Text: Luke 1:26-38
Theme: God chooses the humble to accomplish His impossible purposes, and invites us to trust Him with the same willing surrender Mary showed.
Biblical Studies Toolbox:
Principle: Pay attention to place names and social background.
When we study Scripture, it helps us to slow down and notice the places, regions, and social details that biblical authors include. These things shape how the first readers understood the story. A town’s reputation, a person’s age or social status, or the political climate of a region can change the emotional weight of a passage. When we ask, “What would this place or position have meant to the people of that time?”, we begin to see the world of the Bible as they saw it. This keeps us from reading our modern assumptions into the text and helps us feel the tension, surprise, or significance the original audience would have sensed.
This passage:
In Luke 1, recognizing that Nazareth was a small, unimpressive village and that Mary was a young, poor, betrothed girl helps us see the shock of God choosing her for this calling. The setting makes God’s grace and power stand out even more.
Read Luke 1:26-38
Luke 1:26–27
“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.”
Discussion Questions:
- Mary is young, poor, and from an unnoticed town. Why do you think God often chooses people from unexpected places? Have you ever seen God use someone others would not expect?
- Nazareth was an overlooked town. Have you ever felt overlooked? How did that shape you?
Luke 1:28
“And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!’”
Discussion Questions:
- What part of the angel’s greeting stands out to you the most—“favored one” or “the Lord is with you”? Why?
- When think of the idea that God is “with” someone, what qualities of a person or situations come to mind?
- What would you do if an angel appeared to you and spoke similar words to these?
Luke 1:29
“But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.”
Discussion Questions:
- Why do you think Mary was “greatly troubled” by a positive greeting?
- When something encouraging is spoken to you, do you ever feel confused or unworthy?
Luke 1:30–33
“And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’”
Discussion Questions:
- Of the promises Gabriel makes about Jesus, and which one stands out to you most?
- How do you think Mary, a Jewish teenager, would have understood the promise of an endless kingdom?
Luke 1:34
“And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’”
Read Luke 1:11-20
Discussion Questions:
- What is the difference in the heart and intention between Mary’s question here and Zechariah's question?
- Have you ever been hesitant to believe something good will happen to you? Why?
Luke 1:35–37
“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. 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. For nothing will be impossible with God.’”
Discussion Questions:
- What does the word “overshadow” make you think of in the Bible?
- Why do you think Gabriel point to Elizabeth’s pregnancy? What is Mary meant to learn from that?
Luke 1:38
“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.”
Discussion Questions:
- What does Mary’s response reveal about her heart and her faith?
- How would agreeing to this have cost her in her life?