Be the Heroine in Your Own Love Story – Part 4
Mary
Mary the mother of Jesus is probably the most famous woman in the Bible. We know she was special simply for the fact that God chose her out of all the women in Judah at that time to be the mother of His Son. I could end this post right there, but that wouldn’t be any fun. At least for me.
Mary must have had as pure a heart as any human could possess (other than her Son, of course). We don’t know her exact age, but judging from Hebrew custom and practice of the time, she was probably quite young. Maybe as young as 13 since even today, that is the age at which a Jewish person, male or female, is considered an adult.
Matthew 1:18–25 tells us Joseph’s side of the story. He chose Mary as his betrothed. (A betrothal was more binding than an engagement today, but not quite as binding as a full-on marriage. They weren’t living together as man and wife and had not, of course, consummated their relationship.) Then he discovers she’s pregnant. Can you just imagine the shame and agony he must have felt? He’s been honorable, but now she’s with child. Not his child. We the reader are told up front she was with child of the Holy Spirit. No hanky panky involved. But Joseph didn’t know that. He could have had her publicly humiliated. Dragged out to the town square and stoned to death for adultery. Verse 19 tells us he didn’t want to make her a public example so he “was minded to put her away secretly.” A less honorable man might have wanted revenge. I’m all about giving people their due, so Joseph gets a 100%, A+ for honor and kindness in my book. But beyond his honorable character, there must have been another reason he didn’t want humiliation or death for Mary. We don’t know how well they knew each other. Was it a love match? An arranged marriage? He must have had some knowledge of the kind of woman he was marrying. I believe he cared about her. That’s why he could unselfishly put her wellbeing above his own feelings.
Verse 20 says “while he was still thinking about these things…” He’s still trying to figure out what to do. I may be reading into the text, but what I get out of that is he’s not resolved about what to do. Maybe he loved her enough to want to take her as his wife anyway. She had to be a very special woman for him to even contemplate such a possibility under the circumstances. Then—oh happy sleep—he’s told by an angel in a dream not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife because the babe in her womb is of the Holy Spirit.
Verse 24 says “Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife.”
Again I may be reading into it, but the wording of this verse makes it sound as if he woke up from his dream and ran to Mary’s house right away to get her. He could have waited a day or two. But no, he jumped at the chance to welcome her into his home as his wife. Yeah, she’s carrying a Child not his, but what a Child! He was so delighted to discover she hadn’t cheated on him that he rushed out the same night to get her.
Let’s skip over to Luke 1 for Mary’s side of the story. In verse 27 the angel greets her with the words “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
Wow. That’s really high praise. They talk a bit and once she understands what’s happening, she submits. Verse 38 tells us her response: “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”
Did she have a choice in the matter? I believe God’s free will would have allowed her to say, hey, wait a minute. I don’t want to do this. Or maybe God chose her because He knew what her response would be. She found favor with Him for good reason. Reasons we don’t know because the Bible doesn’t tell us about her early life. We don’t need to know. Her response tells us she was humble and submissive to God. Two of the nine fruit of the Spirit.
The following verses tell of Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth and Mary’s song of praise to God. For a young teen-aged woman, pregnant outside of marriage, it could have been frightening. She knew she was still pure, but facing the doubting Thomases around her could have taken a toll on her emotional state. She shows wisdom in going to spend time with Elizabeth, away from the wagging tongues in her own community. But she gives a beautiful testimony of gratitude and praise to God, the One who put her in that situation to begin with. She sees the honor of what God chose her to do rather than the discomfort of her situation. She says in verse 49 “For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.” (emphasis mine.) Those are the words of a humble and grateful person. And she goes on to lift Him up. No arrogance. No bitterness.
Luke 2 tells us the difficulties Mary faced at the end of her pregnancy. She’s heavy with child and has to leave the comfort of her home and go to Bethlehem to register for a census by, not her own people’s government, but the pompous king of a conquering nation. Then they arrive in Bethlehem but no one will take them in. She has to go to a barn that stinks of animal sweat and excrement. Because let’s face it, a barn is a barn. Even a clean one will have animal smells and dust and dirt. She has the baby in that barn. She’s tired from her long journey while nine months pregnant, then the exhaustion of giving birth. A little rest, please.
Nope. A bunch of strangers rush to the barn to see the miracle the angels told them about. I’m going to use my writer’s imagination, here, and what we’ve already observed of Mary’s character. She could have been bothered. Told them to go away and come back tomorrow. I believe those shepherds were received with a welcome full of grace. I imagine Mary’s mother-heart filled with joy to see her baby, God’s Son, the Savior of the world, worshiped as He deserved. Verse 19 says “But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” I imagine a quiet girl, sitting back, observing. Taking it all in and holding all these events in her memory. And wondering, why me? Why did God choose this lowly maidservant for such an honor?
Joseph, of course, was witnessing all this. Observing his chosen wife. And saying to himself, yeah, I made the right choice. His heart must have been full to the brim with love for her.
Skip ahead 33 years. The Child Mary has loved as a Son and as a Savior is dying on a cross for crimes He didn’t commit. She’s at the foot of the cross, offering Him whatever support she can though her heart is breaking. But Jesus shows His great love for her by thinking of her well-being even while He’s agonizing. He looks down and sees her with his disciple John. Joseph is no longer in the picture, so Jesus asks John to take care of Mary. Yes, I know Jesus is God, Himself. And as a perfect Human He was the epitome of unselfishness. But His human side was in pain. Dying. Carrying the burden of the sin of the world. And He put all that aside to make a dying request for His mother. That says plenty about our Savior, but it speaks to the person of Mary as well.
It’s no wonder Joseph was in such a rush to make her his wife.
