One On One: 100 Days With Jesus--ADVENTSample

Mary: The Girl who Said 'Yes' to God

Most of our lives are lived out in ordinary days. 

When she got up that morning, Mary’s to-do list was filled with Tuesday sorts of things. Fetch the water. Sweep the courtyard. Feed the animals. If she let herself daydream, there was always Joseph. Her dreams for their life together were shaped in a beautiful kind of ordinary in the never-fancy Nazareth of the first century. 

But God had other plans—plans in place since Eden. History itself turns like a hinge on that day’s events. Back in heaven, God nodded to Gabriel. The time had come. 

It’s hard to know if Mary was more surprised by Gabriel’s sudden entrance, or by the message. 

God is with you, Mary. Don’t be afraid; He is honoring you. 

You will conceive and give birth to a son—He will be called the Son of the Most High. 

Wait . . . she recognized that phrase. Messiah. Her people hung every last hope on the promise of Messiah’s coming. Every Passover they read Isaiah’s prophecy and lifted a glass to His arrival . . . perhaps this year. 

You will bear God’s Son—the Messiah. 

It was a lot to take in, so Mary started with the practical. How?—a question of logistics not faith. Perhaps with a twinkle in his eye, Gabriel answered, “Nothing is impossible with God.” And he should know, since his job was to stand in God’s presence. 

Mary’s second response confirmed why God picked her in the first place. Instead of probing for comforting details or demanding answers, Mary simply said, “I am the Lord’s bond slave. May it be as you have said.” 

The word is doulos—bond slave. In that day, a bond slave gave up the opportunity for release, saying instead, “I love my master. I will freely serve him the rest of my life.” 

When Jesus came to earth, Philippians 2 tells us He became a doulos—a willing servant to His Father’s will. Mary followed His pattern even before He was born. Every disciple who has followed since has said the same. “May it be as you have said”—loosely translated, “Whatever, Lord.” The cost would be high, but He was her master. She would do what pleased Him. 

Later, all by herself again on that ordinary Tuesday, Mary remembered Isaiah’s prophecy, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. A virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel. God with us.” 

And she trembled all over, realizing Isaiah was talking about her. 

Tomorrow: One on one with the first person to worship Jesus