Luke 1:26-45 NASB
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, [27] to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. [28] And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” [29] But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. [30] The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; [33] and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” [34] Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” [35] The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. [36] And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. [37] For nothing will be impossible with God.” [38] And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. [39] Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, [40] and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. [41] When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. [42] And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! [43] And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? [44] For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. [45] And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”
When I think about this conversation that the angel Gabriel had with Mary, I don’t just think about the amazing and remarkable things the angel said to Mary, but also think about a couple of things the angel did not say to Mary. For one, God never reassures Mary through Gabriel, that everything was going to be okay between her and Joseph; the one that she was betrothed to. This story about why she was pregnant was a pretty ridiculous one, and as you know from the biblical record in Matthew 1, Joseph did not believe it. Because he was a righteous man, Joseph wanted to protect Mary, and just have her put away, instead of exposing her, and she being stoned to death as the law required. Joseph loved her and wanted to protect her, but it does not change the fact that Joseph did not believe her, and that had to be extremely painful for Mary. Joseph did eventually come to believe, after an angel came to him in a dream and explained to him that everything Mary had told him was true, but Mary had to deal with some period of time where Joseph thought that she had been unfaithful, and was an adultress. I’m sure these things must’ve crossed Mary’s mind, concerning what Joseph might think, when the angel told her that she would be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Also, the angel didn’t promise to cover her and her reputation in the eyes of all the people who were close to her and beyond. I’m sure Mary, also had thoughts about what all her friends and family, and the general population with think about her all of her life, and the kind of scandal that she would have to live with. I don’t know about you, but my tendency would have been to the ask the Lord for a couple of guarantees concerning my future, but that did not happen for Mary. There were no guarantees, and that impresses me maybe more than anything else about Mary’s response. When She said “behold the bondservant the Lord, be it done to me according to your word,” she was saying whatever you want to do with my future and my dreams, I trust You. It is impressive that Mary could believe for such an extreme miracle is getting pregnant by the Holy Spirit, but I’m even more impressed that this young girl by faith said yes to God without any promises concerning her future, except for the fact that God’s favor would be on her. When Elizabeth celebrates Mary’s faith in verse 45, I think that word “faith” would best be translated “trust.” Mary trusted God to perform a miracle, but she also trusted God with all of the unknown that her future might bring in terms of people’s response to her being pregnant. It is easy to trust God when we can see what’s coming, and we can see how things are going to turn out okay, but it is another thing to trust God when we are totally in the dark about how everything is going to turn out. For such a young girl, Mary exhibited mature faith, because mature faith is willing to lay down being able to see everything. Mary knew, because the angel declared it, that God’s favor was on her, and she knew that God was going to perform a miracle and she was going to give birth to the Messiah, but beyond that she knew nothing else, except that God was good, and he could be trusted, and her life was His, to do whatever he wanted to with it.