Luke 1:26-38

Get the reading here.
As with many gospel passages, particularly Christmas and Easter ones, this passage just seems too familiar sometimes. I read it and just thought "Cool." So I plugged away for a while to come up with something more expansive than just "cool" (though in some respects maybe that would be the most useful thing to write?!) and have a few little thoughts for you.
Luke maintains his detailed account (sorry I'm harping on about this a bit - I hadn't properly considered the differences between the gospels before and am now struck by the littlest things!) by giving us contexts of time, place, people.
We get our second angelic visitation here. And again, we get the "classic" angelic statement - do not be afraid! Verse 30 is interesting - Mary is not to be afraid: she has found favour with God. We aren't told how or in what way, just simply that God favours her. And because God favours her there is no need for fear. Interesting thought?
Gabriel then gives a sweeping account of the rest of the history of time! First starting off with a few details "you are to give him the name Jesus" and finishing up with "his kingdom will never end". We have no idea how much of this Mary really took in or grasped. The bit she is recorded as having questioned is the practicalities - "I'm a virgin!" Does that mean she just accepted the rest of Gabriel's statement without confusion, concern or doubt? Not necessarily - but what she did do was accept the role that God gave her (vs38) and got on with it. Perhaps she was aware of what she needed to know and understand there and then (you're going to have a baby) and what she could learn to understand in the future (and he'll reign on David's throne forever). Do we struggle to understand too much of God's plan NOW rather than waiting for Him to reveal things to us when the time is right?
I'm reading a historical novel at the moment set in courts of various kings and queens of Europe around 1500. Mary's attitude really strikes me of that kind of attitude and responsiveness to the king. The submission and readiness to serve. Perhaps another way for me to come to understand God's kingship? How much time do I spend saying "Ok, God, I'm your servant, my will is your will"? And how much "Ok, God, I'd like to be your servant but wouldn't it be rather nice if my plans worked too"?
And one final thought...shall we all get verse 37 tattoed to the inside of our eyelids? I seem to be rather good at forgetting it: For nothing is impossible with God.

Luke 1:5-25

Hello all, sorry this has been a lot slower than I intended. Partly it has been a little harder and partly "things" have been a little harder so I have been lacking in the old energy/jollity thang. But that improves! So here we go...
Get the reading here.
Luke begins his account in true detailed style. He gives us good context for the story, detailing Zechariah, Elizabeth and the event he is about to explain.
Three big themes came out of this passage for me (after I'd spent a while trying to pick away at every word...)
1) Healing
2) Angels & God's glory
3) Faith & Trusting God
So...number one...
Why was Elizabeth barren to start with? Why did she need healing? And why did God choose this time to heal her? How's that for three unanswerable questions?!
Elizabeth and Zechariah are described as blameless and upright in God's sight. As some of you will know, there are various things going around at the moment that tie certain illnesses to certain sins. I am not a fan of that thinking and heard an excellent comment in a sermon the other week on illnesses or conditions or whatever. Sickness (of any sort) is in the world because of sin. But it doesn't go around only picking on the really naughty people to have the worst diseases. No, sin let sickness in but now it does not discriminate. It picks on all of us and I would go as far as to say apparently randomly.
Now in this passage Elizabeth receives healing or release from her barrenness and becomes pregnant. However, we've all known plenty of times when prayers haven't been answered as we'd hoped in this kind of area. But that doesn't give us a reason to stop praying. More of that in part 3...
Two! Angels and God's Glory. There are a couple of verses in this passage that I just really enjoy and am uplifted by for different reasons. The first is v11. An angel appears and stands there and that's that. Matter of fact. As if it happened everyday. Of course, we know from verse 12 with Zechariah's fear and the like that it wasn't so common but it does make me consider how we view the supernatural aspect of faith and whether we should feel more matter of fact about it.
The other verses I really like are 19 & 20. Gabriel has come and told Zechariah all this good news and detail and so on and Zechariah has managed to get over his fear enough to say "Yeah right!". Typical human behaviour! And in verses 19-20, Gabriel responds. What I have found useful about this section is that it somehow reflects a sense of God's majesty for me. It is always hard to grasp all the sides of God's character (as it is with many people!) and at the moment through various things, I am trying to increase my awareness of God's majesty and kingship. Somehow, the seriousness of these verses convey that for me - Gabriel stands "in God's presence". That phrase alone has me imagining heaven and all the angels waiting on God's command and and and! The result of Zechariah's doubts also show that this is serious, God means what he says and will act. However, the verse also keeps us alongside the God who cares intimately for us - the God who sent his angel to Zechariah to tell him this news - that the prayers had been heard.
Which brings us on to number 3. Faith and Trusting God. We see two different demonstrations here. Zechariah, who we know is upright and blameless, I think had run out of steam. He was still serving God and following him but I think on this issue he'd perhaps given up. I don't think he was praying anymore for this. Perhaps it had made him pull back a little from God. So when the news is delivered he can't just accept it.
Elizabeth I think had not given up hope. I think she was praying, praying, praying. Trusting God and not giving up so when the news comes to her she says straight away "The Lord has done this for me." No question, this is what has happened.
We all have times when we feel like Zechariah or like Elizabeth. Perhaps we even feel like both of them at the same time but on different issues. There are times when we have the faith, the energy to keep plugging away asking, asking, asking. And there are times when we just get worn down. When we can't keep fighting away all the time. And God knows our limits. He answered Zechariah's prayer even though, perhaps, he had given up hope. I find myself less and less like Elizabeth so perhaps my next prayer needs to be to ask for more consistency and more energy in my prayer life? Hmm...