Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. Luke 1:38 (NRSV).
These words from Mary come at the end of a startling conversation with the angel Gabriel. He appears all of a sudden sent by God to Galilee. I wonder if the angel knew he would catch this poor and unsuspecting peasant girl completely by surprise. Maybe he took pleasure in his task of delivering one of the most important messages a human being has ever received from heaven.
Mary was likely going about her daily work in the yard or barnyard of a simple home located in a nondescript village when this holy being cuts into her reality with a message that will change her life.
Here is what Gabriel says to Mary:
Favored one. You have found favor with God.
The Lord is with you.
Don’t be afraid.
You will conceive in your womb and bear a son.
You will name him Jesus.
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord will give him the throne of his ancestor David.
He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
His kingdom will not end.
The Holy Spirit will come upon you.
The power of the Most High will overshadow you.
The child to be born will be holy.
He will be called the Son of God.
Your relative Elizabeth has conceive a son.
This is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.
Nothing will be impossible with God.
First, he tells her how God sees her. Then he shares the plan for bringing Jesus into the world. In answer to Mary’s astonishment, he tells her how this will happen, and then ends with the declaration that nothing will be impossible with God.
The New Revised Standard Version and the King James Version of the Bible uses the word impossible. The NIV translation says, “No word from God will ever fail.” Either way, the angel wants Mary to know that God can be trusted to tell the truth, and that he has the power to act on his word. The message Gabriel delivered will happen because God has ordained it.
Mary doesn’t respond like Zechariah the priest did to Gabriel’s news of John the Baptist’s birth. While Zechariah doubted if God was capable of bringing the event about, Mary only asked how. She already knew God followed through on his word. Her question wasn’t of God’s ability, but of the ways in which he would work.
This story of the dialogue between Mary and the heavenly messenger implies a relationship with God. In order to find favor with him, Mary had to first be known by him. She had to have already trusted him through tests of faith. At some point, God had proven himself faithful.
But Gabriel’s greeting of favor confirms that at some point, Mary had proven faithful as well. God knew enough about Mary’s heart to trust her response.
God couldn’t ask just anyone to be the human mother of his son. This role belonged to a woman who was devoted to God. She had to be someone who had already decided to stand with him and commit to him.
In the span of their relationship, Mary’s heart was evident to God. He knew that she had the necessary qualities to face the hardships as mother to the Son of God.
After Jesus’ birth, Mary fled with Joseph to Egypt to protect Jesus from King Herod.
She and Joseph raised Jesus according to the Law God set forth for worship.
She stood by and watched Jesus be crucified.
She shared stories about him with the gospel writers as a vital influence to the canon of the New Testament.
She was one of the people in the assembly we read about in the first chapter of Acts that started the church.
What can we learn from Mary? This passage in Luke 1 shows the interaction between Mary and God. They enjoyed a deep, committed relationship to each other. When the day came that Mary is caught off guard by troubling news, such as the angel brought her, she had the confidence in God to believe his word to her.
Do you have this kind of relationship with God?
Are you deeply committed to him?
When the day of troubling news arrives, will you be confident in God and will you believe him?
A prayer for Christmas from the Book of Common Prayer
Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word. Grant that this light, kindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
