Some people seem to be born with a sense that they are destined for great things; Mary was not one of them. When the angel Gabriel suddenly appeared to her and told her she was “highly favored” and that the Lord was with her, Mary was perplexed. She wondered what the angel’s words might mean (vv. 26–29). Clearly, she did not anticipate becoming the mother of Israel’s Messiah. Engaged to Joseph at this point but not yet married; her only ambition was to be a carpenter’s wife.

The angel’s greeting to Mary echoes the call to serve God given to others in the Old Testament (Judg. 6:12; 2 Chron. 15:2). If Mary was perplexed because she wondered what God was about to ask of her, she did not have to wait long. “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High,” the angel said. “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (vv. 31–33).

Mary was well familiar with the promises of Scripture. So, we may be surprised by her question in verse 34. Instead of asking why she was chosen, she wondered how God would accomplish this. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” Mary was already engaged. Why didn’t she assume all this would occur after her marriage to Joseph? The angel’s reply emphasized the Child’s miraculous birth and His singular nature. This conception would be like no other because Mary’s Son would be “the holy one” who was also “the Son of God” (v. 35). Zechariah questioned God’s ability to do what the angel promised. Mary asked about the process. One question springs from doubt. The other from wonder.

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