Google Maps!

Luke 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

Food for thought!

Three days ago, we had the account of Jesus from the humanity's point of view (since Abraham to Joseph). Two days ago, we saw the same story but from a smaller perspective of the immediate parents of Jesus (Joseph and Mary). Today, the same story but even from much smaller Mary's point of view. Slowly but steadily, we are zooming in to Jesus.

Today's gospel reading says that "The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her." Interesting to note how God knows and sees us from heaven.

The angel was sent by God in 1) heaven, 2) to the country of Galilee, 3) to a village called Nazareth, 4) to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, 5) called Mary. It looks like from heaven God used Google Maps to zoom in to Mary. Mary was not met by chance; she was zoomed in by the angel under the direction of God.

God sees us. If you have ever used Google maps you know what I am saying. God knows our continent, our country, our village, our street address, our house, our heart. He knows each one of us personally. "Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you." (Jeremiah 1:15).

"Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day." (Psalm 139,16)