Luke 1:26-38 · The Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God."

38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

The Secret Story of Gabriel
Luke 1:26-38
Sermon
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In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth.... (Luke 1:26)

From our text in Luke you have heard the Bible’s account of how God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary. But this is not the only version of the story. There is another, unofficial, version which came to light recently when an ancient manuscript was discovered in Bethlehem. For those of us who like to stay on the cutting edge of biblical research, this new discovery is exciting and has changed forever the way we know the story of Gabriel. It took the experts a long time to translate this manuscript because it was so badly faded and worn. In addition, some ancient homemaker had used part of it to make out a shopping list. But now, at long last, the Bethlehem manuscript is available in Engl…

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