Luke 1:32 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

NIV: 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,

NASB: He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

CSB: He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

NLT: He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.

KJV: He 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:

NKJV: He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

The angel Gabriel is explaining what will become of the Child born to Mary, a virgin (Isaiah 9:6–7) living in Nazareth (Luke 1:26–31). This miraculous conception will produce Jesus.

The title "Most High" is a reference to God. This is from the Greek hypistos, the same word Jewish translators would use when rendering the Hebrew term 'elyown. That is part of the Old Testament phrase 'El 'Elyon, literally meaning "God Most High" (Genesis 14:18–20). This phrase is an important part of Gabriel's message. Hebrew used the concept of a "son" to imply someone who had all the qualities of the father. Jesus, as the Son of the Most High God, will have all divine qualities (Hebrews 1:3). Both Jesus' friends (Matthew 16:16) and His enemies (Mark 5:7) will acknowledge this status. Jesus will claim it for Himself (Luke 22:70). All who properly understand Christ's divine nature will accept this, as well (John 1:49; 2 Corinthians 1:19).

God promised to send a Messiah through the line of king David (2 Samuel 7:12–16). This King from the future generations of David's family would provide ultimate, eternal victory for Israel (Isaiah 9:6–7). The last words of Gabriel's message reinforce this aspect of Jesus' role as Messiah (Luke 1:33; Psalm 45:6–7). Mary is of David's family line (Luke 3:23–38), as is the man to whom she is betrothed, Joseph (Matthew 1:1–17).

Mary likely understood both references and their implications. In a short pair of phrases, Gabriel is telling Mary she will give birth to God incarnate, the Savior promised by prophecy.

Luke 1:26–38 relates how a virgin learned she would miraculously bear the Son of God. The angel Gabriel comes to Mary, who is engaged to a man named Joseph. Gabriel tells Mary that she will bear a son, to be named Jesus. He will be the Promised One long awaited by the people of Israel. Since Mary has never been intimate with a man, God will miraculously conceive the child. Gabriel is the same angel who predicted the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:13), and he informs Mary about this happy occurrence for her relative, Elizabeth. Mary responds in submissive faith. A parallel account is found in Matthew 1:18–25.

The angel Gabriel predicts two miraculous births. The first is a son born to Zechariah and Elizabeth: an older, childless priest and his wife. Because Zechariah initially doubts this message, he is temporarily made unable to speak. Their child will be known as John the Baptist, a powerful herald of the Messiah. The Promised One whom John will proclaim is the second birth predicted by Gabriel. He tells an engaged virgin, Mary, that God will miraculously conceive His Son in her. The two women meet and rejoice over their blessings. John's arrival sets the stage for Luke's familiar account of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Luke was a travelling companion of the apostle Paul (Acts 16:10); his book of Acts is a direct "sequel" to the gospel of Luke (Acts 1:1–3). Those two books make up more than a quarter of the New Testament. Luke begins by explaining how his orderly approach is meant to inspire confidence in Christian faith. His work is based on eyewitness interviews and other evidence. The first chapter details the miraculous conceptions of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. Chapter 2 continues with Jesus' birth.

Luke was a traveling companion of Paul (Acts 16:10) and a physician (Colossians 4:14). Unlike Matthew, Mark, and John, Luke writes his gospel as an historian, rather than as a first-hand eyewitness. His extensive writings also include the book of Acts (Acts 1:1–3). These are deliberately organized, carefully researched accounts of those events. The gospel of Luke focuses on the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Luke's Gentile perspective presents Christ as a Savior for all people, offering both forgiveness and direction to those who follow Him.