The Annunciation

Luke 1:26-56

An angel told a teenager she would change the world — and she said yes.

In Nazareth, a nothing town in Galilee, the angel Gabriel appears to a young woman named Mary. She's engaged to a carpenter named Joseph. Gabriel's greeting is strange: Greetings, you who are highly favored! Mary is troubled, but the news is staggering — she will conceive and bear a son, the Son of the Most High, heir to David's throne, and his kingdom will never end. Mary asks the obvious question: How can this be, since I am a virgin? The Holy Spirit will come upon you. Mary's response is remarkable in its simplicity: I am the Lord's servant. May it be as you have said. She's perhaps fourteen. She has just accepted a pregnancy that will bring scandal, confusion, and a sword through her own soul.

• Faith
• Surrender
• Miracle
• Courage