You Have Found Favor with God

Luke 1:30 “And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.’”

As the Israelites waited for hundreds and hundreds of years for a messiah to come in the form of an earthly king, Jesus came to earth in the most unpredictable way. The virgin Mary was approached by the angel Gabriel and told that she had found favor with God and indeed she had. She was to be the only person throughout the history of mankind that would ever bear a child born as a virgin and not only that, but bear the Son of God. What a tremendous responsibility and honor to receive this calling. In verse 38 she responds humbly and willingly with “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

One of the words from Luke 1:30 that I want to focus on is “favor”. The original word in Greek is χάριν | charin, but this could also be translated as “grace”. Changing the word from favor to grace, we then see that Mary has found the grace of God. She did not deserve this honor nor did she seek it. This favor or grace which appears here also appears many times throughout the New Testament including the book of Ephesians. In the second chapter of Ephesians verses 8-9 it reads “For by grace (charis) you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

The Lord has showed us grace, He has showed us favor, though we are undeserving of His salvation and underserving of His forgiveness. As the virgin mother could never boast of her own works for conceiving the Son of God, we cannot boast of our own works for the grace that the Lord has showed us. It was an act of God’s grace to task Mary with carrying Jesus in her womb and it is an act of grace that we, as sinners, are able to be saved through our faith in Mary’s son, the Son of God, Jesus.