Mary Says Yes

Gabriel came to Mary with a message from God—“O favoured one, the Lord is with you.” Mary understood the implications of this greeting which is precisely why it troubled her. This is what God spoke to Old Testament judges and prophets—neither of which she imagined herself to be. 

What can this mean, was her alarmed response?  If we put ourselves in this setting it is as likely as not that we would be “greatly troubled” too. I doubt the appearance of an angel would engender a ho-hum response from anyone. The sphere of angels with prophetic utterances isn’t something that would bid us, "keep calm and carry on." 

Mary was promised a child, something in itself not unusual, nor unanticipated. Most Jewish girls married and had children. But most, make that all, Jewish girls had a partner to have children with—they still do. But this child would be not just any child, but the “Son of the Most High,” the promised descendant of King David, who was to rule forever. What must have Mary thought? 

She responded, “How will this be, since I am a virgin.” The angel had told Mary something so unheard of, and, by implication so potentially isolating (who would believe her), that her question wasn’t a lack of faith or trust. 

The Holy Spirit would overshadow her, and the eternal Word of the Father was to become flesh in Mary’s womb. 

Her response: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” What trust, what obedience Mary showed. And what cost she would face in her obedience to God. 

How far does our obedience go? Receiving God’s word isn’t always a matter of personal convenience. But what outcome to those who say yes, what participation in the divine. As with Mary we bear the seed of God’s redemptive word when our maybe, our reluctance, becomes our yes.