Two Visitations - Gabriel's Announcements Of Impossible Births

TWO VISITATIONS

GABRIEL'S ANNOUNCEMENTS OF IMPOSSIBLE BIRTHS

LUKE 1:11-38

INTRODUCTION: WHEN GOD SHOWS UP IN YOUR WILDERNESS

Church, let me take you back to Genesis 21:16. Hagar, a slave woman, ran into the wilderness (Genesis 16:6-8). She carried nothing but despair and a dying child. The water was gone. Hope was gone. She placed Ishmael under a bush because she refused to watch him die (Genesis 21:15-16). Then God showed up. The Angel of the Lord found her. God opened her eyes to see a well of water right there in the wilderness (Genesis 21:19). What she needed was already there. She needed divine eyes to see provision in her impossible situation.

Before the encounter, Hagar was blind to possibilities. After the encounter, she called God "El Roi," the God who sees (Genesis 16:13). That wilderness meeting transformed her perspective. God didn't change her circumstances immediately. He changed her vision first.

Today, we stand at the threshold of Christmas. We celebrate the most extraordinary visitation in human history. But before Jesus came, God sent Gabriel twice.

• Two announcements.

• Two impossible situations.

• Two different responses.

• One powerful truth: Nothing is impossible with God.

A. THE PROMISE TO ZECHARIAH: A FORERUNNER IN OLD AGE (LUKE 1:11-17)

Zechariah was a priest (Luke 1:5). He served in the temple faithfully for decades. He prayed the same prayers. He performed the same rituals. He walked the same corridors. Then one ordinary day became extraordinary. Gabriel appeared while Zechariah offered incense (Luke 1:11). The angel stood at the right side of the altar. This position mattered. The right side represented favor and acceptance.

Gabriel brought news that shattered medical impossibility. Elizabeth, Zechariah's wife, was barren. Both were advanced in years (Luke 1:7). Their bodies were as good as dead, like Abraham and Sarah before them (Romans 4:19, Hebrews 11:11). Yet God chose this exact moment. He chose this exact couple. He chose to demonstrate His power through their weakness.

? The promise came with specific details:

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You will name him John. He will be great before the Lord. He will never drink wine or strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. He will turn many in Israel back to God. He will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:13-17).

Every detail was intentional. Every word was measured. Every promise was guaranteed by the One who sent the messenger. This child would prepare the way for the Messiah. He would bridge the Old Covenant and the New. He would be the last prophet before the Prophet. The final voice crying in the wilderness before the Word became flesh.

But Zechariah stumbled. He asked for a sign. "How will I know this for certain? I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years" (Luke 1:18). Logic took over. Biology overruled faith. Past disappointments clouded present promises. He stood in the temple, in God's presence, with an angel before him, and still doubted.

Gabriel's response was swift. "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place" (Luke 1:19-20).

Silence became Zechariah's teacher. For nine months, he processed the promise without speaking. He learned to listen. He learned to wait. He learned that God's word doesn't need human agreement to come to pass. The promise was already in motion. Elizabeth conceived (Luke 1:24). The impossible became possible. The barren became fruitful.

B. THE PROMISE TO MARY: THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH (LUKE 1:26-33)

Six months later, Gabriel traveled again (Luke 1:26). This time from heaven to Nazareth. From a priest in Jerusalem to a virgin in Galilee. From the temple to a humble home. From an old man to a young woman. God doesn't repeat patterns. He creates new ones.

Mary was engaged to Joseph (Luke 1:27). She was young, probably a teenager. She was unknown. She had no status, no wealth, no influence. She was perfect for God's purpose. He chooses the weak to shame the strong. He selects the lowly to confound the mighty (1 Corinthians 1:27-28).

Gabriel's greeting startled her. "Greetings, favored one. The Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). Mary was troubled. She pondered what this greeting meant (Luke 1:29). Unlike Zechariah, she didn't doubt. She wondered. There's a difference. Doubt closes the door. Wonder opens the window.

The angel continued: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. You will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name 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. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end" (Luke 1:30-33).