The Blessed Virgin Mary

 

The Blessed Virgin Mary

That’s quite a title! Let's see if it's one she deserves.

Mary is a central figure in the Christmas story. (You see how nothing gets past me??) First, I will look at why she is the Blessed Virgin and then, when I examine her faith, I will point out some aspects of faith we haven’t seen before. All of this is from Luke 1.

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

In the sixth month - refers to Elisabeth’s pregnancy.

the angel Gabriel was sent from God - he was also the angel sent to Zacharias.

Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women - What a greeting!! Gabriel tells her three things right out of the gate: she is highly favored, the Lord is with her, and she is blessed among women. 

As the Douay-Rheims Bible (1582 translation from the Latin) puts verse 28:

And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

In my early years in the faith, I was among the saints who were so afraid of being considered Catholic that they either ignored Mary or made sure to declare she was really nothing special. None of that for me now! I don’t worship her, but Gabriel clearly said, Blessed art thou among women.

Why was Mary blessed among women? Gabriel tells her: 

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32 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: 

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

she was troubled at this saying - this shows her humility; the angel repeats, Thou hast found favor with God. 

thou shalt conceive ... and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS - I confess, we know the rest of the story, so it is hard to contain myself! Now he reveals what is so special about her son:

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.

Her son is Messiah! She was chosen by God to give birth to the Messiah!! This would have been the hope and dream of every Jewish girl in those days, and Mary is the girl!!! The Blessed Virgin Mary!

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

One minor problem, “I’m a virgin. How shall this be?” It seems she understood the angel’s words to mean she’s going to get pregnant right now. Zacharias had a similar question, “Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.” Is she about to lose her speech as well?

35 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.

36 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.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible. 

35 the angel answered and said unto her – rather than rebuke her, Gabriel explains how this will work. Why did Zacharias receive a rebuke and Mary an explanation? Zacharias demanded proof. He had prayed for this blessing and was now skeptical, a fancy word for unbelief. Mary, on the other hand, only wanted to know how in her case it would be possible to conceive. After all, Zacharias and Elisabeth were going to conceive the old-fashioned way. 

The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee - This is really cool. She had a genuine question. "I know how you get pregnant; but how am I going to get pregnant, since I know not a man? Gabriel explains it. He is building up her faith. And he caps it off with

For with God nothing shall be impossible - Oh the power of God! Elisabeth conceived in her old age (testimony) and you shall conceive in your virginity (promise). All of this is fuel for her faith.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.

This is powerful! She believed what he told her: “God said it, I believe it, that settles it for me.” Mary heard the word and believed it. Amen! But there are aspects of faith which we’ve not seen before.

(1) There were going to be repercussions to her turning up pregnant: she wasn’t married so she could expect family and social difficulties; there was also a great risk of losing her husband-to-be. Believing the Lord included trusting Him with the details and the fallout. This is important. She believed the promise; she also trusted Him with the details.

(2) And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. There are several words that have been used to describe this: yield, surrender, submit; they all involve the will. She heard the promise, You will have a son who will be Messiah, and she believed it. She also trusted the Lord to work this out in real time: “I submit myself to your plan.” I haven’t mentioned submission before, but this is a vital step to faith. Isn't this where we so often stumble? “I’m yours, Lord, have your way in my life.” 

Here is Mary’s faith. And what great faith it is! She has faith to receive a work she cannot do herself. She not only believes the words of the angel, but in faith she offers herself to God for Him to do His work in her. And as she believed for grace to conceive, she believed for grace to enable her to handle the consequences of being pregnant before being married.

When Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, she prophesied (Luke 1:42, 45):

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

And blessed is she that believed

This is where the Catholic and Orthodox churches get, 

Hail Mary, full of grace,

The Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, 

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

I'm not suggesting that we should pray this prayer, but if we believe the Bible, we need to admit that Mary is indeed the Blessed Virgin!

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is truly blessed among women and a woman of great faith.

All to Jesus I surrender,
All to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
In his presence daily live.

I surrender all,
I surrender all,
All to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
(Judson W. Van DeVenter, 1896)

NEXT: Mary's song