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Mary is a central figure in the Christmas story. (You see how nothing gets past me?) I will look at her faith like a hymn with three stanzas. All of this is from Luke 1.
Mary and the Angel Gabriel
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.
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.
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
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.
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Wow! Wow!! Wow!!!
Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women – First, she sees an angel and then he says this? No wonder . . .
when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be - This speaks of her humility.
And the angel said unto her, 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 – You are going to conceive and bear a son. The angel goes on to say as clear as words can make it, "This son of yours will be called the Son of the Highest; he will be the Messiah." The hope of generations is about to be fulfilled and Mary will be his mother!
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? – One minor problem, “I’m a virgin. I’ve never been with a man and have no man to be with now. How shall this be?” 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?
the angel answered and said unto her – rather than rebuke her, Gabriel explains to her how this will work. Why did Zacharias receive a rebuke and Mary an explanation? Zacharias demanded proof and gives the reason for his doubt. He had prayed for this blessing and was now skeptical. 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 in the time honored way. And so the angel explains: 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. Amen. She will remain a virgin and yet by the power of God conceive a son. Mary, a young virgin, will give birth to a son. These words and promises are astounding! A virgin will conceive and give birth to the Messiah, who is the Son of God!
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 – the angel offers encouragement for her faith - With God, nothing shall be impossible. Amen!
Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word
Here is Mary’s faith. And what great faith it is! She has faith to receive a work she cannot do herself. But we need to understand, she not only believes the words of the angel, in faith she offers herself to God for Him to do His work and will through her. And as she believes for grace to conceive, she believes for grace to enable her to handle the (social) consequences of being pregnant before being married.
Mary and Elisabeth
Verses 39-45 describe Mary’s visit to Elisabeth. Two women of great faith hanging out for nearly three months. And, not surprisingly, there is excitement and prophecy (see my last post). But it wasn’t all prayer and prophesying. In fact, it was mostly mundane stuff, cooking, cleaning, and being pregnant. But, there was that wonderful prophetic word:
And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
In my early years in the faith, I was among 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. I don’t worship her, but she is indeed The Blessed Virgin Mary! Blessed is she that believed. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
In 46-56 we find the song of Mary. It says, And Mary said, but I’m convinced this is a song. And what a song! I encourage you to read it all.
Mary believed. She had faith to receive a great work from God; she had faith to offer herself as a handmaid of the Lord; she had faith for the consequences; and in faith she sang a song of praise to God her Savior. Indeed, Blessed is she that believed!
My soul doth magnify the Lord
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour
For he that is mighty hath done great things
And holy is his name
My soul doth magnify the Lord
My soul doth magnify the Lord
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour
For he that is mighty hath done great things
And holy is his name
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