And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for you have found favor with God.
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Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
But all are not as Mary, that when they conceive the word of the Holy Spirit, they bring forth; for some put forth the word prematurely, others have Christ in the womb, but not yet formed.
It was said also of John, that he shall be great, but of him indeed as of a great man, of Christ, as of the great God. For abundantly is poured forth the power of God; widely the greatness of the heavenly substance extended, neither confined by place, nor grasped by thought; neither determined by calculation, nor altered by age.
Our Lord sat not on the earthly throne of David, the Jewish kingdom having been transferred to Herod. The seat of David is that on which our Lord reestablished His spiritual kingdom which should never be destroyed. Hence it follows, And he shall reign over the house of Jacob.
The time had come when, having redeemed the world through his blood, he was to be acknowledged as king not of the house of David alone but also of the whole church; moreover, that he was maker and governor of all generations. Hence the angel properly said afterwards, “and the Lord God will give him the seat of David his father,” and he immediately added, “and he will reign in the house of Jacob forever.” Now the house of Jacob refers to the universal church, which through its faith in and confession of Christ pertains to the heritage of the patriarchs—either among those who took their physical origin from the stock of the patriarchs or among those who, though brought forth with respect to the flesh from other countries, were reborn in Christ by the spiritual washing.
We should carefully note the order of the words here, and the more firmly they are engrafted in our heart, the more evident it will be that the sum total of our redemption consists in them. For they proclaim with perfect clarity that the Lord Jesus, that is, our Savior, was both the true Son of God the Father and the true Son of a mother who was a human being. “Behold,” he says, “you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son”—acknowledge that this true human being assumed the true substance of flesh from the flesh of the Virgin! “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High”— confess too that this same Son is true God of true God, coeternal Son forever of the eternal Father! Homilies on the Gospels
Jesus is interpreted Savior, or Healing.
Or by the house of Jacob he means the whole Church which either sprang from a good root, or though formerly a wild olive branch, has yet been for areward of its faith grafted into the good olive tree.
Let Nestorius then cease to say that the Virgin's Son is only man, and to deny that He is taken up by the Word of God into the unity of the Person. For the Angel when he says that the very same has David for His father whom he declares is called the Son of the Highest, demonstrates the one Person of Christ in two natures. The Angel uses the future tense not because, as the Heretics say, Christ was not before Mary, but because in the same person, man with God shares the same name of Son.
Let Nestorius then cease to say that the Virgin's Son is only man, and to deny that He is taken up by the Word of God into the unity of the Person. For the Angel when he says that the very same has David for His father whom he declares is called the Son of the Highe...
The same shall be great, and He shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end."
But, this name was given anew to the Word in adaptation to His nativity in the flesh; as that prophecy said, You shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord has named.
Not however from Joseph proceeded the most pure descent of Christ. For from one and the same line of connection had sprung both Joseph and the Virgin, and from this the only-begotten had taken the form of man.
From what the angel said to Mary, namely, “Elizabeth, your kinswoman,” it could be supposed that Mary was from the house of Levi. Nevertheless up to this, the prophecy was established within the framework of the husbands. The family of David continued as far as Joseph, who had espoused her, and the birth of her child was reckoned through the framework of the men, for the sake of the family of David. It is in Christ that the seed and family of David are brought to completion. Scripture is silent about Mary’s genealogy since it is the generations of men that it numbers and reckons. If Scripture had been accustomed to indicate the family line through the mothers, it would be in order for one to seek the family of Mary. But, lest the words “Elizabeth, your kinswoman” were to show that Mary was also from the house of Levi, take note that the Evangelist has said elsewhere, concerning Joseph and Mary, that “they were both of the house of David.” The angel did not say to Mary that Elizabeth wa...
The words “in the sixth month” are reckoned in relation to Elizabeth’s pregnancy. “The angel was sent to a virgin,” and he said to her, “Behold, in your virginity you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” He was speaking about him who was to appear in the body. He did not say to her, “that name which is called Jesus,” but “you shall call his name.” This shows that this name is of the economy which is through the body, since Jesus in Hebrew means “Savior.” For the angel said, “You shall call his name Jesus,” that is, Savior, “for he shall save his people from sins.” This name therefore refers not to his nature but to his deeds. Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron
For the Virgin found favor with God, in that decking her own soul in the bright robes of chastity, she prepared adwelling-place pleasing to God. Not only did she retain her virginity inviolate, but her conscience also she kept from stain. As many had found favor before Mary, he goes on tostate what was peculiar to her. Behold, you shall conceive in your womb.
By the word behold, he denotes rapidity and actual presence, implying that with the utterance of the word the conception is accomplished.
You shall conceive in your womb, that hemight show that our Lord from the very Virgin's womb, and of our substance, took our flesh upon Him. For the Divine Word came to purify man's nature and birth, and the first elements of our generation. And so without sin and human seed, passing through every stage as we do, He is conceived in the flesh, and carried in the womb for the space of nine months.
And he says, You shall call, not His father shall call, for He is without a father as regards His low...
While the expectation of child-birth strikes a woman with terror, the sweet mention of her offspring calms her, as it is added, And you shall call his name Jesus. The coming of the Savior is the banishing of all fear.
But he who earns favor in the sight of God has nothing to fear. Hence it follows, For you have found favor before God. But how shall any one find it, except through the means of his humility. For God gives grace to the humble.
But since it seems shocking or unworthy to some men that God should inhabit a body, is the Sun, I would ask, the heat whereof is felt by each body that receives its rays, at all sullied asto its natural purity? Much more then does the Sun of Righteousness, in taking upon Himselfa most pure body from the Virgin's womb, escape not only defilement, but even show forth His own mother in greater holiness.
Now He assigns to the present house of Jacob all those who were of the number of the Jews that believed on Him. For as Paul says, They are not all Israel which are of Israel, but the children of the promise arecounted for the seed.
