The angel Gabriel visits Mary

DIVINE ENCOUNTERS!

By Helen Jesze, 18^th December 2020

Bible readings taken from Luke 1 + 2 NIV

Thinking it was to be just like any other day when he was going about his priestly duties in the Temple, Zacharias (also known as Zechariah) suddenly encountered an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. It was Gabriel, who stands in the Presence of the Lord and is often assigned to bring special messages. Zacharias was terrified but Gabriel said, “Do not be afraid, your prayer is heard…”. The prayer that he and his wife, Elizabeth, had prayed all their married life, was that they would have children, but now they were old and this had never happened.

Gabriel told Zacharias many other things about this special child who would be born to them, and that he would be the forerunner of the Chosen One who was to come. Zacharias could not believe this and the angel said that as a sign to him, he would be struck dumb and not able to speak until the child, John, would be born. After he returned home, although she was past the change of Life, Elizabeth conceived, according to the Word of the Lord.

The Christmas story is full of Divine Encounters! The next one was had by a young teenage girl, Mary, when again unexpectedly, Gabriel appeared to her. “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!” Mary was very troubled at this and wondered what it meant. Gabriel went on, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God . You will be with child and give birth to a son and you are to give him the name, Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High…”

Mary asks how it could be as she is still a virgin. Gabriel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God…” He also told her that Elizabeth, her relative, was pregnant in her old age, “…for nothing is impossible with God.” Mary, although not understanding how this could be, yet with open heart and in submission, replies, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Without delay, Mary hurries to visit Elizabeth, and another Divine Encounter is about to happen, for as soon as Elizabeth hears Mary’s voice, she is filled with the Holy Spirit, and begins to prophesy with a loud voice: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed, that what the Lord has said to her shall be accomplished!”

This was an encounter between John, Elizabeth’s child and Jesus Christ, Mary’s Child. This shows us clearly that whether a foetus is 6 months old like John, or just a few days conceived like Jesus, it is already a human being with a spirit, not just a clump of cells, as many would want us to believe. The Holy Spirit in John recognised the Holy Spirit in the Son of God and leaped for joy! Mary now begins to prophesy her wonderful song or “Magnificat” in praise of all that God has done.

After 3 months she returns to Nazareth and it soon becomes clear that something has happened. Everybody is thinking, she goes away and comes back pregnant! She has cheated on her fiance, Joseph! Now Joseph has to make a choice. Should he deliver her to the religious leaders and people of the town, to put her on trial, possibly stone her, according to the Law, or quietly dissolve the engagement? Sick at heart, he drops off to sleep, but Gabriel comes to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name, Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

When Joseph woke up from this Divine Encounter, he took Mary into his home, but did not sleep with her until Jesus had been born. Soon the Roman decree came for everyone to go to the city of their birth and register there. It was nearing the end of her pregnancy and must have been very difficult for Mary to travel but they set out for Bethlehem. On their arrival, she went into labour, and not finding any other accommodation, they lodged in a stable or cave, where animals were kept; there the Christ Child was born.

Out on the hillsides were shepherds, watching their flocks at night, when suddenly an angel appeared and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were terrified. The angel told them not to fear, for he had brought tidings of great joy. “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” The whole sky was filled with a host of angels saying, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” When this Divine Encounter ended, the shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found it all as the angel had said, and they glorified God and spread the news far and near, that a Saviour had been born.

There are many more Divine Encounters, for instance the birth of John, and Zacharias receiving his speech again, as he writes God’s choice of a name for the child.

The coming of the Wise Men or Kings, to worship and bring gifts, led by a special star. God warning them in a dream to go home another way because King Herod wants to kill the Christ Child.

God warning Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt, for the Child’s life is in danger. After some years, God telling Joseph, again in a dream, that they can now return to their country of Israel.

Divine Encounters are arranged by God beforehand. They are not just a haphazard thought of his. He did not say: “Oh, Gabriel, I’ve got a good idea! Go and take a message to Zacharias today!…

Divine Encounters are usually unexpected.

Divine Encounters set off a chain of events.

Divine Encounters demand a response and reaction from us.

Divine Encounters – we cannot live from them, but are called to walk ‘by faith’.

Some of you may have had Divine Encounters, but even if the rest of us have not seen an angel or caught a glimpse into God’s spirit world, yet every person who is a born-again Christian has had one. This may not have been seeing something with our physical eyes, yet spiritually we have encountered the Son of God, and he now lives inside of us, by his Holy Spirit.

Through our Christian life, as we seek to know more about Jesus, to experience him in a greater way, if we become hungry for a more powerful move of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can pray for a fresh Divine Encounter!

Yes, we celebrate Christ being born in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago, but he wants to be born in our hearts, and give us eternal life. He did not stay as a baby in a manger, but he came to earth to pay the price for our sins on the cross of Calvary, and rise again, and is now the risen, glorified Lord. If he has not yet been born in you, pray this prayer:

“Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to Earth, and dying on Calvary for me. Be born in my heart today. Wash me clean in your precious blood, break the power of sin in my life, and help me to follow you! Thank you for giving me a Divine Encounter with you! Amen!”

If you have just prayed that prayer for the first time, write me and let me know. God bless you!

Isaiah 9:1