Visitations
“Be it unto me as you have said.” Luke 1:38
Both respond
with intelligent terror.
Gabriel tells them,
Be not afraid.
Two prophecies of impossible pregnancies,
Zechariah’s old age and Mary’s virginity
posing problems.
Both ask,
How can this be?
Zechariah’s question
is framed in frank incredulity,
while Mary is filled with wonder.
Neither of them understand.
Zechariah becomes mute
while Mary’s heart grows large
along with her belly.
She keeps her words.
She sings.
Annunciation
“You will be with child and give birth to a son.” Luke 1:31
Spirit’s message to Mary
while cryptic
was not a staccato telegram as in
--a death has occurred
--an accident has happened
--a disease has spread
--a war has begun.
Overshadow, says the preacher,
is not a nothing word.
It’s what Spirit did to Mary.
It’s the form the message took.
It meant, Get ready. God’s coming.
It also meant
--a death will occur
--a war has begun
with Mary herself as
collateral damage.
Infant Praise
… the baby leaped in her womb…. Luke 1:41; Psalm 8:2
David prophesied that infants
would praise God,
establishing a stronghold
against the enemy.
Elizabeth’s babe shows
how it’s done from the womb,
leaping a wordless hallelujah
to David’s heir. Sensing vibes,
the enemy begins to tremble.
Choosing the Name
And he gave him the name Jesus. Matthew 1:25
Not Mary but Joseph
got to name the baby.
Jesus, he called him,
instructed in a dream
by an angel.
Gentle Joseph,
shocked,
but easily persuaded
by God’s messenger.
Accepting the mother
and the child, banking
his passion, willing
to wait.
He named the baby Jesus.
