In the Gospel of Luke (1:26-33) there is an account of the angel Gabriel visiting Mary. Given that we’re only four days away from Christmas, I thought it might be nice to share it here:

Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be. The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and will call his name ‘Jesus.’ He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”

For those of you trying to picture this scene in your head, archaeologists might be able to lend a hand. They have just discovered the first dwelling in Nazareth dated to the time of Jesus. They describe Nazareth as an “out-of-the-way hamlet of around 50 houses on a patch of about four acres (1.6 hectares). It was evidently populated by Jews of modest means who kept camouflaged grottos to hide from Roman invaders.”