The Annunciation - The angel Gabriel was sent to Mary

By Edward Sri

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. Luke 1:26-27

What was Mary’s life like originally—before she learned that she was to become the mother of Israel’s Messiah? While Luke’s Gospel does not offer a lot of information about the mother of Jesus, it does tell us three important details that allow us to catch a glimpse of Mary’s life before the angel Gabriel visited.

First, we learn that she lives in Nazareth. This was a small village in the region of Galilee. Jesus’ coming from such an obscure village will cause him trouble later in his public ministry. Some will question how he really could be sent from God, since no prophet ever came out of this region (see John 7:52), while others will wonder whether anything good at all could come out of this little town (see John 1:46).

Second, Luke describes Mary as betrothed to Joseph. In first-century Judaism, betrothal was the first step of a two-stage marriage process. At her betrothal Mary would have consented before public witnesses to marry Joseph, and this would have established the couple as husband and wife. As a betrothed wife, however, Mary would have continued to live with her own family, apart from her husband, for up to a year. Only after this period of betrothal would the second stage of marriage take place—the consummation of the marriage and the wife’s moving into the husband’s home.

Consequently, as a betrothed woman, Mary still would have been living with her family in Nazareth. As such, it makes sense that Luke would describe her at this stage as “a virgin.” Perhaps even more noteworthy, however, is the fact that women in first-century Palestine generally were betrothed in their early teen years. This tells us that Mary probably was a very young woman when God called her to serve as the mother of the Messiah.

Finally, the most striking point we know about Mary’s life prior to the Annunciation is that she married a man from “the house of David” (1:27). This small detail indicates that Mary became part of the most famous family in all of Israel: King David’s family.

In the time of Mary and Joseph, the Jews are suffering under Roman occupation. In such oppressive conditions, being a member of David’s family no longer holds the privileges, authority and honor that it held in the glory days of the kings who reigned in Jerusalem. Instead, this Joseph “of the house of David” is a humble carpenter, leading a quiet, ordinary life in the small town of Nazareth.