Spinning head. Projectile vomiting. Levitation. Talking in reverse. 

I have those images seared into my memory. I don’t like scary movies at all, but for some reason I watched “The Exorcist” when I was a teenager. With its disturbing focus on the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl, the 1973 movie, “the Exorcist,” has every right to be rated as “the scariest movie of all time.” 

“She’s a bit down with a fever lately, which is why she missed services today,” Peter told Jesus. Jesus comes to the bedside of Peter’s mother-in-law. He takes her by the hand and raises her up. And the fever left her. Then she put on some tea and made cute little triangle cucumber sandwiches and she served them. 

11 people dead. Families torn apart. A city gripped in fear. 

That’s what happened on January 7 in Paris at the French satirical newspaper, “Charlie Hebdo.” 

I listened to the news. I felt sad for the families who lost their loved ones. I was angry that evil was once again getting its way. 

She had prayed for a son. Oh how she had prayed! She poured out her heart to the Lord. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. So absorbed was she in prayer.

The Lord answered and gave Hannah a son. She named him “Samuel” which means “heard by God.” As she had vowed, when her child was around the age of five, she brought him to the Tabernacle at Shiloh. There he would serve the Lord for the rest of his life. Hannah and her husbandbwould see him once a year at the annual sacrifice. Eli, the priest, now served as a sort of religious foster father. 

The jailer had heard of Paul. Pretty much everyone in Philippi had by now. They had heard how Paul and his friend, Silas, had come into town several days earlier. Not finding a synagogue to meet in, they met with some women who were gathered at the river flowing through Philippi. A prominent woman named Lydia was converted to Paul’s strange message about a foreign god – a god named “Jesus.”

Sennacherib, the king of Assyria was coming. He would lay siege on Jerusalem and attack the other cities in Judah. He made Judah’s king, Hezekiah, pay a large tribute to him. He then humiliated Hezekiah by striking him on the cheek with a rod. 

Simeon’s aged eyes didn’t look forward to death. No. They looked forward to life.

The man dressed in high priestly garb stands over the opened box. Lights are lit and cameras are rolling to record the momentous event. At first the box is only filled with sand. Suddenly, lights begin flashing and bulbs start exploding. Fog begins to pour out of the box and jets of light shoot upwards. The rays of light turn into ghostly beings that pass through the soldiers who are watching. Then beams of fiery light shoot out from the box and through the Nazi soldiers, killing them. The Nazi officer and Nazi spy melt and Belloq, the archeologist dressed as a high priest, blows up. Then fire comes from the box, the Ark of the Covenant, and consumes the bodies – except for Marion and Indiana Jones.

At the time of the Annunciation, there were probably a few dozen children in Nazareth that were named “Jesus.” That’s because “Jesus” is the New Testament version of the Old Testament “Joshua” or “Isaiah.” 

God had called. The messenger left his post and stepped into the throne room. God was sending His appointed messenger, Gabriel, on the most important mission of his life.