‘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 favoured! The Lord is with you.’
Luke 1:26-28
This is a startling story, but not just because it begins with an angel’s visit. It’s the location where he was sent that may have raised eyebrows amongst Luke’s early readers. On a surface level (the one we see with our eyes and live with our perceptions) this story could very easily have been read this way….
‘In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,’ Luke 1:26
… to a backwards backwater where nothing good comes from. Entirely unremarkable.
‘to a virgin pledged to be married’ Luke 1:27
…to an insignificant teenager, a girl with very little social status and no voice, no influence. Easily overlooked.
‘to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.’ Luke 1:27a
…to a descendant of a washed up royal line, no longer politically viable, with no wealth or power. Entirely unimpressive.
‘The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ Luke 1:27b-28
…And who believes in angels these days anyway?!
On the surface level, the obvious level that our eyes can see, this story is a non-starter.
But what our eyes see has only ever been half the picture.
Read this story. Then read deeper. Because this story is more than a story.
It’s a promise fulfilled.
Every line here evokes a story deep within Jewish history and expectation, a hope they had been living in, white-knuckle clinging to, for hundreds of years.
Read it again.
‘In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,’ Luke 1:26
‘Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honour Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan –
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
Isaiah 9:1-2
‘to a virgin pledged to be married…’ Luke 1:27
‘Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.’
Isaiah 7:14
‘…to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.’ Luke 1:27
‘For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and for ever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
‘The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ Luke 1:27b-28
Even the presence of the angel Gabriel and the style of his greeting to Mary evokes the story of Daniel in the old testament (Daniel 9:23 and Daniel 10:19). The story where God peeled back the fabric of earthly reality and reveals what had been happening behind the veil all along, the much larger story of the war between the darkness and the light, the true storyline underneath all blind human activity- the story of God quietly, firmly revealing who He is and enacting what He is doing. The story of God establishing His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.
A Kingdom breaking in to the humblest of places and the meekest of hearts.
Unremarkable. Unimpressive. So easily overlooked.
Subversive. Like light invading darkness.
There are always two stories at work. The story we see with our eyes and the deeper story of God at work. And we, daily, need to choose which one we live in. Because the story we live in decides how we live. Circumstances are only part of the story. What God is doing through them, behind them, in them – well that’s another story all together.
‘The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ Luke 1:27b-28
The Lord is with us.
God is with us.
And He invites us to live in His long story of grace, today.
Thanks Liz. These lines especially resonated for me:
“There are always two stories at work. The story we see with our eyes and the deeper story of God at work. And we, daily, need to choose which one we live in. Because the story we live in decides how we live. Circumstances are only part of the story. What God is doing through them, behind them, in them – well that’s another story all together.”