Monday, the third week of Advent, we return to the passage in Luke 1 - Gabriel's visit and announcement to Mary. The encounter Mary has with the angel Gabriel is sudden, unexpected, and in the translation of the NIV, Mary is "greatly troubled". The Greek word Luke chooses to use means "to be agitated, disturbed", and then add to that the word "greatly", which amplifies how agitated or disturbed she was. Read the passage as it leads to her question.
Luke 1:26-38
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.
In Advent, we find people whose faith comes through "troubled" circumstances. Did Mary understand what Gabriel was telling her? Or, was she in shock from the mere appearance of the angel? She hears the words and the fact that the Angel knows and reminds Mary that even Elizabeth, her cousin, is pregnant, must have assured her that he knew what he was talking about.
Does Mary's question arise out of disbelief? or fear? or sense of human limitations? We don't know from the text, but nevertheless, she questions - "how can this be?" Do faith and questions belong together? Can we harmonize having faith in God, and still ask questions - even questions that have no answers? The answer from scripture of course is "yes". Abraham asked questions. Moses asked questions. David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and many others - all of whom had faith in God - asked questions.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Heb. 11:1) Faith isn't found in knowing the answers, but rather in trusting, believing that while we do not know what God is doing, we can trust Him. God is entirely faithful and trustworthy in all of his word. Mary, shows that she believes. Mary's question did not void her faith. "I am the Lord's servant, may your word to me be fulfilled.
The now famous song, "Mary, Did You Know" (beautifully haunting by the group Pentatonix), has a couple of lines that I love:
"Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God? ...
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy is Lord of all Creation?"
Mary would have many more questions, but in the end, faith ruled over questions.
Take the time to watch Pentatonix sing "Mary Did You Know" -
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