Light Shines in the DarknessSample

For most of my life, I never paid much mind to the angel Gabriel. I merely took for granted that Gabriel happened to be the name of the angel who appeared to Mary and delivered the news that she was going to become the final miraculous mother in Israelʼs history. But this is not the first time the angel Gabriel appears in the Scriptures. Gabriel likewise appears to the prophet Daniel, taking up the role of interpreter. In particular, Daniel had asked the Lord to grant him understanding of the seventy-year exile decreed for Israel, and Gabriel is sent to explain what was coming now that the exile was about to end. Gabriel tells Daniel that there was coming “an anointed one” who is “a prince” (Daniel 9:25). When he comes there will be “an end to sin,” “everlasting righteousness,” and “atone[ment] for iniquity” (Daniel 9:24). Gabriel provides Daniel with one of the most remarkable descriptions of Christʼs coming. 

It is this very same Gabriel who today comes to Mary as a messenger, announcing that through her would come an anointed one—a King who would be miraculously born when she was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and who will “reign over the house of Jacob forever.” Maryʼs Son would be “the Son of the Most High God.” It would be through his sacrifice, we know, that an eternal redemption would be achieved. The long-awaited messiah was finally coming! To make a connection between these two passages should be quite obvious, yet it is easy to miss. We are taught by so many popular commentators that Jesusʼ kingdom is only about some time in the future, but has nothing whatsoever to do with reality today. Though we speak of Jesus as the King, we most naturally assume that his kingdom has not truly arrived. But Gabriel spoke of a King arriving two-thousand years ago—a King whose kingdom was about to begin and would never come to an end. This was not a hypothetical kingdom any more than Mary was only hypothetically pregnant. Jesus was going to be born into the world to become the worldʼs King. 

I can understand those who think, as a relative once said, “If this is the kingdom, then weʼre in trouble.” There is such trouble and distress in the world. Indeed, we are undergoing one of the most monumental upheavals in human history. Certainly, this is not the Kingdom of God—not really! But consider that this is precisely why they rejected Jesus—he didnʼt look anything like what they expected. Only through eyes of faith could they see who Jesus truly was. As we look out at a world in turmoil and a nation divided, with eyes of faith we can learn to trust what Gabriel said, “His kingdom will have no end.”