The Faith of Mary

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:35-38 ESV). The modern prejudice is that people in earlier times accepted stories of angels and supernatural births because they didn’t know any better. That has caused a tendency to believe that such things must be legendary. After all, in today’s modern world of technology and science, these things were surely a figment of one’s imagination. An angel could not have really appeared to Mary. Earlier in the text our reading is taken from, the angel Gabriel came to Mary and announced she would give birth. Her response when Gabriel says she will bear a child was, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Just because Mary didn’t know the theory of relativity doesn’t mean she didn’t know the facts of life. She explains simply that this was impossible. She had never been with a man. How could she possibly give birth? The angel explained it reasonably. God would do it miraculously. After that explanation we see the key thought. Mary simply answers, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be to me according to your word.” She could not have foreseen all the honors that would come to her eventually. But she could very well imagine the immediate repercussions of this news. After all, she now had to tell her betrothed, Joseph, this difficult news. How could she possibly explain to him? There was no reassurance from the angel that he would go to Joseph and explain to him what was happening. She had no idea how that would turn out. She did know that by Jewish law, she could be put to death. All she had to hold on to was the words of the angel. Then there was the shame for someone suspected of adultery in a conservative place like Nazareth. God was asking her to risk her marriage and her life. All of this for a child she had no real idea who he was to be and what he would do. But Mary said yes to God. Mary’s faith would cost her, but she was willing to pay the price. That’s what real faith is like. Faith stakes everything on the word of God, and accepts the consequences. Often, in the midst of trial and difficulty, we are called on to have that faith. These hard experiences of life are not mere lessons for us to learn; they are not equipping us for some future encounter with someone going through a similar experience. God brings us to weakness so that his strength is made perfect in our lives. When you find yourself there, remember Mary. Her faith is an example to all of us.