Highly Favored - Luke 1:28

Luke the physician wrote, “in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary”, and in chapter one and verse twenty-eight where we read:

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, you that are highly favored, the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women.

The verse reads, “And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, you that are highly favored, the Lord is with you: ...” Luke began with the words, “and the angel” or “and the messenger and envoy” “came in unto her” which means “entered into the place where Mary was”, “and said” or “and uttered, declared and proclaimed”, “Hail” which means “rejoice and be exceedingly glad”, “you that are highly favored” which means “oh one that is made graceful, charming, lovely, agreeable, pursued with grace, compassed with favor and honored with blessings”, “the Lord” or “the One in whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master and the title to God the Messiah” “is with you” which means “is alongside of you Mary”. Luke shared how the “angel Gabriel” entered to where Mary was and encouraged her to be “exceedingly glad” because she was “compassed with favor and honored with blessings” from God.

The verse continues, “... blessed are you among women.” Luke added the words, “blessed are you” which means “celebrated, consecrated, made happy and prosperous are you Mary” “among women” or “with other female human beings”. Luke shared how “Gabriel” told “Mary” she should “rejoice exceedingly” because God has “favored” her with His presence and “blessing” among all other women who have lived.

When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we see this blessed visitation of the “angel Gabriel” to the “virgin Mary”. “Mary” was chosen over every other woman who lived or will live for this special assignment from God Almighty. We shall discover more of her “service” to the Lord in the next few verses, but for now let it suffice us to know this is part of God's divine plan to bring about the “salvation” of mankind. God desires to have an personal and eternal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when a person studies this wonderful plan designed by God the Father, the best response is to believe and trust in Him as their personal “Savior and Lord”.

Next time Luke shares when Mary, “saw him, she was trouble at his saying”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".