Thoughts about Mary

 I was thinking recently about Mary.

“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants for ever; his kingdom will never end.’ ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on 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 unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.’ ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Then the angel left her.”
Luke‬ ‭1:26-38‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

The conception was by the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High. But Mary still had to do her part; the baby grew because of what she ate and drank. It was her body that had to co-operate with God for the baby to grow inside her. We talk sometimes about being Jesus’s hands and feet in the world, but here Mary was literally making Jesus’s hands and feet. 

When Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph had to bring him up, using their flawed and human parenting skills. Apart from the angel's messages to tell them where to live, there does not seem to be any further instruction to Mary and Joseph. Angels seem to be sent on a need to know basis - they come when there needed to be a change of plan, but didn't offer a continuous mentoring service.

This amazes me in how much God is allowing Mary and Joseph to do things by themselves, even when this is a huge part of the plan. I'm not sure what this means about how I think God works with us - maybe I would be more confident to step out!

 The Nativity, Gari Melchers

I love this picture for how human Mary is here, how realistically exhausted she is.