Encounter: People Jesus Met, Then and NowSample

Mary's Encounter

Mary’s encounter with the Angel Gabriel is supernatural, awe-inspiring, and even terrifying—all at once. We hear this story retold every Christmas, making it perhaps the most well-known divine encounter in history.

However, there is a risk that this story becomes a cliché or is dismissed as something strange and irrelevant to our own lives. When we examine it closely, we discover that elements of Mary’s experience are common to all who encounter God.

Mary is described as devout. She loved God, and her beautiful song, recorded in Luke 1:46-55, demonstrates both her deep knowledge of Scripture and her expectation that God would move. While she is initially afraid and cautious, before the angel departs, she boldly declares, “I am the Lord’s servant.”

Mary plays a pivotal role in the Gospels and the grand narrative of redemption. Through her, the Saviour of the world is born. Among all people, she is chosen to be the vessel through which God’s love and grace enter creation. Her willingness to welcome such an exalted visitor and to surrender to God’s will is profoundly significant.

Many who hear this story each Christmas may dismiss it as an odd tale from history. Yet even today, people describe encounters with the Divine that change their lives. Mary’s story is unique, but it is not isolated.

Martin Shaw, a writer, storyteller, and mythologist, spent nearly 35 years rejecting Christianity because it didn’t seem to align with his artistic soul. That changed one night in the woods.

Watch Martin's Encounter Story

Martin says that “this thing happens. This thing that I will never fully understand, don't want to fully understand, and will be kind of opening in me for the rest of my life.”

In the Gospel of Luke, it is written that after the birth of Jesus, Mary “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19 ESV).

Miraculous, awe-inspiring encounters with the Divine happened then, and they continue to happen today. We should be open to them and even desire for God to meet us in miraculous ways.

When He does, we can allow the truth of those encounters to unfold within us over time—even if we don’t fully understand them at first.

Application

Pray and ask God for a miraculous encounter with Him. Keep an eye out and keep an open heart. It might just be life-changing!