Luke 1:1-38

Today, I decided to veer away from Romans for a while and head over to Luke as Christmas quickly rushes in. Today brought the prelude, or the beginning of the birth story. Here we had the angel Gabriel announcing to Elizabeth and Mary that they will have children. Once again we have God working through the unlikeliest of people: Elizabeth who is old and barren (kind of reminds you of Sarah a bit) and Mary who is a virgin. Yet we see that God is capable of anything. When we read these stories it is easy to see a tranquil seen off acceptance. As I read through this year I see fear, but acceptance and faith.

We read that Mary pondered these things. When we read this the temptation is to picture something like a monk or a nun pondering the greatness of God. Perhaps that is what she was doing. However, my hunch is the ponderings were more along the lines of, "YIKES!!! What the %@$&?!!!" First of all an angel has just spoken to her. I don't think angels are like the serene figurines we find in book stores, because every time they show up in the bible they have to start with, "Fear not!" These people were scared to the point of needing to clean their undergarments. Second, Mary was just told that as a virgin she was going to have a baby and on top of that this baby is the son of God. That sounds to me like a huge, impossible responsibility. Yet, through her fear she discovers that there is enough faith to accept this calling set before her by Gabriel, by God.