Mary, Get Happy, the Lord is Happy
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. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Luke 1:26–30 ESV Read More
“In the sixth month” refers to what just happened. It was six months after Zechariah saw Gabriel and Elizabeth became pregnant. Remember that she stayed quiet for 5 months, so Mary may have now heard about her old cousin being miraculously pregnant.
She was betrothed to a man named Joseph. An ancient Jewish betrothal was as strong as a marriage. She would still be living in her father’s house for a time, but except for sleeping in the same bed, they were as good as married. We don’t know where this vision took place, except in Nazareth.
At first, Mary is troubled. Again, to see an angel almost always meant you were a prophet or you were about to die. Since she surely didn’t think of herself as a prophet, you can see why she’d be scared. On the flip side, the angel’s first words are about as positive as it gets.
His words “Greetings, favored one” are kind of like us saying “Good morning!” It’s a Rejoice or a Get happy command. That would immediately help out any fears. Gabriel then calls her one that is favored by God. It’s almost the same word twice in a row. Get happy, happy one that the Lord is happy with! would be another way of translating it.
Think that through for a minute. 90% of the time, prophets brought messages from God about how unhappy He was with what they had done. He was unhappy with them before the flood, He was unhappy with them when He gave the 10 commandments, He was unhappy with them as they were dragged away to Babylon. You might think that God is mostly unhappy with His creation. But here, at the start of the retelling of the events of the coming Messiah, there is a person that God is happy with.
As this conversation moves on, we find that God’s happiness doesn’t rest on Mary’s obedience, but on God’s grace. God’s grace brings forth obedience and humble submission from Mary.
When I think about one of the happiest times I was able to bring news to people, I get pretty happy! Here is God, not sinful and arrogant like me, purely happy with pure happy news. His happiness at sending Gabriel to Mary makes Gabriel say silly things like “Get happy you happy one that the Lord is happy with.”
Enough with the serious-faced angels and the astounded Mary. When Gabriel says “you have found favor with God.” Mary would have heard something that every one of us longs for deep down. Confidence and assurance that there is a God and that He really likes us.
We know how the story ends. Mary’s baby would turn out to open the door of God’s love for every one of us, according to God’s grace and not our own dirty holiness. Jesus would transfer God’s statement to all that call on His name so that we can all listen and hear
Do not be afraid, you have found favor with God.
Get happy.
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