I am the Lord’s Servant
Scripture
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 favored! 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 favor 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 forever; 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)
Reflection
The visit of the Angel Gabriel and his message to Mary would change not only her life, but also the entire arc of human history. When Gabriel appeared to Mary, who was little more than a child, she must have felt a combination of awe and dread. Gabriel went right to the heart of his mission and greeted Mary, saying, “Be filled with joy and rejoicing, Mary.” This would be good news—the angel made this clear from the start.
The angel explained that Mary had been gifted with God’s favor and presence. This was purely a choice of God, not in any way due to Mary’s merit. The God of Israel is a God of election—he chooses as he chooses: he often chooses the weak and powerless to accomplish his will. Here, he called an illiterate teenage girl to be the vessel through which the Logos would take on flesh and walk among us.
Mary was “troubled” at the angel’s words. This might be the greatest of all Biblical understatements. Mary was likely terrified, unsure of what the angel’s message meant for her life—for her plans and for her upcoming marriage. Gabriel counseled her: “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.” We are not told how well this assurance calmed Mary’s fears, but she continued to listen to Gabriel and ponder the message he brought.
The angel’s next revelation must have caused Mary’s heart to skip a beat and her mind to raise new questions about the mysterious ways of the God of Israel: “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.” God promised a new Adam who would reverse the disobedience of our first parents and restore humanity to its prelapsarian perfection. (Genesis 3:15). Mary was to be the mother of the long-awaited Messiah, the great King who would sit on David’s throne and reign over the house of Jacob forever.
To Mary, who cherished God’s law and who was betrothed to Joseph, this announcement must have come as a stunning surprise. Mary did not doubt the angel, but she knew enough about the way babies are conceived to know that she couldn’t be pregnant; she was a virgin. The power of the Spirit of God, the Ruach Yahweh (literally, the “Breath of God”) would come upon her so that her child would be not only her son but the son of God.
“Then Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” More plainly put, Mary said yes to God, despite her uncertainty and questions. God’s plan to rescue his beloved creation from sin and death would be carried out. The faithfulness of a teenager in a remote part of the Roman Empire thousands of years ago made our salvation possible. The world would know “Immanuel” because Mary first welcomed the Son of God.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to be like Mary, willing to trust your plans and purposes for my life, ready to do you will, even when I don’t understand your leading. Help me to bring you glory and to rejoice in my Savior always.
Activity
Find some way to give concrete witness to the presence of Christ in your life. How has God been present with you or in you? Share that story with someone else; that story has God’s power in it. Do something this season for someone who may be lonely or sad. Visit them; maybe you’d like to invite them to share a part of your Christmas celebration with you.
Watching and Waiting For the Lion of Judah: Advent Day by Day
Rev. Richard Hasselbach