Good Tuesday morning! Another winter storm on the way this evening; we may be in for a white Christmas like much of the east coast is this morning. Are we ready to sing the snow song yet? The Christmas story has a few angels in it, but no snow. Actually, the shepherds got to see more than a few angels. We don't have an exact number only that a multitude of the heavenly host appeared. Other angels came individually to spread some good news. Zechariah saw one by the incense altar in the temple, Mary met one in her room, and Joseph saw one in a dream.
This morning, I was interested in the reactions Zechariah and Mary had to the message from God. Why did Zechariah get nine months of silence for his question, while Mary got to go visit her cousin? Does that seem fair? As usual, we need to read carefully those Bible verses and understand what happened. The first is in Luke 1:11-20
Zechariah was in the sanctuary when an angel of the Lord appeared, standing to the right of the incense altar.
Zechariah was overwhelmed with fear.
But the angel said, "Don't be afraid, Zechariah! For God has heard your prayer, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son! And you are to name him John. You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice with you at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or hard liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. And he will persuade many Israelites to turn to the Lord their God.
He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah, the prophet of old. He will precede the coming of the Lord, preparing the people for his arrival. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will change disobedient minds to accept godly wisdom."
Zechariah said to the angel, "How can I know this will happen? I'm an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years."
Then the angel said, "I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! And now, since you didn't believe what I said, you won't be able to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly come true at the proper time."
Mary's visitation comes next in Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
Gabriel appeared to her and said, "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!"
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.
"Don't be frightened, Mary," the angel told her, "for God has decided to bless you! You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!"
Mary asked the angel, "But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin."
The angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she's already in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."
Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true." And then the angel left.
Gabriel gets a bit irate with Zechariah, but not with Mary. What is the difference here? They both asked questions when given the message, but one gets punished and the other does not. As we look at Zechariah's response, we see that he wants to know how he can be sure. Of course, we have the advantage of the Bible and would wonder how someone might crave more assurance than an angel coming straight from the presence of God. Zechariah did though and Gabriel gave him nine months to be quiet and think about it.
Mary on the other hand is simply confused. No doubt her mother and a few of the ladies in the village had taken her aside and explained the mechanics of the process when she got engaged to Joseph. Gabriel's explanation probably meant no more to her than it does to you and me as far as the mechanical/biological details go, but she accepted that God would do as he said and her response is just right. For our part, we simply accept that God did as he said.
The difference is that Zechariah basically said, "I don't believe you." while Mary said, "I don't understand." God is very patient when we don't understand, but much less so when we try to tell one of his messengers that we need more than just a message from God to be sure something will happen. Looking back from our point of view with Jesus already come and gone back to heaven we might gasp a little at Zechariah's question and wonder "how could you?" Zechariah may have prayed in silence for nine months asking forgiveness and wondering the very same thing of himself. His question might be the same unthinking one that many of us could do in a similar moment of fear and awe.
In both cases though, God gave his blessing just as he promised. We know the result of one message was the birth of John the Baptist, and the other was the birth of Jesus the Savior. John was the voice crying in the wilderness to prepare for the coming of the Lord. Jesus saved us all through his death and resurrection. Belief in the moment may have come with a little difficulty for Zechariah, and with a bit of confusion for Mary, but we who have the words of the Bible need not be confused; we have the great hope of the Messiah!
Gabriel did give Mary a wonderful assurance, "for nothing is impossible with God..." We can read a very similar message in Matthew 19:26 when Jesus speaks about what is impossible for man and possible for God. If you haven't got it by now, get it as soon as you can; God can do anything he pleases.
Rejoice in the mighty saving power of God!
And have a wonderful, white Christmas!
Bucky
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