Pondering an Unexpected Greeting, Reflection on Luke 1:26-29

Earlier in this first chapter of Luke’s Gospel, an elderly couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth, unexpectedly find that they are finally going to become parents. Then, an unmarried young woman, Mary, the cousin of Elizabeth, unexpectedly finds that she is going to have a baby. An unexpected message to unlikely recipients.

Mary is perplexed, “How can such a thing happen?”

Scriptures have many earlier references to unexpected births after a long wait; remember Sarah, Rachel, Hannah, and, perhaps, Samson's mother, other women long barren who were married to prominent men.

God can and does respond to Sarah's question, "Is anything impossible for God?"

Mary's story is different in a couple of ways. She is very young. She is not married to someone important.

God can and does choose unexpected recipients for good news.

Lectio Divina: Luke 1:29