In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favoured one! The Lord is with you." …for nothing will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her. (Lk1:26-38)
The picture presents divine action in human situation. Divine does not act independent of creation. History and nature are the arena where God works. Creation itself is the work of God and He continues His work among his own creation. He does not work from outside but rather from within: right from inside the history and creation.
The author who believed in the above understanding presents the angel Gabriel from God but comes down to a human situation: he comes to a land (Galilee); he comes to a place (Nazareth); he comes to a person (Mary) and she belongs to a man (Joseph) and a tribe (David). All these information go to show that the divine action takes place in a purely historical, social, and earthy context.
But she was a virgin. Divine action has a specificity; an exception. This is where the divine action has a meaning and relevance and a purpose. Divine actions have many exceptions which go unnoticed but understood and accepted (Elizabeth). This only goes to show that there could be other exceptions which should be accepted and which are possible only to God (nothing will be impossible to God).
