Luke 1:31-33
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.”

Jesus is not only great, but He is Son of the Most High. To Jewish ears this would be the same as calling him God. The Jews were not expecting a “divine” Messiah, this is why He was rejected.

It is clear from Mary’s reaction to Jesus in His early years she did not recognize Gabriel’s promise to be a declaration of Jesus’ actual divinity (2:41-52; Mk 3:31-33). Her hymn of praise stresses Jesus’ royal and saving role, not the “God with us” idea.

Jesus is the holy One; He is begotten of God; but the full implications of these statements were not to be realized for some time. Luke chooses to present Jesus from the “earth up” showing how, one step at a time, people came to see who Jesus really was. Luke begins with Jesus as the promised king and teacher who then reveals Himself as God in the context of His ministry. Only slowly do people grasp all of what is promised.

This approach matches how most people come to see who Jesus is. The church often tells the story from heaven down and for many people this makes no sense.

Luke’s approach is the path of people’s experience. His approach is different from the Gospel of John, which presents Jesus as sent from heaven to earth. At the start of John’s story there is no doubt Jesus was God in the beginning.

Both approaches are true; they are just different ways to consider the person of Christ.

The church has tended to emphasize John’s approach, because it is the full story, but there also is great value in telling the story gradually as Luke does.

By which approach did you come to know Jesus as God?

Which approach do you think is easier for an unbeliever to comprehend and accept