{"id":5329,"date":"2019-11-01T08:00:16","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T00:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=5329"},"modified":"2021-10-15T15:43:37","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T07:43:37","slug":"236-nazareth-dealing-with-divine-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=5329","title":{"rendered":"235. Nazareth: Dealing with Divine Message"},"content":{"rendered":"

26\u00a0<\/sup>In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,\u00a027\u00a0<\/sup>to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin\u2019s name was Mary.\u00a028\u00a0<\/sup>And he came to her and said, \u201cGreetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.\u201d\u00a029\u00a0<\/sup>But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.\u00a030\u00a0<\/sup>The angel said to her, \u201cDo not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.\u00a031\u00a0<\/sup>And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.\u00a032\u00a0<\/sup>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.\u00a033\u00a0<\/sup>He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.\u201d\u00a034\u00a0<\/sup>Mary said to the angel, \u201cHow can this be, since I am a virgin?\u201d\u00a035\u00a0<\/sup>The angel said to her, \u201cThe Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born[c<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0will be holy; he will be called Son of God.\u00a036\u00a0<\/sup>And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.\u00a037\u00a0<\/sup>For nothing will be impossible with God.\u201d\u00a038\u00a0<\/sup>Then Mary said, \u201cHere am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.\u201d Then the angel departed from her<\/strong>.<\/span> [Luke 1:26-38<\/span>, NRSV\u00a0<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1. The Basilica of the Annunciation; 2. The Cave of the Annunciation (Photo credit: Dr. LL Chan).<\/span><\/p>\n

Nazareth holds a special place in the hearts of all Christians. Pilgrims go to Nazareth to see where Mary lived and where the angel Gabriel announced to her the divine message that God willed His Son to be conceived by her. They find it in a basement grotto, the Cave of the Annunciation, below the Basilica of the Annunciation, the largest church in the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n

The reality of Mary\u2019s place of abode, namely in a cave, where the Annunciation took place impacted a member of our group so hard that he could not stop crying. Having treated the historical truth of the Christian faith with such disdain in the past, he now paid for his \u201csins\u201d with buckets of tears daily\u00a0during the entire pilgrimage trip.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnnunciation\u201d is a term in Christianity<\/a> which means the announcement by the angel\u00a0Gabriel<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0Virgin Mary<\/a>\u00a0the most shocking, the most outrageous, and the most unimaginable message from God to humanity. That message is that Mary would conceive a son by the power of the\u00a0Holy Spirit<\/a>\u00a0and would be called\u00a0Jesus<\/a>, \u201cSon of the Most High\u201d and \u201choly, the Son of God\u201d\u00a0(Luke 1:26\u201338), or Emmanuel, which means \u201cGod with us\u201d (Matthew 1:23).<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflection<\/u><\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Is there anything that could possibly be more world-shattering and havoc-wreaking than such an announcement to an ordinary teenage peasant girl? She was after all engaged to be married, and her world of an ordinary, mundane existence was about to collapse over her head were such a divine announcement to be true. Such an announcement was just too much, way too much for her. How was she expected to be able to process all this right now in her head, in her heart, and in her soul?<\/span><\/p>\n

We found ourselves chewing over three thoughts, amongst a host of others, in relation to this divine message.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. God Seeks Human Collaboration<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

God takes the initiative, but in so far as a project concerns human salvation, God cannot work without human collaboration. The precious gift of life which the God of heaven and earth has given us, comes with an element that can change human history; it is the gift of freedom. We are free to say \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d to every divine message and bear the consequences. And so, that divine message in the Annunciation would come to nothing without Mary\u2019s willing acceptance.<\/span><\/p>\n

The inspired authors of the books of the Old Testament had delivered to Israel the unmistakable message that a mere announcement of a divine wish would end up nowhere unless the Israelites took that message to heart, embraced it, and really acted on it. Here too, in the Annunciation, God has made it clear that He needed Mary\u2019s human collaboration to make His divine plan work.<\/span><\/p>\n

The very first thing we learn from the message of the Annunciation, therefore, is that God seeks human collaboration in His plan of salvation for humanity. It would be plain and simple \u201clazy and unreal Christianity\u201d if any follower of Christ were to think that Christ in his suffering death has done everything for their salvation and all that they needed to do was to get baptized, say they believe in Christ, and when they die their soul would be assured\u00a0 of eternal bliss in heaven. Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels wants us, who are baptized and call him Lord, to make no mistake about the shocking truth:<\/span><\/p>\n