end of the world; and with his saints a thousand years in the new heavens and new earth; and with them to all eternity, in the ultimate glory.

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

John Gill

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be”—This she said not as doubting the truth of what was said; for she required no sign, as Zechariah did; nor is she charged with, and blamed for unbelief, as he was; yea, it is expressly said (Luk 1:45), that she believed: nor was this a curious question, as whether she should have this son by a man in a married state, or in her present virgin state; for she clearly understood the angel to mean the latter; and therefore her words express her admiration at it, and also her desire to be informed of the manner how it should be: as to the matter of fact, she did not dispute it, but wanted to be resolved by what means it would be brought about: she knew, by prophecy, that the Messiah was to be born of a virgin, and she perceived, by the angel’s declaration, that she was that virgin, but could not imagine in what way this amazing thing should be effected; and therefore proposes this question for the following reason,

Seeing I know not a man?—“A husband,” as the Arabic version renders it; not Joseph, nor any other man; for though she was espoused to Joseph, yet he had not taken her to wife; nor were they, as yet; come together; and before they did, she was found with child of the 

Holy Spirit (Mat 1:18), she was a pure virgin, untouched by man. The words are a “euphemism,” or a modest way of expressing carnal copulation; see Gen 4:1.

35 And the angel answered her, “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.

John Gill

And the angel answered her—The angel gave her an account of the manner in which what he had said should be effected, as well as observed some things for the strengthening of her faith.

The Holy Spirit will come upon you—The words, “upon you,” are left out in the Syriac and Persic versions; but are retained in others, and in all copies: the formation of Christ’s human nature, though common to all the three persons, yet is particularly, and most properly ascribed to the Spirit; not to the first person, the Father, lest it should be thought that he is only the Father of him, as man; nor to the second person, the Son, since it is to him that the human nature is personally united; but to the third person, the Spirit, who is the sanctifier; and who separated, and sanctified it, the first moment of its conception, and preserved it from the taint of original sin. His coming upon the virgin must be understood in consistence with his omnipresence, and immensity; and cannot design any local motion, but an effectual operation in forming the human nature of her flesh and substance; and not in the ordinary manner in which he is concerned in the formation of all men (Job 33:4), but in an extraordinary way, not to be conceived of, and explained.

And the power of the Most High will overshadow you—By “the power of the Most High” is not meant the Lord Jesus Christ, who is sometimes called the power of God; but rather the Holy Spirit, as before, who is styled the finger of God, and power from on high (Luk 11:20; 24:49), unless it should be thought that the perfection of divine power common to all the three persons is intended: and so points out the means by which the wondrous thing should be performed, even by the power of God; and which should not only be employed in forming the human nature of Christ, but in protecting the virgin from any suspicion and charge of sin, and defending her innocence and virtue, by moving upon Joseph to take her to wife. In the word, “overshadow,” some think there is an allusion to the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters, in Gen 1:2 when, he brooded upon them, as the word may be rendered; and which is the sense of it, according to the Jewish writers.

36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

16 O Lord, I am your servant;

I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.

You have loosed my bonds. PSA 116:16

Rashi

Your servant, the son of your maidservant—There is no comparison between the training of a slave who was bought in the market and one who was born to a maidservant in the house.

You loosed my bonds—You untied from my neck the bars and the bonds.

Yevamot 77a:5

With regard to the same issue, Rava taught: What is the meaning of that which is written: “You have loosened my bonds” (Psa 116:16)? David said before the Holy One, blessed be he: Master of the universe, you have loosened the two bonds that were on me, on account of which I and my entire family might have been disqualified, i.e., Ruth the Moabite woman and Naamah the Ammonite woman. Owing to the allowance granted to Moabite and Ammonite women, we are permitted to enter the congregation.