Who is Mary of Nazareth? Part 2

Who is Mary of Nazareth? Part 2

(Mary had just been visited by the angel Gabriel telling her she was going to have the Son of the Most High. In the following verses, we see her response to this news.)

Luke 1:34-38:

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

Her initial response was “How can this be, I’m a virgin.” But I think by Gabriel’s response we can be certain it was not a question filled with disbelief or doubt...she was not doubting that she would have a child, she just wasn’t sure how it was going to happen since she was a virgin and she seemed to believe the message would be fulfilled sooner rather than later. So Gabriel proceeds to fill her in on the details of the how—"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” I like the Greek word for ‘come upon,’ it means to “arrive, invade...resting upon and operating in a person.” Once she understood the “how”, she answered, "I am the Lord's servant." Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology helps us to understand what she is really saying. The Greek word for servant here is actually the female equivalent of a male bondservant.

In the New Testament, doulos [dou'lo"] is frequently used to designate a master's slave. The term points to a relation of absolute dependence, in which the master and the servant stand on opposite sides—the [master] having a full claim, the [servant] having a full commitment. The servant can exercise no will or initiative on his or her own.

That’s how Mary saw herself. In essence she was saying, “Lord, I am your handmaid. Whatever you want, I want. I’m yours and you can do anything you want with me.” Total submission. No other questions necessary...no more answers needed.

The next section of this passage tells us of a teenager hurrying off to visit her elderly, pregnant relative, Elizabeth. There are a lot of unanswered questions—did she tell her parents? Joseph? Did anyone go with her? Did she tell anyone where she was going? How did she make the trip? But the one thing we know from the next few verses is that Elizabeth confirmed the news that Gabriel had given Mary. “Blessed is the child you will bear!..Why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Though wonderful, the news Mary received was traumatic...it would change her world. When you really stop and think about it, who was going to believe her story? Would you believe your daughter if she came to you with that story? There is so little physical evidence in the first few months of pregnancy. But did you notice that “by the way” statement there about her relative Elizabeth? Isn’t it just like our good God to provide someone to share in Mary’s joy, her belief in the impossible and to confirm that she was indeed going to be the earthly mother of the Son of the Most High.....

To be continued.