The anxiety that had gripped him – all but consumed him – since he
had received his instructions held him motionless before the small
village. “
This can’t be right,” he thought.
“This backwater village in this backwater region can’t be the place.” He almost thought
“There must be a mistake,”
before he caught himself. No, there was no mistake, but that didn’t
ease the sense of despair, the dread that had overwhelmed him since he
had been sent on this mission.
He thought back to his
summons before the Throne. There, before the Most High and a small group
of angels, the Word had told him that He was going to leave heaven and
go to Earth as a human, to become the King of the wayward and rebellious
people and turn them back to the Father. He thought at that moment the
heavens would fracture and they would all fall into the abyss, but that
was just the beginning. The Word went on to explain how He was going to
become human, and who His earthly mother would be and that he, Gabriel,
in his role as messenger was to go and prepare her. He had already
carried out a similar mission six months ago by appearing to Zechariah,
the priest and foretelling the birth of a son. He chuckled a bit at
having left Zechariah speechless. But that was different; Elizabeth was
just old and childless. This… this was something altogether different.
Now
Gabriel stood in the dark on the road before the little village of
Nazareth, a collection of mud houses nestled on a hillside in Galilee,
one of many such villages, none notable. Some of the houses seemed
piled on top of others against the hill, mud roof of one becoming the
courtyard of another. Some were white-washed; most were not. At the end
of the street a few awnings stretched across poles marked where the
vendors made a market each day. The market was empty now, as were the
streets. All of Nazareth was indoors.
Gabriel
strode quickly to the house. Pausing before the door, he tried to
muster as much angelic aura as he could, but aura – and almost
everything else – had been sucked out of him. He pushed the heavy
curtain aside and stepped into the room. She was alone, as he knew she
would be. She was startled at his abrupt entrance, but not as much as
Gabriel was.
“A child!” he thought.
“She’s just a child.”
He knew the way of the humans – the betrothals at a very early age, the
arranged weddings – but to actually see her just confirmed all the dread
he felt.
“What was He thinking? This skinny girl cannot be the mother of the King of Israel!”
Pushing
aside his misgivings, Gabriel set to his task and exclaimed in his most
angelic voice, “Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with
you.” He was chagrined at the weak and trembling way the proclamation
actually came out. He cleared his throat.
Mary stared at Gabriel in shock. She was startled, but there was nothing to be afraid of in Nazareth.
Certainly there was nothing threatening about this man, stranger though
he was. What troubled her was his greeting. Mary was a non-person in Nazareth;
hardly anyone ever spoke to her at all, least of all strangers, and
this was certainly not what a stranger said to you – not even a stranger
who burst into your house unannounced. This wasn’t even a greeting that
the Rabbi would make – not that the Rabbi ever spoke to her – but this…
this greeting made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
Gabriel, aware that he had startled Mary, quickly said, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God.”
Now
Mary was afraid. First, this stranger knew her name. The neighbors
didn’t even know her name. Then he said he knew something about her that
she didn’t know – and what he knew came from God. Deep down, the first
tiny spark of knowledge of who this stranger was and what was happening
snapped into being. Yes, now Mary was very afraid.
“You
will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the
name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most
High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he
will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Mary
heard the words but they didn’t make sense. Then she began to process
them, first the part about having a son, then the part about her son
being given the throne of David. The little spark was burning white-hot
now. Then she went back to the beginning – the part about being with
child. Yes, she was engaged to Joseph, and they would marry soon, but
something told her this was not what was meant. She lowered her eyes
for a moment, then raised them to Gabriel and said, “How can this be?
I... I’ve never been with a man.”
“The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you. That’s why the holy one to be born will be called the
Son of God.”
Gabriel saw the flash of terror pass
through Mary like a lightning bolt. She turned her head away, but
Gabriel had seen her eyes wide with alarm.
“It’s too much for this child,” he thought.
“She can’t handle this.”
He sought some way to comfort her. He said gently, “Your cousin
Elizabeth is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said
to be barren is in her sixth month. Nothing is impossible with God.”
Mary
looked at the angel, for she knew full well now that this stranger was
from God. Her heart pounded as if it would leave her body. Her mind
raced from one thought to another.
God has chosen me… What will
Joseph say…? It’s not possible… Nothing is impossible with God… What
will mother say…? The Messiah – at last…! This can’t be happening to me…
Me! God has chosen me…! Why me…? What will father say…?
There’s an angel standing in my house… What will the neighbors say…?
What of the shame…! Mother of the Messiah…! What will Joseph’s family
say…? What…?
Gabriel was stunned. He
felt the emotional turmoil, sensed the burning questions as they caromed
through her consciousness. He was certain she was going to bolt into
the street and he positioned himself squarely before the door to stop
her flight when it came. The whole future of creation hung on the answer
from this child and he was powerless as to its outcome.
Slowly,
the Spirit calmed her mind, softened the trip hammer of her heart, and
brought stillness to her thoughts. She looked at Gabriel a long time,
then bowed her head and said. “May it be to me as you have said.”
Gabriel
blinked once or twice, trying to decide what to do next, but there was
no next. His work was done. There was nothing more to say, so he just
turned and stepped back into the street. He paused in the dark passage,
thinking about what had just happened. He had delivered a preposterous
message to a totally improbable girl and she had received it in stride –
and was prepared to act on it. Smiling to himself, he set off to find
Joseph.
