Luke 1:30-33
The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 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 ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
“Do not be afraid.”
It’s the classic announcement throughout the Bible that what is about to come is good news. Whenever someone in the Bible – prophet, priest, or angel – starts out a speech with “Do not be afraid,” you know it’s going to be good, even incredibly good. (Of course, if they begin with “Woe unto you….” you can pretty much start bumming out now!)
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”
Does Gabriel say this to assure her that the “kind of greeting” that perplexed her a moment ago will be, in fact, good news, something to her and the world’s benefit? Or does he say this to prepare her for what is to come?
You will conceive and bear a son. Do not be afraid. He will be great. Do not be afraid. And called the Son of the Most High. Do not be afraid. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. Do not be afraid He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. Do not be afraid. And of his kingdom there will be no end. Do not be afraid.
Good news indeed. And also terrifying. What does this young girl know of rulers and kingdoms? Or even of childbirth? Or of pregnancy as an unwed maiden?
Of course she is afraid. As one of my students in a recent devotional Bible study said, “How is it that Mary doesn’t just crawl into the fetal position and wait for Gabriel to go away.”
Do not be afraid.
Whenever God uses us to contribute to God’s divine purpose to love and save the world we may know that we have found favor and that what we are caught up in is good news. Yet we may also be afraid. We do not know what this will mean. What changes it will bring. Whether anything – including ourselves – will ever be the same again.
And in those moments the Lord will send a messenger – a friend, stranger, a family member, a co-worker, someone who meets our need, someone whose need we can meet,…we don’t know who. But God will send a messenger to say just these words: Do not be afraid.
Prayer: Dear God, let us be attentive to the angels you send to us, calming our fears and bolstering our courage, that we might know and do your will. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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