lot of small towns and seemingly little lives. Nobody knew Mary’s name. Nobody but God, of course. And God knows your name. This is what it means that God is Immanuel. He visits the lowly of station and lowly of heart. He dwells among the broken and contrite. To quote the hymn writer Charles Wesley, Jesus has “come to earth to taste our sadness. He whose glories knew no end.” To fully understand Christmas, you have to immerse yourself in the setting of Luke. This visit by Gabriel