And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” Luke 1:45
My sister messaged me recently that her granddaughter, my great-niece, found out that my first name is Mary. In awe, she asked if I changed my name to Mary so that I could be like Jesus’s mom.
With Christmas morning approaching, I find myself reading in Luke 1, the account of the angel coming to Mary. I ended up camping out a bit in verse 45. So much to mine here. A few points are highlighted for me.
A quick observation, let it not be missed that God didn’t first go to Joseph before going to Mary. Some parts of the Church, thankfully not mine, see its women as Eves, viewing them through the eyes of the Fall, rather than seeing its born again, new creation women, as Marys.
May the Church view its women through the lens of the redemptive work of Christ, the Second Adam, and not the first. The world, and the Kingdom, need the fullness of women-kind, as an expression of part of the very nature of God Himself. This truth should be self-evident, but in some circles, women are relegated to the kitchen and nursery, never heard from even as deaconesses or prophetesses, as Biblical precedent demonstrates.
Yes, the Enemy came to Eve, and through her choice Sin did enter the world. But God came to Mary, and Redemption entered the world through her’s.
Let’s be sure, in this New Covenant, to view people through the proper lens. Not according to flesh, but spirit. If we don’t, we may all miss out on the very heart and plan of God for us. For them.
Back to the verse itself. Highlighted to me is Mary’s faith. She BELIEVED there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.
Faith is courageous. It dares to believe the extravagant, impossible, scandalous plan of God.
I wonder if she had not put belief with the prophetic words spoken over her, would it have come to pass? Maybe? Probably? Maybe not?
Many of us have a wrong understanding of God’s sovereignty. We think ourselves a passive puppet in the plan of God, and that whatever He wants to happen, or not happen, will or won’t.
I’ll not explore here the illegitimacy and futility of such thinking, but it seems sadly common in many corners of Christendom.
Be clear, Mary gave her yes. God didn’t force Himself on her. We have free will and He honors it. In fact, our will is so free we can say no. Our will is so free we can overpower and violate the body and person of another. Our free will doesn’t diminish God’s sovereignty, but that’s a different conversation.
Back to Mary. Falsely, we think that if an angel came to us and spoke to us of God’s future plans we would of course believe our experience and never doubt. But I’m not so sure. Often, supernatural events happen to people and instead they talk themselves out of it. Second-guess it. Question it. Look for a natural or rational reason or explanation for what they experienced, thus abandoning what was supposed to bless and keep them in God’s best.
Upon receiving the word given to her, I would imagine there were many moments thereafter Mary was tempted to doubt. I imagine she had to invoke her will to choose to believe that what was spoken over her would come to pass.
I wonder how often she replayed that night in her mind. Recalled the words of the angel.
Still a virgin, wondered about the how and when? Would it hurt? Feel good? Would she even know when she had conceived? What would her parents say? What would Joseph say? Her neighbors? The priests? Who would believe her, a teenage girl?
So often, we make real-life, flesh and blood people into historical figures we place in stained glass and forget they were just like me and you. Let us not be naive and think it wasn’t at least possible that Mary was tempted to doubt, to panic, to change her mind, withdraw her yes, reject this prophetic word spoken over her and the all consequences that might come with it. Maybe, maybe not, but I don’t think I’m reading too much into the text to wonder.
Thankfully, she did believe there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord. Ans she was blessed for it. And we were blessed too. It did come to pass. For all of us. For me.
Jesus was born. Because he was born, lived, died, was resurrected, ascended, I was born again.
I’m forever grateful for Mary. For her faith. Her courage. Her Yes. That she BELIEVED God. If she did, I can. I will. I do. WILL you?
Written by Colleen Schumer (aka Mary)
Featured Image by janeb13 from Pixabay
