The Hidden Grain: Annunciations, Barrenness, and the Yes That Changed the World in Luke 1

There is a piece of wood in my shop that I almost threw away. It looked dry and dead on the surface with cracks running through the end. But when I cut into it the heartwood was alive and the grain was more beautiful than anything I had seen that year. The surface said dead but the core said life.

Luke 1 is full of people who looked like the surface was the end of the story. Zacharias and Elisabeth were old and childless while Mary was young and unmarried. None of them looked like the people through whom God would change the world but the heartwood was alive.

Meaning of Gabriels Visit to Mary

The angel Gabriel appears to Zacharias in the temple first telling him that his wife Elisabeth will bear a son named John who will prepare the way for the Lord. Zacharias asks how he can know this because he is old and Gabriel strikes him mute.

Then Gabriel appears to Mary in Nazareth greeting her as highly favored. Mary is troubled at the greeting but Gabriel tells her not to fear because she will conceive and bear a son named Jesus who will be called the Son of the Highest.

Mary asks how this can be since she has not known a man and Gabriel explains that the Holy Ghost will come upon her and the power of the Highest will overshadow her. He gives her a sign that her cousin Elisabeth who was old and barren is now in her sixth month because with God nothing shall be impossible.

Mary says the words that change everything by declaring herself the handmaid of the Lord and asking for it to be according to his word.

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.

Luke 1:38

I think about the difference between Zacharias question and Marys question. Zacharias asked for a sign because he doubted while Mary asked how it would work because she believed. Both used the same kind of words but the hearts were different.

Why Was Zacharias Struck Dumb

Zacharias was a priest serving in the temple when Gabriel appeared and he was righteous before God. But when the angel told him he would have a son he could not believe because he and Elisabeth were old and he had stopped hoping.

The silence was not punishment but preparation since Zacharias could not speak for months and during that time he had nothing to do but think about what God was doing. His voice returned when the promise was fulfilled and he named the child John. I think about the times I have been silent because I did not know what to say and sometimes the silence is where God works.

How to Trust God During Barren Years

Elisabeth had been barren her whole life since the text says she was advanced in years meaning she had passed the age where childbearing was possible. But the Lord remembered her and when she conceived she hid herself for five months saying the Lord has looked on me to take away my reproach among men.

I think about what barrenness means beyond the physical including the years when nothing grows and the prayers that seem unanswered and the waiting that feels wasted. Elisabeth story says the Lord remembers even when it has been too long.

This connects to an earlier reflection about the slow flock in Genesis 30. Rachel was barren and then bore Joseph and Elisabeth was barren and then bore John. The pattern is that God works on his own timeline.

The Magnificat

Mary visits Elisabeth and the babe leaps in Elisabeths womb while Elisabeth is filled with the Holy Ghost and blesses Mary and the fruit of her womb.

Mary responds with a song called the Magnificat saying that her soul does magnify the Lord and her spirit has rejoiced in God her Savior. She sings that God has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden and has scattered the proud and exalted them of low degree. He has filled the hungry and sent the rich away empty.

The song is about reversal where the proud are scattered and the humble are exalted and the hungry are filled. Mary understood that the birth she was carrying would turn the world upside down.

The Birth of John the Baptist

Elisabeth delivers her son and the neighbors and cousins want to name him Zacharias after his father but Elisabeth says his name is John. They ask Zacharias through signs what he wants to name the child and he writes that his name is John. Immediately his mouth is opened and he speaks and praises God.

The chapter ends with John growing and becoming strong in spirit and living in the deserts until the day of his showing to Israel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did the angel tell Zacharias he was Gabriel?

The announcement was so shocking that Zacharias needed the authority of a known high-ranking messenger to believe the promise.

Is it a sin to ask How shall this be as Mary did?

No. Marys question was a request for information not a rejection of the promise. It is different from Zacharias question of doubt.

Why was John the Baptist born to old parents?

The miraculous nature of John birth mirrored the miraculous nature of Jesus birth preparing the world to recognize divine intervention.

What is the horn of salvation?

A horn represents strength and power in biblical imagery. A horn of salvation is a metaphor for the Savior as the powerful source of deliverance.

Closing

The piece of wood I almost threw away became one of my favorite projects because the surface was misleading but the life was inside.

Luke 1 teaches the same lesson since Zacharias and Elisabeth looked finished and Mary looked too young and too poor. But God was working in the hidden grain and the yes that changed the world came from a young woman who believed that nothing is impossible with God.

— D.