December 11 –Luke 1:26-38. When an Angel Shows Up.

December 11 –Luke 1:26-38. When an Angel Shows Up.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”


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.” 


“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 


The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on 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. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” 


“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

I think what we should learn from some of these stories is that when an angel shows up, we don’t question the words that come out of his mouth.  If he tells you, as an old man, that you are going to have a son … believe him.  If he tells you that, as a virgin, you are going to conceive a Son … believe him.

The other thing I notice from these stories is the simple thing that both Zechariah and Mary focused on.  The angel delivered a whole lot of information and she heard one thing. She heard that she was going to have a baby – and she was still a virgin.

She didn’t focus on the fact she would bear the Son of God … the holy one or that God would give him the throne of David … a kingdom with no end.

She focused on one thing.  The one thing that would impact her.

It’s so easy to miss the impact of the big picture by the one thing that upsets the quiet of our own little world.

Mary finally heard his words and realized that doing what God called her to do was more important than her own worries.