Isaiah 7:10-15 / Luke 1:26-38
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Can you even picture the scene in heaven, when God summoned Gabriel this time? “Gabriel, I have another job for you to do.” “Master, you know it is my delight to do whatever you command. Give me my orders.” “Do you see that young virgin down there, praying in Nazareth?” “Yes, Lord.” “Her name is Mary and I have some tidings for you to bring to her, like you did to Zechariah not too long ago.” “Gladly will I obey. What is the message?” Now, then, stop for a second and try to picture the growing look of astonishment upon Gabriel’s face as God tells him what he’s to say to her.
“Master, please pardon me. I don’t want to get this message wrong. Did you actually just say that I was to tell her that, uh, she was going to be the mother of… of Your own eternal Son?” “Why, yes, Gabriel. That is EXACTLY what I said.”
“Master, You are all knowing. You are truth itself. But… but… I must not be understanding what you are telling me to announce. That would make the Eternal and Infinite One, who is blessed forever and exalted in the highest, it would make Him be one of…them, of those things.”
“Oh, yes, Gabriel. You are understanding. Understanding exactly what I am saying.”
I am not sure if angels would ever have the cheek to ask: “Are you sure?” But if they do, that would have been the moment.
“But, Master, what if, what if she asks me how? What answer am I to give her?”
“You will tell her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her. You will tell her that the power of the Most High will overshadow her. And so it will be that the little One who will be born from her will be called and will be the Son of God.”
Gabriel nods his head, trying not to let it explode. And then God adds: “Oh, and women need a consolation from other woman. Don’t forget to tell her about Elizabeth and her conception and how she’s now six months along. There, now. Off you go.”
Poor Gabriel. When he came into the room where she was and showed himself to her, he was rather overcome. He cried out: “Rejoice, Mary! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.” He is overawed at being in the presence of the One who will become the Mother of God the Son. But he sees her troubled face.
Now usually, when an angel bops in in the Bible, it’s the presence of the angel itself that troubles. That’s not the case here. Mary is troubled not by Gabriel’s presence, but by his words. Why should she rejoice? What does he mean that the Lord is with her? How is she blessed among women? Gabriel, in his angelic wisdom, reads her like a book. He tells her not to be afraid, but then proceeds to lay on her the most shocking news any human being would ever hear. “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father, David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever - through endless days - for His kingdom will have no end. And you do realize, yes, that that means His life, His very human life that he will receive in your womb, will have no end. How could it? He is the Son of God! The One who WAS before the worlds began.”
When Gabriel had come to Zechariah, he saw the disbelief dance across the old man’s face at his tidings. That’s not the case now. It’s not that Mary disbelieves. It’s that she’s curious how. “How will be this be” (not how CAN this be) since I know not a man?”
The angel had been supplied with the answer. “The Holy Spirit. He will do it. He who is the Power of the Most High will overshadow you, and so the child to be born of you will be holy, the Holy, Holy, Holy One, the very Son of God.” Yes, Mary, you are the Woman of Genesis 3:15. You are the Virgin of Isaiah 7. Your child will be Emmanuel: God with us! As the wonder remains on Mary’s face, the Angel remembers to add: “Oh, and Elizabeth, your kinswoman, she who was called barren, she is now in her sixth month.”
And then Gabriel added the truth that is above all truths: “It is not possible for any Word of God to fail.” Long ages has Gabriel served the King of heaven, and this he knew with every fibre of his being: God’s every word is truth. What He promises always comes to pass, even when it sounds unbelievable and utterly impossible. His Word would not fail now either.
How long did the silence last after he finished delivering his embassy? At last, Mary speaks. “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to your Word.” And with that he was gone. He departed back to the realms of light, perhaps to await the passage of nine months when he would tear the skies apart with glory over the heads of the shepherds. Did Mary wonder, though, “Where did you go? Why could you not tell Joseph? Or my parents?” Still, she knew what to do. The angel had pointed her in the right direction. Elizabeth. That’s where she would find comfort and the confirmation of everything she’d just heard. She headed out for the Judean hills, and already her womb had become the Ark of the Living God, though no one else knew of her fearful secret, not till Elizabeth greeted her.
Gabriel back in heaven: “Well, I told her.” “Ah, and how did it go.” “Lord, you know all things. You already know. She believed. She said Amen to Your Word.” “Splendid,” said the Master, “and now we wait, but it won’t be long.”
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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