When God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus, her only observable qualifications were traits like obedience, courage, faith, and moral purity. Such qualities are often overlooked or even belittled by society, but they equipped Mary for God’s service.
Mary’s home town of Nazareth was remarkably unremarkable. It was much like any number of other villages on the Galilean Plain (small, poor and taxed to death).
No one particularly boasted of being a Nazarene. Few citizens called it home in Mary’s time; maybe a couple hundred. The Romans kept a regional garrison there, this would mean the place was considered unclean to most Jewish People.
Nazareth was Jewish by birthright, Roman by claim, and Greek by influence. It was no more than a quiet town where men attended to their daily work and women their households.
If it was excitement you were after, you had to walk 3.7 miles up the road to Sepphoris (Sep-for-us). Now there was a city for its time, a modern place that kept up to date with the latest in Greek Culture. Sepphoris was the Capital of the Region. History tells that people in Nazareth walked the nearly 4 miles to work in the city and was exposed to much of their culture. Sepphoris even had running water in many of their homes.
The young Jewish girl Mary lived quite an ordinary life in Nazareth. Then one day an angel came to her and said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Luke 1:30. She had been chosen out of all the women in the world to bear God’s Son! She was to name Him Jesus. She ask how could this be because she had never been with a man in that way. The angel explained that the Holy Spirit would come upon her, and in this way Mary would become the mother of the Christ, God’s own Son.
No matter how unbelievable this sounded according to human thinking this girl maybe 13-17 years old courageously replied, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38. She was full of faith and confidence in God. Where do you think that came from?
She made the same mistakes, and committed some of the same sins as anyone else, but God chose to bless her by allowing her to deliver the perfect lamb of God. She also had the God-given strength to endure the trials that would surely go along with being an unwed of that time. Even if she was the mother of Gods son that was to be called Jesus.
I've often wondered over and over again why she was chosen among all the Jewish women. Was it because she was extremely pious, or because she had many priests in her lineage? Or her parents were very strict with her. I don't follow the idea that Mary herself was without sin like our Roman Catholic brother and sister believe. I feel God took a very ordinary young woman and gave her an extraordinary job to do. (Similar to others we know about in the Bible and else where.) The wonder of it for me is that she was so happy with all that was happening with her.
I am amazed at what people can do when they believe in something so strongly – in this case the promise of the Messiah and the indwelling of God to form a holy baby. In the Bible and the world there have been many who have risen from obscurity to tackle some major calling put before them. But none such as Mary was ask and accepted and did.
Churches are called to bring the Messiah/Christ/Jesus to the people of their community, to be the place where faith is birthed and grows and is then shared with the world. Do we sing songs of praise and glory to God for tasks given to us by God, as Mary did? Or do we grudgingly say OK, we'll do it, but don't ask us to be happy about it!
Mary accepted and even celebrated the opportunity and joyously carried out Gods wishes even in the trials and turmoil's it caused in her life. That, to my mind, is one of her greatest contribution to the faith that today we call Christianity.
It’s not are we worthy – but will we accept Gods will and tasks for us by faith like Mary?
