Read
An Angel Tells about
26One month later God sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in Galilee 27 with a message for a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to Joseph from the family of King David. 28The angel greeted Mary and said, “You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you.”
29Mary was confused by the angel's words and wondered what they meant. 30Then the angel told Mary, “Don't be afraid! God is pleased with you, 31 and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of God Most High. The Lord God will make him king, as his ancestor David was. 33He will rule the people of Israel forever, and his kingdom will never end.”
34Mary asked the angel, “How can this happen? I am not even married!”
35The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come down to you, and God's power will come over you. So your child will be called the holy Son of God. 36Your relative Elizabeth is also going to have a son, even though she is old. No one thought she could ever have a baby, but in three months she will have a son. 37 Nothing is impossible for God!”
Reflect
A girl is just a girl is the attitude in much of the world, especially the developing world, that is the majority world, which is why more than 70 million girls around the globe are out of school.
Better that they stick to home for chores until they’re married off and can fetch a dowry; better that they’re seen as expendable second-class citizens; better that they know their place.
This is the sort of world where Mary, as a poor girl in ancient Israel, also lived.
But one day God’s messenger, the angel Gabriel, broke in to say something else: that even a poor girl can accomplish great things, great things remembered even 2,000 years later. Even a poor girl can be put in the school of life and be handpicked to lead God’s biggest mission ever.
Yes, once there was a poor girl. And God had big plans for her. And somehow God literally dwelt in her. And through this, the girl – Mary was likely barely a teen – would become a blessing through the centuries.
If this was all there is to glean from this biblical passage, then it would be plenty. But there’s more. There’s the thought that Mary isn’t that much different from you and me, that she was called even as we are called.
“Don’t be afraid,” Gabriel said to Mary, even as God says this, repeatedly, to you and me.
“God is pleased with you,” Gabriel also told her. You can imagine Mary’s soul surge with joy, even as this is just what any of us long to hear because these words are worth more than gold.
Yes, Christmas is not a story of some strangers out there. It’s a story of common people and common days, like so much of His-Story, it’s the story of you and me.
Respond
Dear Heavenly Father: Thank you for making all the girls and boys of the world, all the men and the women, daughters of Eve and Sons of Adam, including me. Thank you for calling me into your school, calling me to greatness in your sight, now at Christmas and all the year through.
Thomas Froese
Thomas Froese is a storyteller and veteran journalist of 30 years. The Canadian author and columnist writes about news, travel and life, often from his experiences in the Arab World and Africa, where he lived for 15 years and where he still returns to teach literature. His work, which has garnered numerous honours, has appeared often in the Hamilton Spectator. Thomas also writes about fatherhood and family life. Find him at www.thomasfroese.com