In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38, NRSV)
Every time I read this story I am struck by Mary’s response. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
No hold on just a minute, you know I can be killed if the community finds out about this, and they are not going to believe when I tell them that an angel told me it is God’s baby.
Or maybe she knew about what had happened to Zachariah how he came out of the innermost part of the temple unable to speak and she wondered if it had not been an angel, because the angel here does tell Mary about Elizabeth and we don’t know if she knew Elizabeth was pregnant before this or not.
So how would you react, if you were 14 and not married, betrothed to a man and an angel comes to you and says you will have a son by God?
Would you be like Mary, or would you be like Zachariah?
aSacredRebel 