When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, she was a young girl living in a tiny village, probably around 12 or 13 years old. She had no reason to believe her life would differ from that of any other girl living in Nazareth at that time. She expected to marry, have children, and care for a modest home. Some 33 years later she was sitting in a upper room in Jerusalem, participating with Peter and the other apostles in the organization of a new church based on the divinity of her own son, on his teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection.
The message of the angel and her reaction to it would change her life and the world forever. In lesser but in some respects just as important ways, our reactions to the circumstances, the missions given to us, will also change lives. As I study Mary and the way she faced her challenges, I have learned much to help me face mine.
Mary was likely by herself, perhaps watching the family goats, or fetching water from the well, when the strange person appeared and hailed her as “highly favored” and “blessed among women” (Luke 1:28). Remember, she was about 13 years old[1]and had probably seldom met a stranger, let alone one that would single her out as someone special. She is understandably “troubled” or startled, and wonders about such a greeting.[2]Then the angel explains she will have a child who will be the “son of the Highest,” who will “reign over the house of Jacob” and whose “kingdom [shall have] no end” (Luke 1:31-33).
Pretty overwhelming stuff this, for a young village girl. But she doesn’t question these prophecies at all. Perhaps she remembers her own heritage of David’s line, and the yearning of her people for a Messiah who will save her people from being ruled by idol worshipping foreigners. Perhaps the prophecy makes perfect sense to her. Some woman will certainly bear this promised savior.
But her mind goes immediately to the practical. She is in fact in some respects “married,” her family and Joseph’s family have signed the paperwork which connects the two young people as a married couple. However, the second part of the marriage has not been completed. When she is a little older, her husband Joseph will take her into his household and into his bed for the first time. [3]Mary has not ever “known” a man, not even her husband Joseph, so she very practically asks, “How shall this be?” (Luke 1:35).
When the angel explains that it just will be, through the miraculous power of the Holy Ghost, Mary does not ask any other questions. She does not, as she rightly could have, inquire how her life and her reputation will be salvaged in a culture that may punish adultery by stoning and certainly by ostracism. She does not ask whether her family will continue to care for her, whether Joseph will still protect her as his wife. Mary may be young, but she know what happens to girls who have babies without the protection of a husband.
But Mary does not ask the angel any of these questions. She simply says, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” She believes. She trusts the Lord. She recognizes the importance of the mission given to her and she believes the Lord will help her to accomplish it. She knows it won’t be easy, but she knows she will do it. She knows, as the angel told her, “with God nothing shall be impossible.”
This is the first thing I learn from Mary. Though angels have not visited me, and I am certainly not the pure and holy woman Mary was and is, I do have jobs to do here on this earth. I have missions that God is asking me to fulfill. I am to be a wife, mother, teacher, friend. I have some talents and some abilities that God wants me to consecrate to His service and to those of others. Yet often, when I feel the call, when the Holy Ghost says, “Go visit her.” Or “write about that,” I respond with, “Oh, not today. I’m tired.’ Or “What if I’m not good enough?” or “She doesn’t even like me, how can I help?”
Instead I want to be like Mary, and meekly follow the call. To say “Be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38). And if I do, who knows what miracles may follow?
The next lesson I learn is within the story of the marvelous birth. Of course, God watches over the young mother, and Joseph does take Mary under his protection, and even takes her to Bethlehem to give birth, far from the gossiping tongues of Nazareth who may have been counting months. The Child is born, and then the shepherds come, worshipping young Mary’s newborn son. They say that angels came to them as they watched the sheep, angels proclaiming, “a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” They say the angels gave them directions leading them to the manger holding Mary’s baby, and the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest!”
Young Mary listens quietly to the shepherds. Though the shepherds return home, loudly “glorifying and praising God,” Mary quietly considers their words; she “ponder[s] them in her heart.” She is thinking through the implications of these angelic messengers. She is remembering the message of Gabriel and adding this testimony to his.
Twelve years later, Mary again is described as thoughtful. The family has journeyed to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple at the feast, probably of Passover. As Mary and Joseph start the return journey, they realize the young boy Jesus is not with their party and return to search for him. They find him in the temple, conversing with and even teaching the learned men. When asked why he stayed behind, Jesus answers, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). Then, he does come home with Mary and Joseph and continue to be a dutiful son, but Mary adds this experience and her Son’s confidence in His mission to the other evidences of his divinity. She ponders them all; she “kept all these sayings in her heart” (Luke 2:51).
I want to be more like Mary. I want to ponder in my heart the miraculous events of my life, the times that God has shown his power in my behalf--the small tender mercies and the larger miracles. They are many and they are significant. I need to consider their meaning in my life and in my particular mission.
Finally, I think of Mary standing at the cross, at the feet of her son as he goes through the most agonizing of deaths. She could have been like other disciples, hiding in a room somewhere, frightened of being captured and killed as well. She could have watched from a nearby hill, perhaps with other disciples. But no. Mary stands steadfast, with her son in death as she was at his birth. She is there to offer what support she can.
No doubt she wondered how this agonizing death could come to the one the angel Gabriel promised would be king of kings, the son of Highest, who should rule over the house of Jacob without end. She couldn’t understand this end to the child whom angels proclaimed a Savior, Christ the Lord. This man who had clearly “been about His Father’s business,” how could the Father let him die in this way? The son, who turned water to wine at her request, whom she knew could heal the sick and raise the dead, was he really born to die such an ignominious death? I can understand how faith could waver at this point, how a mother might be angry with God for letting this happen.
But Mary did not lose faith. She had pondered in her heart all the witnesses of her Son’s divinity. She knew if God was letting this happen it was probably part of His Plan. So she stayed by her Son, comforting him with her faith and her presence, attending to what needs she could.
And because of Mary’s faith, she was there, to know of her Son’s resurrection, to see the unfolding of His glorious gospel to fill the earth
I want to be like Mary. Even when things do not seem to be going according to my plan, the plan that seemed to be the right one to me, I want to be steadfast in faith, and wait bravely for God’s plan to unfold.
So this is what I have learned from studying Mary. I want to respond willingly and completely to follow God’s commandments. I want to ponder in my heart the evidences of God’s love and grow in knowledge and faith. I want to be steadfast, standing with God, even when things do not seem to be going well. I want to have the faith that will allow me to grow and learn so I can know my Lord, and His glorious plan for me.
