Mary Was Chosen

Three Weeks Before Christmas. It is that time of year when my mind begins to wonder what Mary was thinking about thee before Christmas 2022 years ago.

She was just a girl. Most scholars of the culture at that time put her age at the time of Jesus’s birth at fifteen give or take a year. The society was strictly patrilineal. One’s place in the tribe was determined through the line of the father, thus it was extremely important to be able to prove the paternity of the child, especially the firstborn son. Hankey-pankey was expressly forbidden on the part of females so much so, it was against the law and could be punished by death. Males played by a different set of rules, but that is a different story. Marriages were arranged by the two families to create kinship bonds, and it was common for children to be engaged even before they were born. Thus, Mary probably had known Joseph all her life, and probably had developed a sort of bond. After all, this was the guy she was going to spend the rest of her life with.

Given all that what would you expect Mary’s reaction to be when Gabriel told her she was going to be the mother of the Son of God? I don’t know about you but I would expect her first thoughts were “Please God would you bless someone else instead.” My life is going to be turned upside down. Joseph won’t like this one bit. Then her training took over. She had been raised in faith and was accustomed to complying to the will of God. I recall my grandmother. When I told her I wanted to be a professional football player, her response was “If it is God’s will.” It wasn’t God’s will but Mary just as my grandmother believed that god’s will be done. Rather that ask God to look elsewhere for someone to bless, she responded, “I am a servant of the Lord, let this happen to me just as you say.” Then she braced herself for the firestorm that was to follow.

She first went to Joseph and said, “Joe I’m pregnant. I was visited by the angel of God and was told I was going to be the mother of the Son of God. And it happened just like he said. I’m pregnant with God’s child. What do you think we should do?” Joe said she had a problem, there would be no “we”. But he had also been looking forward to a life with Mary and under their custom had two options. He could have her condemned, probably to death, or he cold have the engagement annulled and she could fend for herself. She was grateful he opted for the later.

I wonder how long it was before she told her parents? She had to tell them something before the annulment became public. I have known modern parents who have reacted in all different kind of ways. I don’t know of any, however, who were initially overjoyed. The most positive in my experience was the friend of mine who responded, “well we better change the date of the wedding.” Most were understanding, but this is now. In Mary’s time the family would have been shamed, and suffer loss of status in the community. Additionally, the pregnant teen would lose all hope of marriage, so the family would either kick her out or have the burden of a relatively nonproductive mother and baby forever.

How about the community? Nowadays single mothers are pretty well accepted. Not then. She would have been an outcast. She would have been the target of ridicule. So, she left town before she began to show. Mary was fortunate to have an aunt who understood God’s miracles. Elizabeth was beyond child bearing age. Scripture says they were, “very old.” I’m not sure what that means, but certainly too old to bear children. She prayed to God and was rewarded with the child that became John the Baptist. Anyway, she was accepting of Mary’s condition and believed she was in fact carrying a child conceived by the Holy Spirit. Her extended visit to her aunt’s saved the family embarrassment. You have all read stories, I’m sure, about pregnant girls going “back East” to boarding school ad miraculously returning with a child. Various stories have different ways to explain the presence of the child. Few of them are plausible and the community can easily figure out what happened. Mary was going to return to Nazareth and face the music sooner or later.

Then a second miracle happened. Joseph was visited by an angel of God who told him Mary was telling the truth and to raise the child as his own. Neither Mary nor Joseph expects the community to believe their story, so Joseph decides to go with her to Bethlehem as his wife and stay with his relatives who probably weren’t fully aware of the scandal.

Times have changed, but people have not. Can you imagine how difficult it was for this teenage mother who was in her condition because she trusted God? How did it turn out for her? She was hunted by a tyrannical King who had no qualms about killing all the young male children in Bethlehem. They spent some time in a foreign country until the king died and they could safely go home. By that time the scandal had subsided and they could go home. The locals assumed that Joseph was the father and it was not a life sentence if engaged couples kind of got ahead of schedule. She understood Jesus’s mission. She understood that He was her to do God’s work. Remember the wedding at Canna when she asked him to turn water into wine? His response was, “It is not yet my time.” And His mom said yes, it is. Now get with it. That was the beginning of His ministry. She was also there at the crucifixion. She was at the foot of the cross. She had to know that this was what he was born to do. That had to be the hardest thing of all.

Pray with me. Thank you, Lord for strong women. Thank you for choosing the perfect person to do your work. Mary’s faith was her blessing but it came at a price. We are grateful that she was willing to accept your call. Amen.