On this fourth Sunday of Advent we finally get specific news of Jesus' approaching birth. As startling as is the angel's pronouncement to Mary, Luke's text doesn't present this event as completely unique or without precedence. Luke's infancy narrative uses familiar Hebrew Scriptural references to connect this new work of God to the previous actions of the divine in the life of God's people.

For example, the promise of this child recalls other divinely promised offspring: to Abraham and Sarah, to Hannah, to David and his royal house. Undoubtedly today's text would also recall the birth prediction in Judges 13:2-7, where an angel tells Samson's mother of her impending pregnancy and the birth of a remarkable child.

Luke also ties together the birth prediction of John (1:5-23) closely to the an…