Mary, her name means exalted! No greater exaltation could be given than to be chosen to give physical birth to the Son of God! Mary must have been truly dedicated to God because she did not question God on why he would choose her, only “how can this thing be?” In other words, I can’t be pregnant. I have never been with a man, and I am not married. All her life, she had heard, like any good Jewish girl, that the Messiah was coming. Now, an angel of the Lord is standing before her and telling her that she will birth the Messiah!
Luke 1:26-35 “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
Her reaction tells us a lot about Mary’s relationship with God. She was very young, yet never once do we see her feeling sorry for herself or bemoaning her lot in life. Her faith was obviously deep enough for her to offer herself as a willing servant. It may have been her servant’s heart that caused God to select her as the one “highly favored among women.” It would take this kind of attitude to birth and raise the greatest servant of them all.
The Bible is not clear about how her family reacted to her story. I’m sure they doubted the authenticity of her story. They may have been angry or sad at the reproach this news would bring to their family. What we do know is that they sent her to stay with Elizabeth, where she would be out of public view and away from gossiping tongues.
I wonder if this young Jewish girl knew about the verse in Isaiah where the prophecy of the coming Messiah was told. With the proclamation, he would be born of a virgin. If so, maybe this made it easier for her to accept. I tend to believe her attitude had more to do with her desire to please God and do whatever he asked. Her love for Him governed everything about her. Oh, that we would have a relationship with God that was so deep we hear him clearly and obey, without any thought of how it would affect our relationship with others. What could God do with a Christian who was more concerned about obeying Him than what others would say?
It must have been painful for her to explain this to Joseph. It must have been exciting to tell him, and yet, naturally, there would have been some fear of his reaction. I’m sure she strongly desired to share this with the man she loved enough to spend the rest of her life with. Joseph didn’t understand until the angel appeared to him. He had decided to put her away privately. He would break their engagement but not make a public spectacle of her. There was commonly an interval of ten or twelve months among the Jews between the contract of marriage and the celebration of the nuptials. He would have to seek a writing of divorcement. No one would have questioned Joseph’s breaking off the engagement because it appeared that Mary had been unfaithful to him, and this was considered adultery. There had to be some element of fear on her part because according to God’s Law to Israel, a woman who is engaged to one man but who willingly has sexual relations with another man is to be stoned to death.
Deuteronomy 22:23 “If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbor’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among”
Even though Mary has not been immoral, she probably wonders how to explain her pregnancy to Joseph and what will happen. Although Mary found favor in the eyes of the Lord, her life was not an easy one. Upon seeing the infant Jesus in the temple, Simeon predicted that a sword would pierce Mary’s soul. Mary was alive during Jesus’ ministry, his arrest, trial, and death. She stood as close as the law would allow when he was crucified. She saw the fulfillment of God’s plan, but she also endured a mother’s anguish as she watched her son die a brutal death.
The true test of our faith and trust comes in our obedience to God. I wonder what would happen if, like Mary, we willingly offered ourselves, without questions or delay, to God’s purpose and plan for our lives?
