Her Son, Her Savior {The Greatest Story}

In order for any story to work, it needs characters.

And boy, did the Great Author pick out an eclectic cast to tell His Greatest Story.

I've been thinking about doing a special series of blog posts for Christmas.  Christmas is, after all, one of my favorite times of year.  And every year, God shows me something new in the Christmas story.  And this year, I thought I would share them with you.

So get ready to dive into the Greatest Story, where God proves His love for mankind in a most unexpected way.

And we begin with a young woman, who unexpectedly became a key player in this plan, despite being inexperienced, unmarried, and from a backwater town where not much happened... ever.

 

Mary is fascinating to think about. 

I mean, here you have this girl, who is probably younger than I am now, who is preparing for marriage to a man she probably doesn't know all that well, and is innocently gathering water or preparing for a meal when she is suddenly not alone.  And this intruder is so terrifying that his first words to her are "Fear not." 

(Mini side note here, I'm fairly certain that angels are really, really scary.  Because every single time, their first words are "Don't be afraid.")

This stranger, this glowing warrior, is telling her that she has been chosen by God.  Now, just the angel would have her freaked out.  But telling her that God has a job for her?  To a Jewish girl from a small town, that must have taken her breath away and left her silently gasping for a moment, only hearing the rush of her blood in her ears.  Her first thought, trying to wrap her mind around this declaration, comes out in a small-voiced question: "How can this be?  I am a virgin."

But then a voice whispers, "Mary, you know it's true."

And she lifts her chin, takes a deep breath, and knows the truth behind the words she speaks.

"I am the Lord's servant.  May your word to me be fulfilled."

Can you imagine carrying that kind of encounter in the forefront of your mind?  Feeling the change in your body, knowing the change in your heart, wondering when to bring it up to your family, when to say something to Joseph.  Having the knowledge that once this secret is out, it could not just ruin your life, it could end your life. 

She must have prayed about it on so many nights, when she was sleepless with fear, listening to her family's steady breaths, sensing that she could never go back to the way things were.  Picturing Joseph, his face hard and his eyes heartbroken, turning away and leaving her to the mercy of her neighbors.  She must have cried out to God, asking why she had been chosen, knowing, in her heart of hearts, that it would be alright because God was in it, but still wondering.  Still doubting, if only a little.

Mary's faith is something I aspire to have.  Because clearly she had a lot of it.  Not only was she hand-picked by God for this task when certainly (to human understanding, at least), there were other, more qualified people He could have chosen.  People who had a secure life, people who were older, people who knew more, who had more.  But God chose a humble Jewish girl from a humble Jewish town to carry out the most incredible plan He had ever put in motion.

One of my favorite Christmas songs asks the question of whether Mary knew what she was getting herself into.  Most people answer "Yes, of course she did", but I'm not sure about that.  Gabriel didn't really give her details.  Just that she had been chosen, that honored by God, that she would bear His son, and that son would be mighty.  But as for the actual miracles?  I can't help but think that she had no idea that those were coming.  I mean, she watched Jesus grow up.  She watched him go from a snotty-nosed toddler to a quietly curious child to a devoted teenager taking up his earthly father's job.  It's really no wonder the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus when he returned to them during his ministry.  They knew him as a child, not as Messiah.

And I highly doubt that she ever truly thought about the fact that he would die.  She knew the prophecies, of course, everyone knew the prophecies.  The Messiah would die for his people.  But standing at the foot of the cross, watching her firstborn's struggle for breath and watching the blood dripping from his broken body, she must have wondered again why she had been chosen.

Surely she didn't see the cross reflected in the eyes of a boy who had been born in a stable.  She didn't see the power to heal the blind in the little hand that held hers on the way to market.  She didn't know that the little boy who stumbled over his own feet and cried when he fell would walk on water.

And yet... she must have seen it.  In little things he did.  How he could calm conflict between his siblings with a single word.  How he had a kind word for everyone who came through the shop, even when they were there to complain.  How he lit up when he prayed.

Mary was amazing.  She really was.  But I doubt that she had the whole picture.  She was, after all, only human.  And that's the most amazing thing about her.

 

~ Abby