Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:29-33

Of all the women in the world, why did Mary get the job of delivering Christ into the world? Mary wondered that herself and was greatly troubled by the challenge.

TIMING: It was the right time in history. The Pharisees ruled the religion with an iron fist. The Romans ruled the population with tortuous means of crucifixion. They built roads making travel to other parts of the world possible. They ruled with peace so there was no threat of war. The universal language was Greek making communication easier. The temple was beautiful and running at full capacity, poised for destruction. During this time, the people were looking for a Messiah based on the last words from Malachi in the Old Testament, 400 years ago. No any woman from any time in history would fit. Only one from this time period.

PROPHECY: The birth line of the Messiah had to come through David since it was prophesied that a king would come on an everlasting throne from his family.

When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” 2 Samuel 7:12-16

GENEALOGY: Mary was engaged to Joseph, whose ancestors came from the line of David and more importantly, Judah. Isaac (aka Israel, Judah’s father) prophesied that a “lion” and a “ruler” would come from the line of Judah.
“Judah, your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.
You are a lion’s cub, Judah;
you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
He will tether his donkey to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.
His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk. Genesis 49:8-12

Both genealogies (or family trees) for Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 trace this line through Judah. Only a woman who came from this family line or married into this family line could be the mother of the promised Messiah.

FAVOR: The only other reason given by the angel Gabriel was that Mary was favored. God liked her. He liked her heart and her goodness. He knew she would be the best candidate qualified to rise up to the challenge. She would keep silent about her secret for years to come – so silent that her other children would never suspect Jesus was God.

All of these factors – timing, prophecy, genealogy and favor – made Mary the ideal mother for Jesus.