Mary's Story

I was daydreaming—I admit it.

I had a few moments to myself and I'd slipped away to be alone.

It still seemed so amazing...

I'd watched Joseph for years over on the men's side in the synagogue.

He always looks so absorbed, so present to God,

and of course he's so handsome!

So when my parents told me they had arranged a marriage for us…

my dreams had come true!

We had talked briefly,

both of us delighted to plan to raise a family who would love and serve God.

Suddenly I was aware I was not alone.

I looked up and didn't recognize the figure

and then he spoke:

“Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you”.

What? Was this an Angel from God?

And what was he saying? What could that mean?

I was deeply troubled, my thoughts going in circles.

The Angel had paused, looking lovingly at me, and then went on:

“Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.

You will be with child and give birth to a son,

and you are to give him the name 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 the House of Jacob forever;

his Kingdom will never end.”

What? I pulled back in astonishment.

Me?

and the Angel knew my name...

and I have found favor with God?

but to have a child…

Of course, as Jewish girls we knew all about the promised Messiah

and the Scripture that said a virgin would bear a son.

Sometimes we joked and pointed at one another and said,

“Maybe it'll be you!”

But me? Now? To have a child?...

“How will this be,” I asked the Angel, “since I am a virgin?

”The Angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon 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 barren is in her sixth month.

For nothing is impossible with God.”

Amazement overwhelmed me… to be chosen to give birth to the Messiah.

What could I say?

I stammered, “I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said”

And the Angel disappeared.

 So, I sat in silence, trying to take in all that had been said

and wondering about the future.

And then suddenly, I sat up.

What am I going to say to Joseph?

What will my parents say?

What will the neighbors say… what will all everyone say?

Despair filled me.

What was I going to do?

Then I remembered what the Angel had said about Elizabeth.

Our family had heard the story of what happened with Zachariah,

and how the Angel had appeared to him when he was doing his temple duties

and told him that he was to have a son,

so Elizabeth was in the same kind of place

although her son was Zachariah's son.

I knew what I needed to do. I needed to go and see Elizabeth.

So, I ran away! I got my stuff together.

I told my parents I wanted to go and visit our relative Elizabeth,

and I hurried to the town in the hill country of Judea where she lived.

As I entered Zachariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth,

the baby leaped in her womb.

Can you imagine that? I could see the movement!

And then Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit

and she exclaimed,

“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will be bear!

But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.”

Wow! That made all the difference for me.

Just as Elizabeth had been filled with the Holy Spirit,

now I felt the Spirit's presence with me and I just burst out into song.

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior

for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

for the Mighty One has done great things for me--holy is his name.

His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arms;

he has scattered those who are proud in their thoughts.

He has brought down the rulers from their thrones,

but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever

even as he said to our fathers.”

Where did these words come from?

What did they all mean?

I stayed with Elizabeth for three months; we had wonderful conversation.

I was there until just before her baby was born

and then I knew I needed to leave her and Zachariah together to welcome this baby

that had been given to them so miraculously.

I knew I had to go home.

I knew I had to face Joseph.

I knew I had to talk to my parents about what was going to happen with me.

So home I went.

Before I talked to anybody else, I knew I would have to talk to Joseph.

I found a way to be with him.

In fear and trembling, I told him, “I have something that I have to tell you.”

And I explained to him about that visitation I had had from the Angel.

His eyes were filled with grief.

He loved me so much and wanted so much for us to have this life together.

“I don't want to expose you to public disgrace,” he said.

“I’ll take the blame and say that our engagement is off.” 

And off he went sadly and I sat in grief, wondering why God had given me this sorrow.

Then a few days later, Joseph asked to have an audience with me again.

When he came in, he was aglow!

“An Angel came to me too, Mary,” he exclaimed, “in a dream and said:

'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife,

what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will give birth to a son,

and you had to give him the name Jesus,

because he will save his people from their sins.'"

I was overwhelmed with relief.

This was not just about me.

This was about us.

We really were chosen together.

I was not alone. Oh! what a relief that was for me.

Which was just as well because our families were not happy.

It was so hard for anyone to believe that this really was God.

“I mean,” people would say, “this is in our Scriptures about a virgin bearing a son

but really this is happening now in the middle of the Roman occupation

and we haven't heard from God for a long time…

Mary, who are you?

and Joseph, who are you?

You're unimportant people from this little town called Nazareth

come on…”

And so we sere shunned.

Joseph and I bore the disgrace;

even our parents found it hard to really believe that we had been called,

that this really was the Spirit of God that was at work within me.

So Joseph and I quietly got married without our parents’ blessing.

We felt very isolated and alone;

our friends shunned us too

because that's just not what you do as Jewish young people…

We were very much alone.

And then of course came the decree from Caesar Augustus

that the census should be taken of the entire Roman world.

Everyone was to go to his own town to register.

Joseph had to go up from where we lived here in Nazareth

to Bethlehem the town of David because his family belong to the house of David.

He was to be registered, and I had to go with him.

Of course, his whole family went.

But his family were very upset with Joseph,

 and they all traveled together and had a place to stay together

but nobody worried about me and Joseph.

We were moving very slowly because the time was close for me to have the baby.

We didn’t say much.

There was nothing to say.

The visits from the angel seemed to be in the distant past.

Did Joseph wonder if he really had had that dream?

He never said, and he was always so protective and caring.

And I felt the baby move, and I wondered about this little one inside of me.

Because we straggled behind all these people on this long, long journey,

it was late at night when we finally got to Bethlehem.

And then we couldn't find anywhere to sleep

because the whole city was just buzzing with all the people who'd come in for the census.

There was no room!

We went from door to door; there was no room anywhere.

Joseph was getting more and ore anxious.

I was feeling pains beginning and knew that that baby was getting ready to be born.

Finally, we knocked on an inn door;

the innkeeper’s wife came to the door

and she was not very happy to see us and to respond to us,

but when she saw the state I was in,

she relented and told us

there was a place where they kept their animals

and we could shelter there if we wanted.

We were so grateful, we went into that stable, and there my baby was born.

 And I held him in my arms

and I wrapped him in a few cloths that we had brought with us for him

and I gazed into that beautiful face.

Here we were, so alone.

What should have been such a time for celebration with our whole family

felt so empty.

It was overwhelming…

And yet…

I gently touched his little cheek.

“Were you there,” I whispered,

“when the morning stars sang together

 and all the angels shouted for joy?

Are you really the Son of God--

the one who is to save us all.

And yet here you lie, helpless,

vulnerable…

totally dependent on me and Joseph for your care.

How can this be?”

It just seemed so impossible

and yet it was true!

I lay him tenderly down in the manger where cows ate their dinner,

and Joseph and I sat quietly

and I pondered…

This is not my baby.

This is not our baby.

This is the baby who comes for everyone.

Immanuel

God with us

It is enough.