Replies

It appears that you may not have read Luke> Here you go --

26: ¹⁰ In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
27: to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.
28: And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you."
29: But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
30: Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31: Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
32: He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, ¹¹ and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
33: and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
34: But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" ¹²
35: And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
36: And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived ¹³ a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
37: for nothing will be impossible for God."
38: Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
39: During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,
40: where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
41: When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,
42: cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
43: And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord ¹⁴ should come to me?
44: For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
45: Blessed are you who believed ¹⁵ that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
46: And Mary said: ¹⁶ "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
47: my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
48: For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
49: The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
50: His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him.
51: He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
52: He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.
53: The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty.
54: He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy,
55: according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
56: Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

And the footnotes:

⁸ [19] I am Gabriel: "the angel of the Lord" is identified as Gabriel, the angel who in Daniel 9:20-25 announces the seventy weeks of years and the coming of an anointed one, a prince. By alluding to Old Testament themes in Luke 1:17, 19 such as the coming of the day of the Lord and the dawning of the messianic era, Luke is presenting his interpretation of the significance of the births of John and Jesus.

⁹ [20] You will be speechless and unable to talk: Zechariah's becoming mute is the sign given in response to his question in v 18. When Mary asks a similar question in Luke 1:34, unlike Zechariah who was punished for his doubt, she, in spite of her doubt, is praised and reassured(Luke 1:35-37).

¹⁰ [26-38] The announcement to Mary of the birth of Jesus is parallel to the announcement to Zechariah of the birth of John. In both the angel Gabriel appears to the parent who is troubled by the vision (Luke 1:11-12, 26-29) and then told by the angel not to fear (Luke 1:13, 30). After the announcement is made (Luke 1:14-17, 31-33) the parent objects (Luke 1:18, 34) and a sign is given to confirm the announcement (Luke 1:20, 36). The particular focus of the announcement of the birth of Jesus is on his identity as Son of David (Luke 1:32-33) and Son of God (Luke 1:32, 35).

¹¹ [32] Son of the Most High: cf Luke 1:76 where John is described as "prophet of the Most High." "Most High" is a title for God commonly used by Luke (Luke 1:35, 76; 6:35; 8:28; Acts 7:48; 16:17).

¹² [34] Mary's questioning response is a denial of sexual relations and is used by Luke to lead to the angel's declaration about the Spirit's role in the conception of this child (Luke 1:35). According to Luke, the virginal conception of Jesus takes place through the holy Spirit, the power of God, and therefore Jesus has a unique relationship to Yahweh: he is Son of God.

¹³ [36-37] The sign given to Mary in confirmation of the angel's announcement to her is the pregnancy of her aged relative Elizabeth. If a woman past the childbearing age could become pregnant, why, the angel implies, should there be doubt about Mary's pregnancy, for nothing will be impossible for God.

¹⁴ [43] Even before his birth, Jesus is identified in Luke as the Lord.

¹⁵ [45] Blessed are you who believed: Luke portrays Mary as a believer whose faith stands in contrast to the disbelief of Zechariah (Luke 1:20). Mary's role as believer in the infancy narrative should be seen in connection with the explicit mention of her presence among "those who believed" after the resurrection at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:14).

¹⁶ [46-55] Although Mary is praised for being the mother of the Lord and because of her belief, she reacts as the servant in a psalm of praise, the Magnificat. Because there is no specific connection of the canticle to the context of Mary's pregnancy and her visit to Elizabeth, the Magnificat (with the possible exception of v 48) may have been a Jewish Christian hymn that Luke found appropriate at this point in his story. Even if not composed by Luke, it fits in well with themes found elsewhere in Luke: joy and exultation in the Lord; the lowly being singled out for God's favor; the reversal of human fortunes; the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. The loose connection between the hymn and the context is further seen in the fact that a few Old Latin manuscripts identify the speaker of the hymn as Elizabeth, even though the overwhelming textual evidence makes Mary the speaker.