She's thirteen, and while busying herself with the chores of the day, she wonders what he is like. She's been pledged to be his bride, and she wonders when the day will come. She's seen him. She's heard his voice, but she doesn't know when he is coming for her. He's made his payment to her father, and it could be any day now. So she continues her activities as usual, and in her spare time, she makes sure her dress is ready. She prepares for the day when he will come for her. She readies herself so that she will not be afraid - afraid of the wedding night and all marriage itself entails. She prepares herself to become a wife.
This particular day though becomes an extraordinary day, and surprisingly it is not because he's come for her. No. Mary has had an unexpected visitation. Instead of Joseph coming, it is Gabriel who has come to deliver a message to her, and Gabriel is no ordinary messenger. He's an angel.
Gabriel: "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
She pinches herself and thinks, "Is this really real? Is this really happening? Am I crazy? No, it is real, and I am afraid. How could he call me, Mary, a simple girl, "highly favored?" And why does he say the Lord is with me? I am just plain ole little Mary. Who am I that he would greet me so? Who am I that he would visit me?"
Gabriel: "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
To herself Mary thinks, "Me, the mother of the Messiah! Is that what he is telling me? Surely, this is not true, I am not even married yet."
Out loud she says: "How will this be since I am a virgin?"
Gabriel: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."
To herself, "Nothing is impossible with God. Elizabeth is going to have a baby. I am going to have a baby. Special babies together." She becomes almost giddy with excitement.
Mary: "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said."
Then Gabriel leaves. Mary is full of excitement and hope. The Lord wants to use her, little ole Mary pledged to be married. She packs up a bag and goes to visit cousin Elizabeth. She was as excited about Lizzie's pregnancy as her own, and more so, because Elizabeth is proof that what the angel said to her was true.
She had every reason to be afraid as she journeyed. What was Joseph going to think? Would he believe? Would he accept? He could leave her. What were the people going to think? She thought about the words of Moses she'd heard her father say: virgins found not to be truly virgins were stoned. But she simply believed, that she would carry Messiah, and Messiah would protect her. She pondered only the promise of what Gabriel had said to her and believed his words to be true.
Upon arriving at Elizabeth's house, she said, "Hello, Elizabeth. It is I, Mary, come to see your good news."
Elizabeth grasped her belly as the baby growing inside her leaped for joy. God's Spirit filled her and she said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
"Confirmation of the promise! Indeed how blessed I am." Mary thought to herself.
Three months later, right before Elizabeth gave birth, Mary returned home. Her belly began to grow, and over time, she was found to be with child before her wedding. Joseph was not sure what to do, and he thought about divorcing her. Divorce would leave her destitute and alone, but it was better than the obvious option of death and of marrying an unfaithful woman. Instead God revealed to him in a dream that the child in Mary was His. So even though Mary had waited for her wedding night, Joseph came one day quietly, and with no ceremony that would defile the virgin birth, she moved into his home as wife instead, he simply assuming the child as his own. It would be months after they'd lived together before a ceremony could be had. Thus, no ceremony ever was.
Now, it was not just a woman unafraid. It was a man caring for a woman unafraid, walking in belief with her as they readied themselves to care for Messiah.
What has God spoken to the depths of your heart? Have you doubted his words to you? Or have you simply believed them to be true and walked in a legacy of faith, championing others to walk along beside you?
