Luke 1:26-38
“Notice what you notice.” Today it was something really simple, really mundane that I had never seen before. It was a combination of two phrases, “…the angel Gabriel was sent…”, but more importantly, “And having come in…”. Simple, but previously lost on me. I’ve always imagined Gabriel appearing to Mary, hovering above her like the picture in our Chronological Bible shows. But here we have Gabriel essentially coming through the front door, not unlike the Lord vising Abraham (Genesis 18:1-2) or the angel who visited Gideon (Judges 6:11). These were real “people” in real earth time. The same for Gabriel’s visit to Mary…!
Previously we saw that “…an angel of the Lord appeared…” to Zacharias (v. 11). Then later we will see an angel appearing to Joseph in a dream (Matthew 1:20). But Mary has a personal, front-door encounter. She MUST be special, fully worthy of the honor so many Christians bestow on her.
Have angels come through our front doors, unannounced, or suddenly appeared in our lives, unknown and unexpected? I can detail for you a number of spiritual encounters that have happened to me that are inexplicable in their occurrence and their timing. Angels…? Or the Holy Spirit, as I discussed yesterday…? Certainly not beyond the bounds of my faith!!
Slava Bohu, indeed!!