27To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
37For with God nothing shall be impossible.
38And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”Mary is called a virgin twice in verse 27. The Greek word in the text inspired by the Holy Spirit can not mean anything else. Mary was not simply a “young woman,” as some have claimed. She was a virgin. She had never known a man sexually (v 34). Mary was an innocent and godly person, highly favored by the Lord, blessed among women, but she was not born without sin and did not live her life without any sin at all. She was not impeccable as was Jesus.
What a message Gabriel had for Mary! The virgin girl would be with child by the Holy Spirit, a fearful and strange message. This Son would be the “Son of the Highest” (v 32), and “the Son of God” (v 35). This Son would be king in Israel and would sit on David’s throne forever, an everlasting kingdom. Jesus has never yet occupied David’s throne, which will be an earthly kingdom. He will sit on David’s throne after He returns to this earth in power and great glory.
There could not be a better explanation of the virgin birth than that given to Mary by Gabriel. The power of God “overshadowed” Mary and the Holy One conceived in her was the Son of God; yes, God in human flesh. Jesus is the God-man with a human nature from Mary and with a divine nature from the Holy Spirit. This is how Jesus became fully human and yet fully God. It was all accomplished as a miracle of God, and the example of Elisabeth gave courage and faith to Mary because it proved that with God all things are possible.