Matthew 1:18- Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. NKJV
Mary has been given a lot of titles over the years: “The Blessed Virgin Mary”, “The Mother of God”, “Immaculate Conception”, and “Gate to Heaven”, to name a few. But the title that is most accurate and certainly most revealing is “The Mother of God”.
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
Luke 1:26-27 NKJV
Most commentators tell us that Mary was a young girl, a teenager. Mary endeared herself to God when He chose her to be the mother of His Son. Obviously, a young woman of strength and character, she’s minding her own business when an angel appeared to her.
And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
Luke 1:28 NKJV
The Bible tells us that she was troubled at this greeting. After all, she was just a young girl going about her day, and an angel appeared and called her blessed! And then he said to her:
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Luke 1:30-33 NKJV
Wouldn’t you say that Mary received the best news possible? If what the angel said was true, God had decided to pour His favor upon her. Something every girl in Jerusalem probably wanted, but no one truly understood. But here she was, being told that she would conceive, have a son, and call His name Jesus. And the scary part, she didn’t know a man in the biblical sense, she was betrothed to Joseph, and how would she explain all of this to him?
Then the angel continued:
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Luke 1:35-37 NKJV
And right there, we see why God chose Mary. She was a young woman willing to believe that with God, nothing would be impossible. She may not have understood everything the angel said to her, but she understood God!
She understood that an angel came to her and told her something wonderful. She would have the Son of God! She understood that nothing was impossible for God! She understood that even though she didn’t know a man, she was about to have a baby. And she understood that a miracle was taking place with her cousin Elisabeth because she was old, barren, and having a baby. Yes, nothing was impossible with God! And she was the recipient of news that would forever change her destiny!
And so she said the only thing that she could say,
“Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”
Luke 1:38 NKJV
Mary had great faith! The kind of faith that believed she was highly favored by God. The faith that believed she was blessed! The kind of faith that produced the Son of God. And the kind of faith that believed throughout the trials of life.
Although she said yes to God, she didn’t know that Joseph would say yes. Yet, she believed. Did her mother and father believe that she was pregnant with the Messiah? Didn’t matter, Mary believed! Did anyone in her family besides Elisabeth believe? For it was more than apparent that everyone found out that she had conceived a child out of wedlock. Yet, none of these things moved her; she just kept on believing. She was giving birth to the Son of God, and the rest of the world would have to wait and see if it was so.
And so they waited! And it was so! Mary had indeed given birth to the Son of God. She watched Him turn water into wine, heal the eyes of the blind, feed the 5,000, and perform a host of other miracles. Then she watched Him be crucified. The prophet’s words became true,
(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
Luke 2:35 NKJV
Her heart hurt, but she believed! And that faith saw Jesus rise again! Rise to greatness! Rise to the redemption of the world! Rise to be reunited with the Father! Thank God for a young woman who dared to believe that, despite the circumstances, she could be the mother of the Son of God!
Mothers can believe when no one else will believe. We believe our babies are geniuses, can do no wrong, and are the cutest babies around. We believe they can be kings, presidents, senators, teachers, and preachers. We believe! And it is because of that belief in our children that they do so many wonderful things in life.
I thank God for the opportunity to be a mother. I thank Him for the three wonderful girls He has blessed me with! I thank Him daily for their love for Him because I know that with Him, they can also do the impossible! Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 