Marie Armenia: The accurate story of Christmas

She was a normal young woman, perhaps a teenager, living a humble life in Nazareth. The Bible takes the time to point out that she was a virgin because this is a vital point of the story. And then one day, as she is minding her own business, God decides to send the angel Gabriel to tell her something extremely important.

Gabriel is mentioned a few times in the Bible as the announcement angel. Well, the Bible doesn’t call him that, but that’s what he seems to do. He announces and explains God’s plan to people.

The first fact about the angel Gabriel is that he scares humans when he first shows up. He was sent to the Daniel, who is famously known for being in the lion’s den. Daniel was no wimp, yet the Bible records Daniel’s thoughts about Gabriel’s visit, “As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified.” (Daniel 8:17). Gabriel needed to lift Daniel to his feet and strengthen him to be able to hear what he was sent to tell him.

Then Gabriel shows up to speak to Zechariah, a priest serving the Temple, and living at the same time as Mary. Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were very old, and were childless because Elizabeth could not conceive. Zechariah was inside the temple, performing his duties as a priest and suddenly, Gabriel is standing right in front of him at the right side of the altar.

“When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.” (Luke 1:12). He tells Zechariah that he will have a son and his name will be John. His son becomes the man known as John the Baptist.

When Gabriel appeared to Mary, she was troubled about him showing up. He knows this and says, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.” (Luke 1:30). He told her that God had chosen her to give birth to His Only Son. She mentions that this is not possible since she has not been with a man. He explains that the Holy Spirit will create Jesus.

After Jesus is born, God decides to make His first public announcement to some unremarkable and possibly smelly shepherds who were guarding their sheep, in the dark, in some fields. “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, AND THEY WERE TERRIFIED.” (Luke 2:9). They were sitting in complete darkness one minute and the next, they were illuminated by the glory of the Lord. And then there was a great company of angels, overjoyed at the arrival of Jesus, surrounding these shepherds. Light invaded darkness. It was scary at first.

The accurate story of Christmas is that the humans involved in it were afraid. The Bible doesn’t try to hide this truth, but sometimes we do. It also doesn’t hide the truth that their fear didn’t stop God’s plan and our fear doesn’t stop it either. It’s been said that “Fear not” is the most repeated command in the Bible. Being afraid is a natural reaction, trusting God’s in spite of our fear is a supernatural reaction. When we feel afraid, we cannot hide the fear from God. We can give it to Him and when we do, somehow, He gives peace.

To us. On earth. Merry Christmas!

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Marie Armenia: The accurate story of Christmas