Sunday, December 15, 2024

 

Sunday Reflection: Gabriel, Angel Reporter

 


As we prepare for Christmas, here is a story that is often told during Advent, from Luke 1:

26 Six months after Elizabeth knew she was to become a mother, Gabriel was sent from God to Nazareth. Nazareth was a town in the country of Galilee. 27 He went to a woman who had never had a man. Her name was Mary. She was promised in marriage to a man named Joseph. Joseph was of the family of David. 28 The angel came to her and said, “You are honored very much. You are a favored woman. The Lord is with you. *You are chosen from among many women.”

29 When she saw the angel, she was troubled at his words. She thought about what had been said. 30 The angel said to her, “Mary, do not be afraid. You have found favor with God. 31 See! You are to become a mother and have a Son. You are to give Him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great. He will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the place where His early father David sat. 33 He will be King over the family of Jacob forever and His nation will have no end.”

I remember as a kid being taken by the way the Angel Gabriel (1) actually has a name, unlike most of the angels, and (2) speaks in such short, declarative sentences. I suppose that I imagined an angel speaking flowery prose, rather than the precise meter of a trained journalist.

But of course that is how an angel would provide information! This was confusing stuff, and there is no need to make it any more complicated, right? 


# posted by Mark Osler @ 1:00 AM
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