The Unexpected Messiah is announced

The first sign that something unexpected was about to happen is seen in Luke 1.

 Zechariah  was serving as priest in the Holy Place when an angel appeared to him. Angel sightings were unusual even then, and Zechariah fell on his face in fear.

Luke 1:13  But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

This was unexpected because both Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were well past child bearing years and had never had children. The angel goes on to tell him that the child will be the one who will prepare the people for the Messiah. This is a good indication that things are not going to happen in an ordinary manner.

Luke 1:26  In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,  to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.  And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"

Gabriel went on to tell Mary that she would become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit and that she would give birth to the Son of God, the Messiah they were looking for and longing for. Since Mary was a virgin, this was an unexpected turn of events.

It really seems that God likes to do things that we don’t expect. He likes to surprise us.

A surprise that we might miss is the fact that the VERY FIRST HUMAN to know that the Messiah was coming was a young woman, probably just a teenager. God had promised one who would defeat the enemy right after the fall in Genesis 3. The prophets had told of one who was coming for centuries. All Israelites were looking for him. The first person to know was one who would not have been included in any inner circle Jewish study groups. She was no one special in any human eyes, no one to listen to or share important news with. 

After Mary’s discussion with Gabriel, she went to visit Elizabeth, who happened to be a relative. 

What happened next is certainly surprising.

Luke 1:41-44 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

So, after Mary, the next human to know that the Savior was coming…is…an…embryo! Yes, an unborn baby in his mommy’s tummy. The baby leaped for joy, and somehow communicated to his mom that her relative who just walked in was pregnant, and that the baby was the Lord!  Now, that is pretty spectacular, and pretty unexpected!