Luke 1:26–33 (NLT)
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 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!”
Gabriel came to Mary to make a heavenly confession. A confession, by definition is a word of affirmation, truth, or significance. Paul wrote Timothy telling him do like Jesus who made the good confession before Pilate. In Luke’s gospel, there are several confessions made concerning the coming of Jesus Christ. Today, we’ll look at confessions made by Gabriel; hence the phrase, An Angel's Confession. In verse 26, we read that Gabriel was sent from God to bring an important message to Mary. The word sent holds much significance; it originates from the same root which we get apostle. An apostle is simply one who is sent to deliver a message of importance and significance. Let’s look at the important and significant confessional message Gabriel delivered to Mary. As Gabriel announces his arrival with, “Greetings favored one! The Lord is with you.” Can you imagine what this must have made Mary feel like? ~ What emotions she must have felt? Mary was a lowly peasant girl of Nazareth and no different than any other females of her day. Scripture says she was perplexed…some versions use confused, disturbed, and even troubled. And ole Gabe wasn’t done…He was sent to deliver even more exciting news to the young virgin. Imagine Mary’s reaction when Gabriel shared the big news, “You’re gonna have a Son.” Wow! Talk about being perplexed! But Gabriel didn’t stop there…he had even more to share. In his confessional announcement, Gabriel reveals three specific truths concerning Mary’s Son.
1 – “You shall call His name Jesus.”
This is the same thing Joseph was told in his dream recorded in Matthew, “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name, Joshua, meaning, God of salvation or God saves. Years earlier, the prophet Isaiah revealed the name Emmanuel, which means, God is with us. This reveals the significance of the name of the promised child in Gabriel’s confession to Mary.
2 – “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.”
This statement declares the significance of the promised child to be born and who He truly was. Gabriel was confessing to Mary the exact same truth, the psalmist wrote many years earlier. “The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.” This truth would be revealed years later with the God’s announcement at the baptism of Jesus.
3 – “The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and His kingdom will have no end.”
Many kingdoms over the course of human history would come and go, but not this kingdom. This fulfills the promise God made in His covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7:12-16. "The Lord declares that he will make a house for you—a dynasty of kings! For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he sins, I will correct and discipline him with the rod, like any father would do. But my favor will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from your sight. Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever. (NLT)
The kingdom of God will never end, but will go on forever. Jesus reveals to us He is the Alpha & the Omega; the First & the Last; the Beginning and the End.
The truths Gabriel confessed to Mary in her day, have not died away. They still apply to us today.
1 – “Do not be afraid.” Because of God’s eternal presence, there’s no need to be afraid.
When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we have nothing to fear ever again. He has already defeated the enemy and His powerful love in us can overcome our fear. Knowing that our lives are in God’s hands, we need not live in fear.
2 – “You have favor with God.” We have favor in God, but not because of what we’ve done.
It’s only because of God’s amazing grace that we have favor with Him Paul states this bluntly in Ephesians 2:8-9. "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it." (NLT)
3 – “His name will be Jesus.” ~ God sent a Savior to redeem us from a life of sin.
God promised a Messiah ~ a Deliverer ~ a Savior and He kept His word ~ His name is Jesus!
>>>It’s time now for us to make a confession…Let us take this opportunity to confess of our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord & Savior. Don't wait for a better time, for no time is better than now.
