“IF YOU HAD BEEN GABRIEL…”
Luke 1:26-38
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: CHRISTMAS HUMOR
1. Tim: Did you know Santa had only eight reindeer last Christmas? Jim: Huh? Tim: Comet stayed home to clean the sink
2. Moe: What are you going to give your little brother for Christmas this year? Joe: I haven’t decided yet. Moe: What did you give him last year? Joe: The measles.
3. Darth Vader: I know what you’re getting for Christmas. Luke: How do you know? Darth Vader: I can feel your presents
4. Trey: What do you get when you cross a snowman and a dog? Brandon: I give up. Trey: Frostbite.
B. ANGELS & CHRISTMAS
1. The Bible is very clear that angels exist; it contains 294 references to Angels.
2. SOME EXAMPLES:
a. Abraham was stopped from slaying his son Isaac when an Angel called to him from heaven.
b. The Pillar of Fire which stood between the Egyptian Army and the Israelites, when crossing the Red Sea, was an Angel.
c. An Angel stopped Balaam from prophesying against Israel; an angel called Gideon, fed Elijah, put 185,000 Assyrians to death, and shut the lion's mouth from eating Daniel!
3. Around the first Christmas there was a flurry of angelic activity. They appeared to all sorts of people. But there was one special visit I want us to look at tonight;
4. When Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary. Only 2 angels are specifically named in the Bible: Michael, the guardian angel of Israel (archangel); and Gabriel, the messenger angel of God.
5. Tonight I want us to imagine that if we were Gabriel, & given the assignment of telling Mary she would be the mother of Jesus, the Christ, what would you have been thinking, “If You Had Been Gabriel…”?
I. GABRIEL IN ETERNITY PAST
A. WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT ANGELS
1. From the Beginning there was the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But at some point, before time began, God decided to create.
2. Probably the first thing created were the different spheres of existence – the spiritual realm, the physical domain – and time.
3. Psalms 148:2-5 lists the angels as part of God’s creation. Jesus the Son of God, created all things, including the angels (John 1:3). He created all the “visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers or authorities” Col. 1:16; Eph. 6:12.
4. TIME OF. The angels were created before Genesis 1:1, because Job 38:4-7 says “The sons of God shouted for joy” when God laid the foundations of the earth.
5. NOT EXALTED HUMANS. Angels are not glorified human beings: we will be “like the angels” (Mt. 22:30) who do not marry. Angels in heaven are distinguished from the “spirits of righteous men made perfect” Heb. 12:22ff.
6. FACTS ABOUT ANGELS:
a. THE ARE INCORPOREAL (have no certain form) – likened to ‘winds’ or fire (Heb. 1:7, 14; Ps. 104:4; Judges 13:40).
b. THEY ARE A COMPANY, NOT A RACE. They have the same # today as when first created. They don’t propagate (Lk. 20:34-35).
c. THEY ARE WISER THAN HUMANS (2 Sam 14:20).
d. THEY ARE NUMEROUS. 100,000,000? Dan. 7:10, Heb. 12:22 (innumerable).
e. THEY ARE POWERFUL. “Mighty angels” 2 Thess. 1:7, 2 Kgs. 19:35.
f. THEY AREN’T OMNIPRESENT. They move from place to place (Job 1:7), their movement takes time & may be delayed (Dan. 10:10-14).
7. REBELLION AGAINST GOD. It’s thought to have happened after the creation began but before the fall of Adam & Eve. Lucifer (Isa. 14:12), a guardian cherub (Ezek. 28:14, 16), led 1/3 of the angels in revolt against God. However, 2/3 stayed loyal. So there’s twice as many good angels as bad ones!
B. THE HISTORY OF GABRIEL
1. Gabriel had been there, as God spun the galaxies out nothing and set them in place. He recognized God’s illimitable power. When Lucifer deceived some of the angels, Gabriel never entertained one thought he tried to convey, but immediately silenced him.
2. Gabriel (whose name means “God is my strength”) is a special messenger angel of God. At his very presence, Daniel was “terrified and fell prostrate" (8:17) and even afterward was tired and sick for days after the encounter (8:27). He later appeared to Daniel again to reveal the meaning of his dreams (9:20-27).
3. Just before the time of Jesus, Gabriel was again sent to speak to John the Baptist’s father before the boy was born. Gabriel told Zechariah that his son would be a Nazarite who would go before the Messiah to prepare His way.
4. When Zechariah doubted his wife could bear a child, Gabriel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words….” Lk. 1:19-20.
5. Gabriel’s highest honor was to stand in the presence of God. He had been found faultless and was completely trusted by God.
II. GABRIEL’S GREATEST ASSIGNMENT
A. REDEMPTION OF MANKIND HOPELESS
1. Since Angels weren’t robots and had thoughts and ideas of their own (obvious from the revolt of some of the angels), then we can assume that Gabriel also had thoughts about God’s plans concerning humans.
2. In 1 Peter 1:12 Peter remarked about the curiosity of angels, “Even angels long to look into these things.” So what must’ve Gabriel thought about it all?
3. He’d long had grave concerns about how weak and frail humans were. They had such short lives; they were so susceptible to temptation, to deception, to disease, violence, perversion, and blind to spiritual things.
4. It didn’t take long for them to fall into sin; it occurred almost immediately, and every generation only got worse. The great Flood only saved one family, but soon they were building the rebellious tower of Babel.
5. Certainly the Creator could see some way out, but Gabriel couldn’t. Century after century God sent prophets and reformers, but it never lasted. Human nature was hopelessly poisoned.
B. THE DELICATE MISSION
1. Then Gabriel was summoned to the presence of God again. "Gabriel, you have a most delicate assignment. I am sending my Son to redeem the earth. To do this he must become a human himself. Your mission is to announce this plan to the young woman I have chosen to be his mother.”
2. "Her name is Mary. She lives in the village of Nazareth in Galilee. She’s pledged to be married but is still living at home until the final ceremony. She’s a virgin, but you’ll inform her that My Spirit will implant the genes and spirit of My Son into her!”
3. Gabriel’s head swam. How could the Almighty God compress himself down to a divine cell and fuse it with the ovum of a Jewish teenager? How could the Godhead -- without quantity, dimension and limits -- be confined to a human form?
4. God reminded Gabriel of the prophecies – “The Virgin would bear a child and His name shall be called Immanuel – ‘God with us!’” Wonder & amazement filled Gabriel.
5. It was like a human deciding to become a Cocker Spaniel to save the Cocker Spaniels. Yet the Creator never made mistakes. He knew this would work and the human race would be saved through it.
6. God briefed him on the various contingencies, concluding with these words; "Gabriel, by all means, be gentle with Mary!"
III. GABRIEL MEETS WITH MARY
A. THE ANNUNCIATION
1. Gabriel arrived one spring morning as Mary was going about her business. “She’s only a child,” he thought when he first saw her — only 16 or 17. To one who’d lived a million years, she was only born yesterday! She was hardly old enough to have a child at all, let alone this child!
2. Gabriel revealed himself to her, dressed in gold, surrounded by brilliant light, the presence of God emanating powerfully from him. "Greetings, Mary," he began. She gasped.
3. "Hail, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!"
All the color drained from her face. She bowed with her face to the ground, trembling with fear.
4. "Don't be afraid, Mary," He said. "You have found favor with God." At last she calmed down and peaked up at him, as if to register the vision in her mind. She knew something important was coming.
5. Gabriel continued, "You will conceive in your womb and bear a son. You are to name him Jesus." She appeared stunned by these words, but Gabriel continued. "Your son will become a great man. He will be called the Son of the Most High God. What's more, the Lord God will give him the throne of David his ancestor. And he will reign as Messiah over Israel forever. Of his kingdom and reign there will be no end!"
6. Gabriel paused. The message even shocked him; he couldn't imagine the impact it must be having on her! She was quiet for a time. Then she asked in her young teenager voice: "How will this happen, since I am not yet married?"
7. Gabriel answered: "The Holy Spirit will come to you, the Power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the holy thing born to you will be called the 'Son of God.'"
B. THE CRUCIAL MOMENT
1. The crucial moment had arrived. Gabriel had seen her trembling with fear earlier, but now he was hoping she wouldn’t notice that beneath his great golden wings, he himself was trembling.
2. Why? Because God had put within the willpower of this teenage girl the fate of the human race! God would never force His will on her; she must be willing to be Christ’s mother.
3. Her intelligent face saddened as she comprehended the terrible consequences: no one would ever believe her; Her father would be furious; her mother deeply hurt. And Joseph? There might be no wedding! And the town fathers? Would they try to stone her?
4. Gabriel spoke again to reassure her; "And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has conceived a son." Mary murmured, "Old Elizabeth? Really? Oh!" "Yes, they called her 'barren,' but she's already six months pregnant."
5. Mary was almost grinning for a moment. Then her smile faded as she remembered her own troubles. Gabriel spoke the final sentence the Father had given him to say: "Mary, Nothing will be impossible with God! Nothing!"
6. She was quiet a for a time, then resolutely looked up at him with clear eyes and said; "Here I am. I am the Lord's servant, his handmaid. Let what you have said come to pass!" She bowed.
7. After a few moments more, she glanced at the sun, picked up her heavy burden and began going on with her errand.
8. Gabriel couldn’t help but be lost in wonder, how this frail, weak creature could expose herself to so many dangers. And become the origin of a Being more mysterious than anything he knew of.
9. She had no idea what she was getting herself in for and all the opposition of hell that would arise, but she, like him, implicitly trusted the Creator. He never made a mistake.
10. The Child would be Born; mankind would finally be saved and a new race of celestial beings would result. The tall angel touched the corner of his eye to wipe a heavenly tear and bowed his head in worship. What an awesome God we serve!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Mark Lowry, Christian comedian said that Mary’s silence at the cross always amazed him. If he’d been crucified in the middle of town, his mother would’ve "Pitched a fit," but Mary never said a word.
2. Lowry wondered if she was remembering back to that 1st Christmas. "I wonder if she realized [that when she’d touched His hands and feet], that those were the same fingers that had scooped out the oceans and formed the seas.
3. His feet were the same feet that had walked on streets of gold and had been worshipped by angels. Those little lips were the same lips that had spoken the world into existence. When Mary kissed her little baby, she wasn’t just kissing another baby - she was kissing the face of God.
4. 33 years later she’s standing on a hillside watching blood pour from His veins, from the side of her own son... and she didn’t open her mouth.
5. What a great testimony to the fact that He wasn’t just a great prophet; He wasn’t just a great preacher; He wasn’t just a great teacher -- He was the virgin born son of God. He was our Savior.
6. And He didn’t just die for us, He died for His own mother. The baby she had delivered on that 1st Christmas was now on a cross delivering her. [Jeff Strite]
B. THE CALL
1. We have a lot to consider as we think of the meaning of Christmas. I think even the angels have a hard time getting their minds around all that Jesus did.
2. Receiving the Savior is the most important thing you could ever do – it will change your life and change your destiny. Let’s do that now!
3. Prayer.
[Sections II.B. & III are derived from Ralph F. Wilson’s, The Angel Gabriel's Most Sensitive Mission and Frederick Buechner’s Peculiar Treasures.]
