Peace
Read Luke 1:26-38.
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed[a] to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”[b] 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”[c]
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born[d] will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant[e] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Mary. A key player in the story of Advent and the first coming of Christ. Today, we read Luke’s retelling of the day she found out that she—a virgin—would give birth to the King and Son of the Most High. She was scared—and how could she not have been? Pause for just a moment to imagine her situation. What would you have felt? Excitement? Joy? Maybe, but more likely you would feel shocked, confused, and frightened. Yet, the angel, Gabriel, tells her not to be afraid. Why? Because though the announcement brings momentary fear, it ultimately brings a declaration of peace that Mary—or anyone else—had never heard before. After so many years, Gabriel brought news of the long-awaited Savior.
As hard as it might have been for Mary to wrap her mind around what she had just heard, that event was just the beginning. The angel left, and the reality of the news sank in. The incredible promise spoken by Gabriel faded into the reality of being a young, not-yet-married woman who had to answer to her future husband, her family, and all those she encountered about the nature of her pregnancy.
Luke tells us that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months, but we aren’t told much else about what her pregnancy was like. As with any pregnancy, there were likely difficult days and happy days. Regardless, her pregnancy must have been marked by a sense of expectancy. Not just because she was anticipating the arrival of the Son of God, but because she was expecting.
As she waited for His arrival, Mary surely wrestled with doubt and fear, but she was likely comforted by the words of Gabriel. “Do not be afraid,” he said. In her waiting, Mary got a glimpse of a new kind of peace that would soon come to earth—brought about by her very own Son who, right now, was just a baby in her womb. We too, sit in this peace—knowing He has come before and He will one day come again.
[Matt Chandler (2021). (p. 27). Family Advent Devotional - Bible Study eBook. Lifeway Press. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com]