Luke 1:38 And Mary said, behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Yuh know Friends, the other day I was watching Cousin Joel talking about some of the things, Mary, the mother of Jesus, went through, and it suddenly struck me that when names are called of people with great faith, hers is never mentioned. In Hebrews 11 Paul talks about Abel, Enoch, Noah Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, etc. but no mention of Mary. But Friends, using Paul’s own definition, that ‘faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,’ what would you term Mary’s response to the Angel Gabriel eh? Remember, Mary was just a young, uneducated girl from a poor family in a poor neighbourhood of a poor town; in today’s parlance, from the ghetto of Nazareth, who’d recently gotten engaged. Now imagine her reaction when Gabriel suddenly shows up and declares, ‘Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.’ Vs.28. Obviously she was surprised and scared. But Gabe calmed her. ‘Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favour with God.’ Vs.30. Then he went on to tell her about the son she would have, to call his name Jesus etc.Vs.31-33. And when Mary asked the obvious question, how can I have a child, if I’ve never been with a man? Gabe simply said that the Holy Ghost would come upon her, that’s why the child would be called the Son of God. He also said that her cousin, Elizabeth, previously barren, was now, in her old age, six months pregnant. ‘For with God, nothing shall be impossible.’ Vs.37. And what was Mary’s reaction to this unbelievable news? Without much time to consider it, she said without hesitation, ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.’ Now isn’t that the ultimate in faith and trust? Try telling that to any teenaged girl today. They’d laugh you to scorn. But in Mary’s time, they were a more God fearing people, though she had much bigger problems then, than girls in our more liberal society today. Getting pregnant outside of marriage is not as terrible as it was back then. How would Joseph, her fiancee react? No doubt he’d think she’d been unfaithful. Would he still marry her? And if he refused, what would happen to her and her illegitimate child? And we all know about the viciousness of small town gossip. But Mary did not wilt under the pressure, she stood strong. Then on visiting her cousin Elizabeth, when she called out to her, John the Baptist jumped for joy in Liz’s womb. Now there’s another woman who should be numbered amongst those of great faith. And after the two women communed, it dawned fully on Mary, that she was destined for a rather remarkable future, and she burst forth in praise. ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour…For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.’ Now if that isn’t faith that should be acknowledged and shouted from the rooftops, I don’t know what is. Roman Catholics revere her for being blessed, but I don’t think we give her her rightful due in the faith category. Who else in history has ever been spiritually told they would have a child without knowing a man, and didn’t bat an eyelash, especially in those dark ages? Then, when we add all the problems she encountered with Jesus growing up and His eccentric, confusing manhood, death and resurrection, but never faltered, what else can you call her resilience eh? Nothing but FAITH! Read it all in Luke Chap.1. Much LOVE!…this thing called faith eh…it can really move mountains yes…
Yuh know Friends, the other day I was watching Cousin Joel talking about some of the things, Mary, the mother of Jesus, went through, and it suddenly struck me that when names are called of people with great faith, hers is never mentioned. In Hebrews 11 Paul talks about Abel, Enoch, Noah Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, etc. but no mention of Mary. But Friends, using Paul’s own definition, that ‘faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,’ what would you term Mary’s response to the Angel Gabriel eh? Remember, Mary was just a young, uneducated girl from a poor family in a poor neighbourhood of a poor town; in today’s parlance, from the ghetto of Nazareth, who’d recently gotten engaged. Now imagine her reaction when Gabriel suddenly shows up and declares, ‘Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.’ Vs.28. Obviously she was surprised and scared. But Gabe calmed her. ‘Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favour with God.’ Vs.30. Then he went on to tell her about the son she would have, to call his name Jesus etc.Vs.31-33. And when Mary asked the obvious question, how can I have a child, if I’ve never been with a man? Gabe simply said that the Holy Ghost would come upon her, that’s why the child would be called the Son of God. He also said that her cousin, Elizabeth, previously barren, was now, in her old age, six months pregnant. ‘For with God, nothing shall be impossible.’ Vs.37. And what was Mary’s reaction to this unbelievable news? Without much time to consider it, she said without hesitation, ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.’ Now isn’t that the ultimate in faith and trust? Try telling that to any teenaged girl today. They’d laugh you to scorn. But in Mary’s time, they were a more God fearing people, though she had much bigger problems then, than girls in our more liberal society today. Getting pregnant outside of marriage is not as terrible as it was back then. How would Joseph, her fiancee react? No doubt he’d think she’d been unfaithful. Would he still marry her? And if he refused, what would happen to her and her illegitimate child? And we all know about the viciousness of small town gossip. But Mary did not wilt under the pressure, she stood strong. Then on visiting her cousin Elizabeth, when she called out to her, John the Baptist jumped for joy in Liz’s womb. Now there’s another woman who should be numbered amongst those of great faith. And after the two women communed, it dawned fully on Mary, that she was destined for a rather remarkable future, and she burst forth in praise. ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour…For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.’ Now if that isn’t faith that should be acknowledged and shouted from the rooftops, I don’t know what is. Roman Catholics revere her for being blessed, but I don’t think we give her her rightful due in the faith category. Who else in history has ever been spiritually told they would have a child without knowing a man, and didn’t bat an eyelash, especially in those dark ages? Then, when we add all the problems she encountered with Jesus growing up and His eccentric, confusing manhood, death and resurrection, but never faltered, what else can you call her resilience eh? Nothing but FAITH! Read it all in Luke Chap.1. Much LOVE!…this thing called faith eh…it can really move mountains yes…
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