The following is my translation of the notes and useful applications for the Holy Gospel of the Ember Wednesday of Advent, Luke 1:26–38, as they are found in Das Weimarische Bibelwerk (1877). The same reading is also used for the Annunciation of Our Lord (March 25th). Square brackets indicate my own notes and additions. For the useful applications, I recommend the reader see this very helpful article by Dr. Benjamin T. G. Mayes.
III. The appearance of the angel before Mary. (v. 26–38)
Annotated Text
26. And in the sixth month1 (after Elizabeth had become pregnant)2 the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:11, 19) was sent by God into a city in Galilee, by the name of Nazareth,
1 Greek: “But in the sixth month” [Ἐν δὲ τῷ μηνὶ τῷ ἕκτῳ]
† See Luke 1:24, 36.
27. to a virgin, * who was betrothed (but not yet joined) to a man with the name Joseph, of the house (of the lineage) of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary (who also was born of the lineage of David).
* Luke 2:5; Matthew 1:18
28. And the angel came (in an assumed human and yet majestic form) unto her (into the house in which she dwelled in Nazareth, and into the chamber in which she was staying at that time) and said: “Hail to you, favored one (graced specially by God); the Lord is with you (He stands by you with His help and grace, and will especially do good to you), blessèd are you among women. (Luther: “That is ‘You highly-praised one’ in German,” the one whom everyone will praise highly and extol as blessèd, Luke 1:48, because God will endow you with a special blessing which has never befallen any woman.)
(Genesis 6:8; Judges 6:12)
29. But when she saw him, she was frightened over his saying and thought, “What kind of greeting is this?” (I am entirely unworthy of this greeting and unaccustomed to it.)
30. And the angel said to her, “Fear not, Mary, you1 have found grace with God. (Luther: “That is, you have a gracious God.”)
1 Greek: “For you” [γὰρ]
31. Behold,1 you * will (very soon) conceive in your body and give birth to a Son, whose name you shall call Jesus (whose name means so much as “Helper,” “Deliverer,” and “Savior,” Matthew 1:21),
* Isaiah 7:14ff. (Micah 5:3)
1 Greek: “And behold” (This little word and [καὶ] serves thus to explain what preceded)
32. He will * be called great (on account of the highness of His person, His office, His miracles, and His sitting at the right hand of God) and a Son of the Most High (the only-begotten, natural, and equally eternal Son of God the almighty Father; which He will be in fact, and will be recognized and known as the eternal Son of God), and God the Lord (His heavenly Father) will give Him the throne of His father David (He will exalt Him to His right hand according to His human nature and bestow upon Him the kingdom and the lordship over His Church, indeed, over all creatures. This kingdom of Christ was prefigured by the kingdom of King David, from whose lineage Christ was to be born according to His human nature, and was promised in particular to David, 2 Samuel 7:12; Psalm 132:11, 17; Mark 11:10).
* Isaiah 9:7 (Isaiah 54:5)
33. And He will be a King over the house of Jacob (over the Church and the congregation of the saints, assembled from Jews and Gentiles, which Church was prefigured through the lineage of the Patriarch Jacob) eternally, and * of His kingdom there will be no end (and therefore it will not be an earthly and temporal kingdom, as was David’s, but rather a spiritual, heavenly, and eternal kingdom).”
* Daniel 4:31, 7:14; Micah 4:7
(Psalm 45:7; Jeremiah 23:6; Daniel 2:44; Hebrews 12:28)
34. Then Mary said to the angel (not from unbelief, as previously did Zachariah, Luke 1:18, but rather with wonderment over this high mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God, that she shall be the mother of Him, and out of a heartfelt desire for more instruction), “How should this be (that I shall will conceive and give birth to the Messiah)? For I have known no man (that I should have cohabitated with in a married manner).”
35. The angel answered and said to her, * “The Holy Spirit will come over you (He will purify and sanctify the drops of blood from which the holy body of the Messiah will be built as a pure temple; and will also give you a special divine power, that you may become pregnant without the assistance of a man), and the power of the Most High (the first and only-begotten Son of God, who is Himself the “power of God,” 1 Corinthians 1:24) will overshadow you (and in an entirely special manner will pitch His dwelling in you, namely, by assuming true human nature in your virginal body, so that the incomprehensible, invisible light of His divine nature may be seen under the shadow of the received human nature); therefore also that † Holy One who will be born of you will be called God’s Son. (Because the Holy Spirit Himself will form the fruit of your womb and preserve it from all sinful defilement; indeed, even the eternal self-subsisting power of the heavenly Father, namely, the Son of God, will receive human nature from you and will unite Himself personally with it; therefore, you will carry such a glorious fruit of the womb and bring it forth into the world, who will not only be true man, but also, in the unity of His person, will be called and be the eternal only-begotten Son of God.)
* Matthew 1:18, 20
† Daniel 9:24 (Exodus 25:22, 40:34, 38; Numbers 7:89; Luke 9:33ff; Jeremiah 23:5–6)
36. And behold (receive this sign for the strengthening of your faith), Elizabeth (the wife of the old priest Zachariah), your friend (who is related to you by blood by way of maternal line, from the tribe of Judah), is also pregnant with a son in her old age, and it is now the sixth month, (it is now the sixth month that she is with child) she who in * public reproach was called barren (until now).
* Isaiah 54:6
37. For * with God nothing is impossible.”
* Genesis 18:14; Job 42:4; Psalm 135:5–6; Jeremiah 32:17, 27; Zechariah 8:6; Luke 18:27; Romans 4:21
38. Now Mary said, “Behold, I am the maidservant of the Lord1 (entirely given to the service and the will of God); let it be to me as you have said.” (These were words of faith, humility, and obedience.) And the angel parted from her.
1 Greek: “Behold, the Lord’s maidservant!” [ἰδοὺ ἡ δούλη κυρίου]
Useful Applications
III. DOCTRINE: Concerning the manifestly great mystery of godliness [see 1 Timothy 3:16], that the Son of God has become true man, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and was born of the Virgin Mary. (v. 31–35)
PATTERN OF SOUND WORDS 