And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
– Luke 1:28-29
Mary’s reaction to Gabriel’s words is surprising: she is greatly troubled. Why was she troubled? It wouldn’t be surprising if she was terrified at the presence of the angel–that is normal in the Bible; regularly people fell on their faces or trembled at the sight of a heavenly messenger.And It would be just as understandable if she was greatly troubled at the announcement that she would, as a virgin, bear a son. But that merely baffled her because she understood where babies come from–but it didn’t trouble her. The text says she was troubled “at the saying”–it was Gabriel’s words that unsettled Mary. Why?
Because this is the effect of the unexpected, interruptive, magnitude of God’s favor. That’s what the Christmas story is. That’s what the incarnation–the coming of the Son of God as a human baby–is. It is troubling. It upends expectations. It destroys the status quo. It is good news of great joy for all the earth and it is foolishness to those who are perishing. It lifts up the lowly, like Mary (and you, and me), and upsets empires. It comes not for the healthy and powerful but for the sick and weak.
See, God’s favor, through Christ, is intrusive, interruptive, and immense for all humanity–which means it is profoundly troubling to a fallen world. Either it is troubling in a way that people reject and thus face judgment, or it is troubling in a way that rouses us to life and faith–which we see in Mary. God’s favor on us, through Jesus, troubles us to life!
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