Review No.1

Because it is easy to lose sight of what we have covered, we might consider the meditations provided so far, as follows:   
   
Part 1: Introducing the Gospels     

Jesus, the Word	Jn 1:1,14	Want to find out about God? Jesus is God’s communication of Himself to us
Many Gospel Writers	Lk 1:1	Want to see the many facets of Jesus? See how Luke was one of a number who wrote about Jesus
Introducing John	Jn 20:30,31	Want to understand the meaning behind what happened? See why John is so different from the other Gospels
An Orderly Account	Lk 1:1-4	Want to be sure about the Gospels? See how Luke went about writing his Gospel

      
Part 2: The events leading up to the birth of Jesus

Introducing Zechariah	Lk 1:5-7	Want to know what happened? The Bible is all about people. Zechariah is the first one in Luke’s account to encounter God
The Flow of History	Matt 1:1	Want to understand this story in context? The Bible is history, so see it in the flow of history
Expectancy	Lk 1:8-11	Struggling with not knowing what is coming? See Zechariah’s lack of expectation
When God Talks	Lk 1:12-14,18	Wonder why God speaks? See Him speak to Zechariah to involve him and give him and opportunity to respond in faith
God’s Training	Lk 1:19-20	Wonder about unbelief? Learn how God trains us as Zechariah is prompted to act to bring about the final blessing
Big Picture Needed	Lk 1:21-25	Struggling with unbelief? Understand the need to see the big picture and to see a possible end result – God’s blessing
Wrong Circumstances?	Lk 1:26-30	Think you’re too limited for God to act through you? Watch Mary’s response

           

Wrong Circumstances?

Lk 1:26-30   In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God.
  
From Zechariah, for a moment the focus turns to Mary. There is a difficulty with this passage: it is so well known that it is difficult to get behind the words that are read in so many carol services every Christmas! There is actually another difficulty when you are doing a meditation in a series: it has a lot of similarities with the previous episode involving Zechariah and the angel Gabriel.  Nevertheless we look to see what stands out in this passage in this reading.
   
Strangely it is the observation that the angel is named. In the previous encounter his name didn’t come out until he himself revealed who he was (1:19). Gabriel appeared to Daniel (Dan 8:16, 9:21). Thus there are two mentions of him in Daniel and two in Luke 1, but no other reference in the Bible. In this passage it is Luke who tells us who he was although he doesn’t say Gabriel told Mary who he was. Presumably Mary later spoke with Zechariah and ‘compared notes’, and she subsequently tells Luke. Suffice it to say he appears a significant angel in God’s angelic host who has been entrusted with this activity of informing two people of the children they will have. Again we note that God didn’t just speak to Mary in her mind or in a dream. He made the communication much more tangible. It is such an important communication it must be done in a very memorable way.
    
Mary is a young girl getting ready to be married. Much is made about her being a virgin. Interestingly it was Matthew who linked her to the Isaiah prophecy (Mt 1:22,23, Isa 7:14) not Luke, yet Luke has her pointing out the fact. That she was, is certain, for in such a strict society there would not have been pre-marital sex as there is so commonly today, especially from a pious young woman, as she obviously is. She is pledged to be married to Joseph, a descendant of David. This is stronger than our ‘engaged’ but less than actual marriage.
    
When the angel greets her he says, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” Now Mary’s response is interesting. She was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. I suspect that her wondering comprised a number of questions which would flash through her mind. I am highly favoured? What does that mean? The Lord is with me? What does that mean? I am not conscious of God’s special presence. What can all this mean? She doesn’t say anything but the angel sees that she is perplexed and reassures her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God.” There it is again. She has found favour with God. Why? How? What does this mean? We’ll see the explanations given later.
    
Mary being greatly troubled possibly comes more out of feelings of being unworthy more than anything else. It is a most common reaction. Most of us when God comes and says really good things, if we are honest, think, “Has God made a mistake? Has He got the right person?” And of course He has got the right person!
    
I always like the angel’s greeting to Gideon, found in Judges 6: “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.” (v.12). There is no doubt whatsoever that Gideon thinks he’s got it wrong. He’s hiding away from an enemy who are oppressing his people, and ‘mighty warrior’ is the last thing he feels like. But that’s the point; he’s not yet, but that’s what God sees he will become.
     
That’s our difficulty when God speaks like this. When God speaks to us, whether apparently as we’re reading the Bible, praying, listening to a sermon, or even if someone brings a word to us, if that word is a word of encouragement speaking of how the Lord sees us, we struggle and say, “I’m not like that” but the truth is that God sees that that is how He plans for us to be. So next time it happens, respond positively and say, “Thank you Lord, that that is what you plan for me to be. Let it be!”
     
So the angel tells Mary that she is highly favoured. This simply means that the Lord thinks she’s the right person! She is special in that He has chosen her to bear His Son. Everything about her says that she is going to become a good mum for Jesus. Never heard it put like that? Well that’s what this is all about. If you’re a Mum, take it that you’re the right one for your children. You’ve got what it takes to be what they need. With God’s help it doesn’t matter what comes along, you can do it. You may think little of yourself but God thinks more of you. After all He knows what He can do with you in the days ahead. Have fun! Become the person He’s designed you to be!

 

Big Picture Needed

Lk 1:21-25   Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.  When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favour and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
   
There is always more than one way of looking at life. As we’ve suggested previously, Zechariah’s dumbness could be considered (by him and by critics) as a really hostile move by God but, as we started thinking about it, I hope you saw that it was, in fact, a means of encouraging Zechariah on, to ensure he moved into the place of blessing.
   
I’m not sure that I know of any Christian who relishes James’ injunction: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,” (Jas 1:2) because trials are, by definition, trying times. To be able to appreciate what is happening, we need to be able to see the bigger picture (what is actually going on in this) and the end results (what will be achieved by it). Unfortunately, so often, we can’t today see either of those things and we just have to trust that it is the Lord working and at the very least, “in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” (Rom 8:28).
   
So here is poor old Zechariah, having just encountered an angel and quite possibly feeling totally bemused by the whole thing. He takes a while to come back out to where the people were and when he goes to speak, he finds he can’t! Just like the angel said. He starts out in his new career of sign language and manages to convey that he’s had some sort of encounter with God, a vision at least. His time for service comes to an end and he returns home to Elizabeth. Now I think we have to draw a veil over what went on back there, over whether it was a spontaneous coming together of this couple who had been apart, and over whether he had been able to communicate with her what had happened and what he had been told. Whatever happened, the end result was that Elizabeth found herself pregnant, to her great joy.
   
It is not improper to speculate, to try to put ourselves into the picture, as long as we recognize that it is speculation. Sometimes the writers in Scripture drop in a few words but don’t give us any explanation. For instance we find here that after she finds herself pregnant, Luke tells us that she for five months remained in seclusion, and we’re not told why. Perhaps she was suffering bad morning sickness, perhaps she just felt that she shouldn’t do anything that might risk the baby, perhaps she just felt that she should ‘lay low’ until she was absolutely sure that everything was all right and the signs were that she was well and truly on the way to having a baby. After all those years of childlessness, you can’t be too sure! The truth is, we don’t know!
   
However, what we do know is that this lady is absolutely sure in her own mind what has happened: God has stepped in and enabled her to conceive! Perhaps Zechariah had managed to explain what had happened, but whatever it is, she is sure that God is involved and she is blessed! Indeed, all of the years of childlessness, the comments and gossip no doubt, about why, the feeling of disgrace at not being able to conceive, suddenly all this is wiped away and this, she is certain, is the favour of the Lord.
   
Now put that alongside Zechariah’s trials – because he still can’t speak – and you have two sides of life, one a bane the other a blessing, but the truth is that the bane was necessary to bring about the blessing. On one side of the equation we have one really dumb guy, and now on the other a really blessed woman. What does this say to us? Only what we’ve been saying already – that sometimes trials seem to have to go before blessings. But there is yet something bigger.
     
Zechariah is an example to us to show us that God does not give up on us. Yes, He may have to take some serious actions but when He knows that He can do much more for us, that is warranted. The crucial thing is that He knows what he can achieve through us and what it will take to help to bring us through to the place of achievement!
   
It’s a crazy thing – caused by the presence of sin in the world – but God desires to bless us more than we are to be blessed! Here was God wanting to end their childlessness and Zechariah can’t believe it. But, hey, remind yourself, how many times has the Lord said something great to you and you’ve said, “No, that’s too good. It can’t be.” I was once leading a group, running a course on the wonder of God’s love, and one of the ladies in the group said, “I can’t believe what you are saying. I can’t believe it is that good!” And she left the church! How terrible is that! The pressures of life had been so great that she couldn’t believe that now God wanted to bless her. Don’t let the enemy rob you of God’s offer of blessing. Take Him at His word. Receive it joyfully.