Heaven Kisses The Earth

Heaven bowed down and visited a thirteen-year-old girl (Luke 1:26-38) and her old cousin (Luke 1:5-25). Consider this, the old and the young were visited the same period. The divine mission: Tell them they would have a baby. They were to stay close in touch with each other.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, 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. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:26-28)

Mary was young, green, virgin and engaged to be married to Joseph. The angelic salutation is very informing: "Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you." Herein lay the meat. God recognised her as royal as only Kings got such. The angel announced she was a favoured one. Pray, what good would a thirteen-year-old have done to evoke such grace? Was it about her or the heavenly agenda? She heard that the Lord was with her and had decided to deposit heavens will in her.

They recognised the woman in the teenage girl. Talk about the God who sees the end from the beginning. They trusted her enough to disclose the details of the child's destiny. The angel allayed her fears and revealed that she had found favour with God. How come? The part of this story that intrigues me is the fact that this teenage girl was bold enough to ask questions.

We have seen older folk who also got an angelic visitation and who did not compose themselves in Mary's manner. She quizzed the angel, received answers convincing enough to make her agree to be the Saviour's carrier. To this, she got a seal: The Holy Ghost! I like Mary, where others feared, she quizzed. She knew it would be tough, the shame, the embarrassment would not be easy, but she chose to bear the Lord. Pray, where did this thirteen-year-old gather such depth? No wonder she was blessed amongst women.

What is it about Elizabeth that got heavens attention? Is it safe to assume that her lineage being good and of the priestly stock, had something to do with it? She was of Aaronic stock, and her accreditation said she was righteous. She and hubby served faithfully, and they were rated blameless yet, they had no child. Can someone tell us how grace is distributed?

She was reported barren and old! They continued serving and then came the day, the angel showed up, promised a child and even gave details of his mission on earth. The man was old; he's waited for this for years; then it came. Really, why at that time? What happened to all these years? Why wait till madam was well stricken in years?

What is it about angels that make men fear? We learn many things:

* • Angels stand in the presence of God.

* • Angels are God's messengers to us who are heirs of salvation

* • Angels do only the bidding of the Lord

* • Their appearance sends the chill down the spine of man.

* • Their processing methods are not like ours.