Unexpected Change: Embrace God's Unexpected Changes As He Comes and Saves People

Angel Gabriel Visits Priest, Zacharias in vv.5-25

Let me just outline our reading in its context in Luke’s gospel.

After a sensible, rational, organized, intro, Doctor Luke describes TWO outright supernatural visits by an awesome angel, Gabriel.

In the first couple of dozen verses before we began our reading, Gabriel visits an aged and disappointed Jewish priest named Zacharias who’s living in a very dark era for God’s people, Israel...

In v.5, Luke goes out of his way to mention “the days of Herod the king”. The days of Herod, the Great Builder and brutally cruel despot — these were not the best of days for the Jewish people!

But this priest and his wife faithfully prayed and served God in spite of the national and the personal discouragements that plagued them.

This is the spiritual context of our reading: God has His faithful remnant; even in the darkest days, there were people like Zacharias, meaning “Yahweh remembers”, Elizabeth meaning “the oath of God”, Simeon meaning “hearing”—2:25–35, and Anna meaning “grace”—2:36–38.

This was the providential time of God in which Zacharias was chosen, just once in a lifetime, to burn the incense as appointed priest in the 2nd most Holy Place of the Jerusalem Temple.

He had prayed most of his married life for a son; and now, while he’s officially praying, God announces, through the mighty angel Gabriel, the answers to all Zacharias’ prayers.

You know angels are mentioned twenty-three times in Luke, but only two good angels are actually named in Scripture: Gabriel (; ; , ) and Michael (, ; ; ; ).

How kind is God that He has the first words from this mighty messenger from heaven as, “Fear not!” And this problem, of fear needing assuaging, happens a lot, not only in our lives today, but in this gospel 7 times at least (1:13, 30; 2:10; 5:10; 8:50; 12:7, 32). And the “joy” and “rejoicing” which can come from God’s encouragement are mentioned 19 times in Luke!

But Zacharias’ response was not so positive and prompt as say Mary’s was to be 6 months later.

Zacharias disbelieves too much and asks too skeptically for a sign when he said, “How can I know this?” (See .) His request was answered; he was rendered dumb until his promised son was eight days old! Faith opens our lips in praise to God, while unbelief silences us ().

What an honour for this elderly couple to be the parents of the last and greatest of the prophets acc to (), the man who would introduce the Messiah to the nation!

But how sad that Zacharias, a priest, was not ready sooner to herald abroad the good news that God was about to send His Saving Messiah into the world!

Angel Gabriel Visits Peasant-Youth Mary in vv.26-38

When Gabriel visits Mary in Nazareth, he tells her that she’ll be the mother of the Messiah.

Mary was probably a teenager, for Jewish girls married young.

She was engaged to a carpenter named Joseph acc. to .

She came from the line of David acc. to , and she was a virgin acc. to v. 27 & .

she was a virgin acc. to v. 27; .

she was a virgin acc. to v. 27; .

V.27 In those days, engagement was tantamount to marriage; to break an engagement was like a divorce; that’s why Joseph was called her “husband” before they were finally wed in

V.28 Gabriel’s greeting is literally, “Grace (to) you who are highly graced!”

Although she was a godly young woman, it was God’s grace, not Mary’s character, that made her God’s choice.

This phrase “highly graced/favoured” is used of all God’s people in (“which He freely bestowed on us” [nasb]). So, our Catholic lay friends should keep in mind what their better Scripture-scholars say nowadays: that Mary is said here to be blessed “among women” but not blessed as if she were “above all women”.

V.29-30 Mary DID need more reassurances about God’s grace and favour — don’t you recall times when you become perplexed or confused or distracted from resting upon God’s grace?

We need to remember that God’s dealing with us as individuals, like Mary here, is paralleled by how He deals with us at the large-scale level. Both approaches are based on grace...

The coming of the Son of God to earth involved, not only our personal salvation, but also, the specific fulfilling of God’s promises to His people Israel according to vv. 32–33.

To “over-spiritualize away” these promises is to deny to the Jews what God specifically promised them according to the OT Scriptures such as ; ; .

READ vv.30-33 If the angel’s words in vv. 30–31 are to be taken straightforwardly,

If the angel’s words in vv. 30–31 are to be taken straightforwardly, so should his words in vv. 32–33.

so also should his words be taken in vv. 32–33.

Sometimes we underestimate God’s faithfulness at the big group level because we have not yet seen God fulfilling some of our individual or family longings...

Zacharias was a bit disillusioned by the time Gabriel came to him...

Zach had a problem believing Gabriel’s message at both levels because he had lost heart.

But unlike Zacharias, Mary had faith that God would do what He promised.

Instead, Mary was curious, She asked, “How shall this be?” and not “Whether this will be?”

If we’ve followed Jesus for any length of time, we also know to expect difficulties in life.

Permitting those trials …or even shaping some of the ways that trials impact us inwardly, is one of the most mysterious ways that the Lord helps us grow.

Sometimes God even asks us to do things that seem outrageously unpopular, or accept extremely difficult experiences…

He often leads us into demanding circumstances because He not only wants to mature us …He wants to fulfill and use us in those unusual settings.

But when God unexpectedly asks us to step out in a way that jeopardizes our comfort or our life, we often resist or doubt—even when we realize He’s asking us to play a role in His plan!

There aren’t many requests more difficult than what He asked of Mary & Joseph …and Elizabeth & Zechariah. But Mary stands out in these early gospel stories in an exemplary way…

Mary stands out in these early gospel stories in an exemplary way…

That’s why it’s helpful to study the ways in which she responds to and grows in the Lord.

QUOTE: by Schaeffer from True Spirituality

? QUOTE: by Schaeffer from True Spirituality ?

Luke records Gabriel’s appearance to Zechariah, announcing the birth of John, and follows immediately with an account of Gabriel’s appearance to Mary, announcing the birth of Jesus.

But Luke isn’t just writing about models of good behaviour or healthy faith; Luke’s not just comparing Zacharias and Mary for the sake of encouraging ideals

Dr Luke ESPECIALLY uses these back-to-back // accounts to highlight the contrasts & similarities in relationship between John & Jesus.

Gabriel announces the births, names the sons, and proclaims the future impact these two sons would have on the world… …in terms of that will bring salvation, healing and freedom to the world.

Yes, Zacharias and Mary both responded to Gabriel, in contrasting ways, but Gabriel answered both of them by emphasizing God’s power to ACT so as to SAVE people.

nasb New American Standard Bible

recall QUOTE: by Schaeffer from True Spirituality ? Courage without presumption

What makes these announcements different are the recipients’ life circumstances. Zechariah was a priest serving God in the temple when Gabriel appeared to him. He and his wife, Elizabeth, were old and had no children. We can presume that the couple wished for a child and even prayed that God would give them one. For Zechariah and Elizabeth, Gabriel’s news was eventually cause for great celebration.

In contrast, Mary was just a young girl. She was betrothed to Joseph but not married to him. In Mary’s culture an unwed woman getting pregnant was not only shameful, it also violated biblical law. Gabriel’s message to Mary was cause for great anxiety. He prefaced his announcement by saying, “Do not be afraid,” but how could any girl not be afraid? How could Mary explain this pregnancy to her family and to Joseph, her betrothed? Who would believe her? Would she be cast out of her village? Would she be stoned? Yet rather than allowing fear to overcome her, Mary immediately displayed great courage and faith (without presumption) as she humbly embraced her role as “the servant of the Lord.”

Mary had every reason to feel anxious over Gabriel’s announcement.

Betrothal in Mary’s day carried a weight equal to marriage.

As a legally binding arrangement, a betrothal could be broken only by divorce.

Even before marriage, the betrothed couple would often be referred to as husband and wife.

And most significant for Mary’s situation, any sexual infidelity during the betrothal period was considered adultery and was punishable by death under the Mosaic law. Her pregnancy placed her on a path of family shame and community scorn, and it put her very life in danger.

The Gospel of Matthew gives us a glimpse into Joseph’s reaction (). Joseph is clearly upset when he learns Mary is pregnant. He decides to break their engagement quietly to avoid disgracing her publicly, indicating the news hadn’t spread much outside the immediate family. Since breaking a betrothal was a legal action—essentially a formal divorce—Joseph is obviously not convinced by Mary’s explanation that she is pregnant “by the Holy Spirit.”