Jehovah's Emissary Appears to Anna

(Gospel of the Birth of Mary 3:1 - 3:11)

Afterwards the emissary from Jehovah appeared to his wife Anna and told her, "Don't be afraid.  Don't think that what you're seeing is a ghost: I am the intermediary that conveys your prayers and sacrificial offerings to Jehovah.  I have now been sent here to inform you that you will give birth to a daughter named Mary, who will blessed above all women.

"She will be, from the moment of her birth, under the protection of Jehovah and will continue to be so during her three years of weaning in the house of her father.  During her service to Jehovah she will not leave the Temple until she reaches her maturity.  She will thus serve Jehovah day and night with fasting and prayer, avoiding exposure to anything ritually impure, and never having carnal knowledge of a man.  And being so uniquely unspoiled and unprofaned, a virgin unacquainted with men, she will bear a son.  She will be the maiden who will produce the master who, through his character, reputation, and achievements, will be the savior of the world.

"Depart then and travel to Jerusalem, and when you arrive at the Golden Gate (so called because it is gilded) you will, as I have foretold, meet your husband, whose safety and well-being you have been worrying about.  When you see that what I have told you has come to pass then you will realize that the rest of what I have told you will also doubtlessly come to pass."

Following the instructions of Jehovah's emissary, both of them left where they were and traveled to the place determined by the emissary's prophecy.  There they met. They were delighted to see each other!  They then had faith in the promise that they would have a child.  Thus they gave thanks to the God who exalts the humble.  After giving praise to Jehovah, they returned home and lived contentedly in the assurance that God's promise would be fulfilled.

And so Anna became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter.  Following the command of Jehovah's emissary, the parents named the girl "Mary."

Notes
1.  The emissary from Jehovah further identifies himself as an intermediary between worshipers and God, conveying prayers and sacrifices.  He also explains that he is not a ghost, the apparition of a deceased person -- which I think is the correct translation and not "spirit," since he is obviously is of the spirit, even if he is presently manifested in corporeal form.

2.  The emissary employs what can only seem a classic confidence strategy.  He predicts that some commonplace event will occur and when it does he claims that they must now believe him when he predicts some extraordinary event.  He tells both Joachim and Anna to go the Golden Gate of Jerusalem and then when they happen to meet there, he proclaims it a miracle that they have done so.  All he has done was to arrange a rendezvous!  Of course, as the story goes, the emissary was correct in his prophecy that a daughter would be born, but he seems to have purchased Joachim and Anna's faith on the cheap.  Why didn't he perform a genuine miracle, perhaps just dematerializing?