Gabriel played a role in the story of Jesus’ birth, and also the birth of His kinsman John the Baptist. Luke 1 tells of the priest Zechariah, who saw the angel in the temple.
Gabriel announced that Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, would bear a son who would “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Zechariah, who was old, had doubts, and Gabriel, who said he “stands in the presence of God” (v. 19), punished Zechariah with muteness till the birth occurred.
Gabriel went to Mary in Nazareth and told her she was to bear a child, “the Son of the Highest” (v. 32). Mary said she was a virgin, but Gabriel told her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (v. 35).
Gabriel appears in the book of Daniel as an interpreter of Daniel’s mysterious visions.
