Long ago, in the city of Nazareth, there resided a woman who
was espoused to a carpenter.
Little is known of this couple until the Angel Gabriel visits Mary one day.
“Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women.” Of course Mary was troubled, yet she was not
troubled by his appearance but by his proclaimation. She cast in her mind what
could he mean by such a salutation? She, highly favoured? The Lord was with
her? Was she really blessed among women?
While she is
thinking Gabriel continues, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour 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.” Mary hears all that the angel says, she would have a son, His name
would be Jesus, and He would have a throne, a kingdom with no end?
As all of this information flys through her mind she must
ask a question. There are so many she could ask. Yet when the words come from
her lips she questions Gabriel on, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a
man?”
Gabriel answers, “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.” And as if that
were not enough, he tells her, “And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath
also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who
was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.”
Mary heard these
words, words that were so unfathomable to a woman from a little city, and to
her of all people. What would she say, what could she say? “Behold, the
handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” And the angel
departed from her.
It is interesting to
read Luke 1:26-38 and see what Mary said. She only speaks twice, once to ask a
question and then to express agreement with what God said. She does not why me?
What will people think and say about me? What about my reputation? What will
Joseph say? Nor does she does not make excuses. Rather she says “Behold the
handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” If God wanted to
use her, she was willing. She probably had no idea the insults that would be
hurled her way. In John 8:41, the Pharisses tossed it in Jesus face, “We be not
born of fornication.” Neither was He, yet men’s minds have trouble wrapping themselves
around the birth of a child by a virgin. The prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 was lost
to them, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin
shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Mary is not to be worshipped,
yet she should be admired for trusting what God said.
If we read on in the chapter, verses 46-55, contain Mary’s
praise of God.
“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit
hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden:
for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that
is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is
on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength
with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.He
hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He
hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He
hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our
fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.”
I can think of only 3 women and 1 group of women that were
spoken to by an angel.
Hagar – Genesis 16
Manoah’s wife – Judges 13
Mary – Luke 1
The women at the tomb – Matthew 28
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