Breaking the Word

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, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."…

May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.  (Lk 1:26-38)

God chooses specific persons to complete his mission. Here the identity of the person is given in detail. The person and the whereabouts of the person is given in detail. God does not work on vague and unidentified way. He chooses the person with all his/her background.

Mission is explained the person before he/she accepts it. The person is not forced to do anything. The person is not kept in ignorance or not given a surprise to do the mission. The person is also cleared of all the doubts in fulfilling the mission. The person is given a total knowledge of the happening.

The person accepts it freely and willingly. Here, in this passage Mary is given a calling to be the mother of Jesus (vocation) and before she accepts she is given the details of her mission but with the assurance that God will be with her. Whatever happens to her will be in accordance with the will of God and nothing would be impossible to God. God waits for the positive response from Mary to begin the mission. 

 What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost. (Mt 18:12-14)

General opinion is that the owner seeks after the lost. This is not the message or the view of Jesus but of everyone and that is why he says ‘what is your opinion’ and answers himself. It is one sentence parable but communicates strongly the common usage and the general opinion.

There is celebration and rejoicing over finding the lost. This is also the general practice among the people. It is not just the satisfaction of having found the lost rather it is the celebration and rejoicing at having found the lost. Luke will beautifully expand this into three stories wit more details.

The general practice or the general opinion is what one does when the person who is lost is found. God does the same. God rejoices over the finding of the lost or no one should be lost. The quality of seeking after the lost is the quality of God. When someone does seek after the lost he behaves like God and he is Godly. God is present in the person who goes after the lost.