161218 The Angel’s Greeting

 Luke 1:26-29  In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” ²⁹ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

There are only two angels who are named in the Bible. Michael is one who commands the armies of the Lord and is called the Prince of the people of Israel. Gabriel is identified as a messenger from God who came to speak to Daniel. (Daniel 8:16; 9:21) Gabriel is also the one named in Luke’s gospel who was God’s messenger to Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, and to Mary the human mother of our Lord. Let’s look at some of these greetings.

I don’t know if angels get excited but I should think Gabriel would have when he understood the importance of his mission to earth. For thousands of years the angels understood that a Messiah would come to deliver God’s chosen people. I do not know when they came to understand that this Messiah was none other than the Son of God! But first, there needed to be some groundwork laid in fulfilling the prophecies. So before Gabriel could approach the royal family he needed to go to the family of one who would lay the groundwork for the Messiah. Malachi had recorded the words, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.” (Malachi 3:1) The messenger was not an angel but the angel set the scene when…

Gabriel appeared to Zechariah. Let’s look at Luke 1:8-11. Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, ⁹ according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹ And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Zechariah. There were thousands of priests who served in the temple but only one at a time would go into the holy place to offer incense. We are told that Zechariah was of the division of Abijah and that he was a righteous man married to a righteous woman. He was chosen by God even though it looked like he had just “luckily” won the lottery for the day. That was the way they chose who would go in — he was chosen by lot. I prefer to believe that he was chosen by God an the casting of dice was controlled by God.

There is no way that Zechariah would expect to meet anyone much less one of the most glorious angels! This was the very same messenger that had come to Daniel to explain the visions he was seeing from God (Daniel 8:15).

Not only was Gabriel not expected but when he did come into the temple he came…

With a strange message. At least it seemed so to Zechariah let’s look at the next two verses Luke 1:12-13. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

I suspect that Gabriel was accustomed to people being afraid when they were confronted by the angels. Zechariah certainly was afraid. And he was even deeper troubled when he heard Gabriel say, “your prayer has been heard”! What prayer? Very possibly Zechariah thought over his most recent prayers to try to determine which prayer had been heard. According to Zechariah’s own words he was an old man and his wife was well advanced in years. It is very possible that both Zechariah and Elizabeth were 60 years old or older. His wife, Elizabeth, was long past childbearing age. Please note that Zechariah did not say that Elizabeth was an old woman only that she was “well advanced in years” (Luke 1:18). The prayer, mentioned by Gabriel, was long past as well. I am sure that the two of them began their married life praying for a son. In their culture the firstborn child should always be a son and that’s what they would’ve prayed for. But, as time went by, they would slowly begin to forget that prayer because it just wasn’t going to happen according to human reckoning.

When the angel came he brought a strange message…

And a powerful promise. Let’s move forward two more verses Luke 1:14-15. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

Anytime a baby comes into the family it is a cause of joy and gladness. But when a couple has been so many years without any evidence of a child the event would have been marked by many people rejoicing.

Zechariah’s response was not exactly one of rejoicing — it was one of amazement bordering on unbelief! So Zechariah asked, “How shall I know this?” Gabriel gave him something to think about. He made this priest unable to speak until the baby would be born. This happened because Zechariah did not believe what the angel told him. Angels are not accustomed to anyone reacting to a word from the Lord with hesitation.

Zechariah needed directions on how to take care of this child. The directions had nothing to do with diapers and burping they had to do with spiritual holiness. This child that was to be born to Elizabeth would be a Nazirite from birth. He would be filled with the Holy Spirit from conception and this would continue throughout his life.

The same Angel appeared to Mary. Let’s move ahead to Luke 1:26-27. In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

Six months after the encounter with Zechariah, Gabriel appeared to Mary a godly young lady who was under contract to be married to Joseph. There have been many speculations about Joseph because we have been told very little. Usually people assume that Joseph was older by quite a few years because he was not around when Jesus was beginning his ministry 30 years later. It’s possible that Joseph was older but it’s also possible that God simply removed him from the scene to reduce confusion about the Messiah when it was time for Jesus to begin his ministry. Joseph and Mary were officially married but not yet! Neither of them would be free to go to anyone else but at the same time they had not consummated their marriage by living together.

In a very similar manner Gabriel came to Mary…

With a troubling message. Let’s look at Luke 1:29. But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

This was very confusing to her because she knew where babies came from and how they got started. She knew that she had had no intimate contact with a man. And that it was not humanly possible for her to be pregnant.

I’m reminded of the time an angel came to speak to Gideon who was hiding in the winepress to shake out a little grain to feed his family because of his fear of the Midianites. He could not believe his ears when he was told that he would be the deliverer of Israel (Judges 6:11-15). Gideon was just as unlikely a candidate to carry out the directions of God as Mary was.

Mary received, from the angel Gabriel, a troubling message…

And a promise. Let’s look ahead to Luke 1:30-33. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Gabriel saw immediately that Mary was very troubled by his statement. What a blessing to be told “you have found favor with God” however I’m sure that Mary had no knowledge of any particular thing in her life that caused her to have favor with God. In his attempt to encourage her not to be afraid he told her that she would bear a son. That son would be very special! That baby to be born of Mary would be called the Son of the Most High. He would be great and he would be given the throne of his ancestor David. Unlike human monarchs who lived and then died this King would never die. His kingdom would never end! And those words meant to assure her…

That confused her even more. Let’s move ahead one more verse Luke 1:34. And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

Immediately Mary responded with a very understandable question. This cannot be because I have had no sexual relations with a man. Not only had she not had sexual relations she wasn’t planning on any right away. So…

Gabriel explained. Let’s move forward to Luke 1:35-37. And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.”

The son that would be conceived in her body would be planted there by the Holy Spirit. Mary’s DNA would be mixed with that of God himself! When the Lord came to Abraham and Sarah to tell them that she would bear a son in her old age she did not believe him. In fact she laughed at the idea! God’s response to her would be an appropriate one to Mary “is anything too hard for the Lord?” God was able to roll back the clock in Sarah’s body and she conceived a son that she would call Isaac. The name Isaac translates from the Hebrew to English as “he laughs”! Every time Sarah spoke the name of her son she would remember that she laughed when God promised his birth.

The angel Gabriel informed Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant and in her sixth month. Everyone knew that Elizabeth was barren. Mary knew that she was long past the age of child bearing. So Gabriel used her as an example that “nothing will be impossible with God”.

Enough said…

Mary replied in faith. Let’s move to the next verse Luke 1:38. And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary laid aside her fear and prepared herself to face a very difficult several months. No doubt, she would be accused of adultery! She had not consulted with Joseph so she could not know for sure that he would be okay about all this. Indeed she might have said “Let me think about this for a while” but she did not. Mary responded in faith! She could not know how God would work these things out but she knew that he would. This child, conceived in her body, was God’s Son and would be protected by his Father against all enemies. Like Abraham of old Mary believed God and it was counted to her as righteousness.

After these events Mary went to her cousin Elizabeth because she had heard that Elizabeth was pregnant in her old age. When Elizabeth saw Mary the baby, who was John the Baptist, leaped in her womb! Elizabeth immediately recognized the presence of her Lord! Being filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth was able to worship in the presence of her younger cousin. Before John was born Mary returned to Nazareth because she had faith in God that he would take care of her. Meanwhile, Joseph, acting in faith, received her as his wife. These people were able to accept what seemed to be impossible because of their faith in God. Have you accepted what God did in those days? Is Jesus your Lord? The greatest gift you can receive, or give to others, is the gift of faith in Jesus.

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society