Gabriel, Zacharias and Mary

I could never be an angel. I have neither the patience, nor tolerance for people and would be tempted to tell them what I think rather than do exactly what God assigned me to accomplish. Sometimes I wonder what the angels are thinking when they look at man and see him struggle with faith. The story of Jesus’ birth is found in Matthew and Luke, however only Luke 1:5-38 describes in detail the announcement the angel Gabriel gave to Zacharias and Mary concerning their miracle babies. I want to focus on the reaction of both Zacharias and Mary when the angel Gabriel appears to them. I’m going to give Gabriel the day off and I will take his place when he makes the announcement to Zacharias and Mary. I will tell the story in my own words.


The Lord God almighty looked down from heaven and saw the pain of Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth because they were childless. Then the Lord said to angel lowest class Ron, “Hey Ron, why don’t you head on down to the temple in Jerusalem and tell my pal Zach that he and the Mrs. are gonna get a visit from the stork. So I make my way down to the temple and appear to Zach. Zach sees me and nearly has a heart attack. Angelic visits are not an everyday experience, at least not to Zach so when he sees me he nearly passes out.

I say to Zach, “Don’t be scared Dude I got some great news.” Zach says, “I hit the lottery?” ‘No man, something much better, the Lord has heard your prayers and you and the Mrs. are gonna have a baby.” Zach looks a little dumbfounded and says, “I stopped praying about that when the wife turned forty. “Why I stopped chasing her around the house ten years ago.” I can see this isn’t going to be easy so I say, “This is important so pay attention. “This kid (your baby) is gonna be 'The Man' when he grows up and everybody is gonna be glad he was born because he will talk about the Messiah."

Zach says, “How shall I know this for certain? “My wife and I are old geezers so how are we gonna have a baby?” I look at Zach and say, “What are you stupid? What do you mean how will I know this for certain? It’s real simple, just go home get the wife drunk and then take advantage of her. Before long she will start to become real crabby and then she will have cravings for foods that she has never liked before. In a few months her belly will grow so big she won’t be able to see her feet." I continue, “You must have heard about this when other women got pregnant?” Zacharias says to me, “I know all about that. I just didn’t think the Lord was gonna answer my prayers this way.” I say, “Nobody ever does.”

A few months later the Lord God almighty looks down from on heaven and sees a young woman named Mary. God says to me (still the lowest ranking angel in the kingdom) “Go down to Jerusalem and tell Mary that she is gonna have a baby and the world will never be the same again.” So I say to God, “Are you sure this is a good idea I mean after all the last time I did this that guy Zach didn’t even know anything about women, or babies or much of anything else.” The Lord says to me, “This time things will be different I promise.”

So I appear to Mary and say, “Hail favored one.” Mary is a little concerned about what I just said, as she could not understand why a poor girl from Nazareth would receive a visit from an angel who calls her a favored one. I’m beginning to like this kid. I can see why God choose her. I tell her that she is gonna have a baby and the world will be talking about him from now on. Mary says to me, “How is this gonna happen since I am a virgin? I tell Mary that God calls the shots and when He say’s something is going to happen, it will happen. Mary says something to me that still sticks with me to this day. She said, “I am the Lords bondservant let it be done according to your words.”

When I go back up to heaven I see God and say to Him that even though I wasn’t so sure about that Zach fellow, He really knew what He was doing with Mary. God looks at me a little funny and says, “I knew what I was doing with Zach as well.” To make a long story short everything worked out according to God’s plan and I even got my wings thanks to Mary and Zach.



The two reactions of the news presented to both Zacharias and Mary are noteworthy. Zacharias was looking for a sign from the angel that would solidify his belief while Mary was merely asking how a virgin could conceive a baby. I would have figured an appearance by an angel of the Lord was enough of a sign for Zacharias, but apparently not. As for Mary, she was asking a logical question about an event that still mystifies humanity. If we spend some time thinking about it each one of us is a bit like Zacharias and Mary. We need to keep in mind the proper response when the Lord answers our prayers. Mary had the proper response.