Luke 1:37 ESV Context
The first chapter of Luke very fittingly lays the backdrop to Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth and life. He begins with Gabriel’s visits to Zechariah, then to Elizabeth to announce the coming of John the Baptist.
And Luke continues with Gabriel’s visit to Mary to announce that she has been chosen among women.
Gabriel’s last statement to any of these three humans during this encounter.
And it emphatically punctuated the news he brought—most significantly that Mary, a young virgin engaged to be married, was pregnant with the Messiah.
Read and Learn More 100 Bible Verses To Overcome Worry and Anxiety
Luke 1:37 ESV Meaning
It stands to reason that although Mary is favored by God and has humbly submitted to the Lord’s will for her life, she would be worried about how all of this would work out.
Luke doesn’t offer the reader that morsel, but we know she is only human. She had to have been concerned with how to tell Joseph, her betrothed, and what he would undoubtedly think and plan to do.
She would have to suffer the judgment and misunderstanding of all her family, of her entire community. Her whole world was turned upside down in a miraculous moment. This had never happened before. To anyone. Ever. Scary!
To her credit, Mary took Gabriel at his word: She believed. Mary knew the Lord had done this because she knew she hadn’t. So she let the anxiety-causing details of the situation take a backseat to the Word of the Lord.
Luke 1:37 ESV Application
Oh, that we would have that same resolve! If we could lean into the Word of the Lord and believe his promises—after all, nothing will be impossible with God; he is in charge of the real.
Really big and the very, very small—our burdens are not too much for him. He cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. He calls the stars by name and counts the hairs on our heads. He holds us in the palm of his hand.
The heavens are his throne, and the earth is his footstool. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
How intently he cares for us and our worries and anxieties. Today we can release our encumbrances to the Lord, for whom nothing is impossible.
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”