All of a sudden, another angel appeared saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.”
‘Michael,’ Gabriel thought, ‘As if being the first archangel wasn’t enough, he has to come along and co-host when I’m the angel in the limelight. I wonder how this affects my chances of being “Angel of the Year.” Then Gabriel thought of the look on God’s face when He had asked him to tell Mary, then reassure Joseph, about the birth of Jesus. Gabriel had been one of the first to know that God’s Son was to be born soon. ‘No award could top that,’ Gabriel thought, ‘I guess it’s all right that Michael is here; the Good News was meant to be shared.’
Gabriel and Michael promptly returned to Heaven in time to see the final decorations go up. There were baby blue balloons hanging from every arch in the Golden Gates and banners hanging from every cloud announcing, “It’s a Boy!” Even St. Peter was handing out cigars to the new arrivals.
‘Oh, what a celebration!’ thought Gabriel, ‘God’s own Son is to be born.’ It was all so wonderful. Gabriel was so happy, but his happiness ‘was nothing in comparison to God’s,’ he thought.
Gabriel’s head was in the clouds, so to speak, as he skipped along his way, but he wasn’t so dazed that he missed seeing one of Heaven’s most prized possessions. “The Great Book of Destiny” sat on a tall stand at the top of a magnificent stairway. Gabriel tentatively climbed the stairs. ‘I know that God’s Son is come to save the world, but...I don’t know how. Wouldn’t it be marvelous to read about Jesus’ life? I bet it’s the most incredible life imaginable. Who wouldn’t give to be in His sandals?’ thought Gabriel as he opened the Great Book. He flipped the pages until he got to the birth of Jesus, from there, he read on:
“...And Jesus will be abused and mocked as the Son of God. He will be betrayed by one of His own disciples and arrested. Another disciple will deny Him and His friends will run away. He will be beaten and mocked as He awaits His death on a cross between two thieves...”
Gabriel couldn’t read any more. His eyes welled with tears. ‘Surely God knows this,’ Gabriel thought, anger now overpowering his sorrow, ‘But if God knows what they’re going to do to His Son...then why? WHY?!’
Gabriel scoured Heaven in search of the Almighty. ‘How could He let this happen?! Doesn’t He realize?’ he thought desperately. ‘Why doesn’t God stop this immediately? Doesn’t He see that His Son is going to be ridiculed all His life then die at the hands of the same people He came to save? How could God just let this happen?’
Gabriel raced from cloud to cloud. His search ended as he came to Cloud 9. He ran to the Divine One, then stopped. A feeling of Peace and Understanding came upon him yet he still found his voice asking, “Why, God? Why are you doing this?”
“Because I Love them.”
Gabriel left, knowing. And as he walked away, a single tear dropped from His Awesome cheek–a tear mixed with all the pride, sorrow, and Love that He felt–and froze into the Star of Bethlehem directly above His newborn Son, the Savior.
