Queen Mother in the NT (Luke)

LUKE'S GOSPEL

Davidic themes in the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38)

"Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. (Luke 1:26-27, NKJV)

You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:31-35)

1) house of David - Jesus is clearly linked with the house of David. The phrase was used for the descendants of David (see 1 Sam 20:16, 1 Kings 12:19, 13:2; 2 Chr 23:2). This is used by Luke to emphasize that Jesus is truly the Davidic heir.

2) Son of the Most High - Most high is a reference to God (Gen 14:14-20,22, Num 24:16, Psalms 7:17, 2 Sam 22:14). The OT describes the Davidic king as God's son (2 Samuel 7:14, Psalm 2:7, Psalm 89:26-27, cf. Psalm 110:1).

3) throne of his father David - This is a fulfillment of Nathan's prophetic statement 'I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever' (2 Sam 7:13). Thus Jesus is the Davidic Messiah. In fact Luke 1:32-33 fulfills 2 Samuel 7:9-16:

Luke 1:32 - He will be great...

2 Sam 7:9 - I will make your name great...

Luke 1:32 - The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David...

2 Sam 7:13 - I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever

Luke 1:32 - ...will be called Son of the Most High...

2 Sam 7:14 - I will be his father, and he will be my son.

Luke 1:33 - and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, his kingdom will never end.

2 Sam 7:16 - Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me...

4) Son of God - Jesus is called Son of God not simply because he is the Davidic king. He was born through the Holy Spirit's power. Jesus is son of God by divine origin. Luke 1:35 reveals the Holy Spirit coming down upon Mary's womb. Likewise, the same Spirit came upon David (1 Sam 16:13), and the Spirit of God was said to come upon the future Davidic king (Isaiah 11:1-4), namely Christ.

While Luke 1:32-33 shows the relationship between the Davidic king and God, Luke 1:35 reveals Christ's divine sonship through the Holy Spirit's intervention. Thus Jesus being called "Son of God" doesn't just mean Davidic Messiah, but God's actual son. Ultimately, Christ fulfills the Old Testament Davidic promises and even exceeds it as the Son of God, the Messiah.

5) Virtual citation? Luke 1:31 and Isaiah 7:14 are virtually identical:

Luke 1:31 (KJV) - And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

Isaiah 7:14 (KJV) - ...Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The only major difference is the name: Jesus and Immanuel.

Here's a larger list of parallels between Luke 1 and Isaiah 7:10-17:

"house of david" (Luke 1:27, Isaiah 7:13)

"the lord" (Luke 1:28, Isaiah 7:10)

"virgin" (Luke 1:27, Isaiah 7:14)

"will conceive" (Luke 1:31, Isaiah 7:14)

"will bear a son" (Luke 1:31, Isaiah 7:14)

"you will name him" (Luke 1:31, Isaiah 7:14)

"over the house" (Luke 1:31, Isaiah 7:17)

"the lord is with you & Immanuel (God with us)" (Luke 1:28, Isaiah 7:14)

All of this may suggest Luke was drawing upon Isaiah 7:14. As we mentioned earlier, the Isaiah 7:14 prophesy points to Davidic kingship. So Luke's account of the annunciation reveals Jesus as the Davidic king. The allusion to Isaiah 7:14, which was a reference to preserving the Davidic line as discussed earlier, points to the fact that Christ is fulfilling it.

The annunciation's implications about Mary

Naturally if the child is the Messiah-king as we discussed above, then Mary is the mother of the Davidic king. She is given the call to become the Queen Mother of the King. We observed how the Annunciation (particularly in Luke 1:31-33) draws upon 2 Samuel 7:10-14 and Isaiah 7:14. Because, if Jesus and Mary are associated with the queen mother and Immanuel (Luke 1:31, Isaiah 7:14), then Mary is the queen mother who gives birth to Jesus the Davidic king, just as the queen mother gave birth to Immanuel, the Davidic king.

Davidic themes in the Visitation (Luke 1:39-45)

And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? (Luke 1:43 KJV)

my lord - The use of this word may indicate royalty. Both Luke 20:41-44 and Acts 2:34 (both written by Luke) quote Psalm 110:1 which uses the phrase 'my lord' to claim that Jesus is the Davidic Messiah. In the Old Testament, the phrase 'my lord' is used as a honorable title to address a king (2 Sam 24:21) as well as the Messiah (Psalm 110:1). More examples of 'my lord' appears ten times as an honorable title in the first chapter of 1 Kings:

1 Kings 1:13 - Go in to King David and say to him, 'My lord the king, did you not swear to me your servant: "Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne"? Why then has Adonijah become king?'

1 Kings 1:17 - She said to him, "My lord, you yourself swore to me your servant by the LORD your God: 'Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne.'

1 Kings 1:18 - But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, do not know about it.

1 Kings 1:20 - My lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to learn from you who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

1 Kings 1:21 - Otherwise, as soon as my lord the king is laid to rest with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be treated as criminals."

1 Kings 1:24 - Nathan said, "Have you, my lord the king, declared that Adonijah shall be king after you, and that he will sit on your throne?

1 Kings 1:27 - Is this something my lord the king has done without letting his servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?"

1 Kings 1:31 - Then Bathsheba bowed low with her face to the ground and, kneeling before the king, said, "May my lord King David live forever!"

1 Kings 1:36 - Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, "Amen! May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, so declare it.

1 Kings 1:37 - As the LORD was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon to make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!"

Thus, the language used by Elizabeth ('mother of my lord') may be invoking the honorable title given to the King. It suggests that Christ is the king and Mary is the mother of the Davidic king - the Davidic queen mother.