Luke 1:31

My Notes

What Does Luke 1:31 Mean?

Gabriel speaks to Mary — and the announcement is the hinge of all history. "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb" — the word "behold" (idou) signals the extraordinary: pay attention. What follows is unlike anything ever announced to a human being. Conception in the womb — a biological event — is being announced by an angel as a divine act. The natural process will carry a supernatural origin.

"And bring forth a son" — the child will be male. The specificity isn't arbitrary — it connects to every messianic prophecy that identified the coming one as a son: the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), the son of David (2 Samuel 7:12-14), the son given in Isaiah 9:6. The son Mary will bring forth is the son Israel has been waiting for.

"And shalt call his name JESUS" — Yeshua. The name means "the LORD saves" or "YHWH is salvation." As with John's naming (1:13), God names the child before conception. The name isn't decorative. It's definitive. It declares the child's identity and mission: He is the LORD's salvation embodied in human flesh.

The verse is structured with three verbs that trace the trajectory: conceive (beginning), bring forth (birth), call his name (identity). Each step is directed by God. Mary conceives by the Spirit. She brings forth the Son. She names Him what God has already named Him. The entire sequence is divine initiative expressed through a human vessel.

Reflection Questions

• 1.The name Jesus means 'the LORD saves.' When you say His name in prayer, do you feel the weight of what it declares?
• 2.God named Jesus before conception. What does it mean for your identity that God knew your name — your purpose, your calling — before you existed?
• 3.Mary received the most extraordinary announcement in history in the most ordinary way: a conversation. How does God tend to deliver His biggest messages in your life?
• 4.The salvation of the world came as a baby with a human name. What does the humility of the incarnation say about how God works?

Devotional

An angel told a teenage girl she would carry the salvation of the world. And the salvation had a name: Jesus.

The announcement is staggeringly simple for what it contains. You will conceive. You will give birth. You will name Him Jesus. Three statements that sound like any birth announcement — except this child is the one every prophet pointed to, every sacrifice foreshadowed, and every generation of Israel waited for. The salvation of God is going to be a baby. In your womb. With a human name.

"Thou shalt call his name JESUS." Yeshua — the LORD saves. The name carries the entire gospel in two syllables. Every time Mary called her son to dinner, she was saying the name of salvation. Every time she called Him in from playing, she was declaring theology. The most sacred reality in the universe was a name a mother spoke across a small house in Nazareth.

God names the child before conception — which means the identity precedes the existence. Before Jesus was a cell in Mary's womb, He was named. Before He was born, His mission was declared. The name wasn't chosen by the parents. It was given by heaven. And the name tells you everything: the LORD saves. That's who He is. That's what He does. That's why He came.

If you've ever wondered whether God has a plan for your life — whether your existence has been named before it fully materialized — Mary's announcement says yes. The God who named Jesus before conception is the God who knew your name before yours. Your identity, like His, was declared before you arrived. And the one whose name means salvation is the one who holds yours.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture