The Shepherd Staff

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.  And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one!  The Lord is with you.”  But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.  The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.

 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High;

 and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”  The angel answered and said to her,

 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

 and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”

 And Mary said, “Behold, the bond-slave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your Word.”  (Luke 1:26-35,38)

Thus began one of the most mind-boggling commitments ever made by an individual.  Have you ever reflected upon the magnitude of God’s calling upon Mary’s life?

Consider the announcement itself.  An angelic being – sent by God – was the messenger.  He informs her that she, a virgin, was about to become pregnant … but there would be no human father.  The developing fetus within her uterus would be, in reality, the Son of the Most High God … Who, being clothed with flesh, was Israel’s long-awaited Messiah, the Son of David … and His Kingdom would be eternal.

How could she possibly have comprehended the weight of this announcement!  Mary must have been in a state of stunned wonder as she said “Yes” to the will of God.  In fact, I don’t think she ever got over it, even to the day she breathed her last breath.

Nor do I think she fully grasped the consequences of her submission to the will of God.  Have you ever tried to place yourself in Mary’s sandals?  What effect do you think this calling had upon her life?

• First of all, noticeably absent from the angel’s announcement was any mention of her betrothed husband Joseph.  What would he think about all of this?  She was given no guarantee that he would complete his marriage contract with her.  As far as she knew, she could very well end up being a single mother.  If so, she would be shunned for the rest of her life.

• Indeed, under normal circumstances (apart from God’s protection) she would have faced the death penalty (Deuteronomy 22:13-14, 20-21).

• As word spread throughout her small hometown-village that Mary carried an illegitimate child, her reputation was very likely shredded … and Joseph’s … and her family’s … and, for that matter, her Son’s.  I have an idea that, during her pregnancy, she was called a lot of names in Nazareth.  “The blessed virgin Mary” was probably not one of them.

• Nine months later, Mary accompanied Joseph on a grueling trip to Bethlehem where she gave birth to the Child in what was possibly a cave-converted-barn, filled with the stench and filth of manure.

• A few days later when the infant Jesus was taken to the Temple to be “presented to the LORD,” she was warned that her Son would cause division among the Israeli nation, resulting in the excruciating agony of her own soul (Luke 2:25-35).  She would not have long to wait before witnessing the first of several attacks upon her Son’s life.  One or two years after His birth, she and her husband had to flee from an assassination attempt made by Herod the king (Matthew 2:13-16)

• Then, some 30 years later, she would observe the full force of that prophecy as she stood before her blood-drenched Son impaled to a Roman cross.

“Behold, the bond-slave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your Word.”

Did Mary comprehend the full effect this pregnancy would have on her own life?  Probably not.  Nevertheless, her ready submission to the call of God revealed the commitment of one who truly had the heart of a bond-slave, an attitude she probably had long before she was addressed by the angel.

Can you imagine what it must have been like when this extraordinary woman breathed her last breath and found herself in the presence of God’s promised glory … bowing before the One she had birthed … the Son she and Joseph had so diligently nurtured and protected … the Creator of the universe … her God and Savior … the radiant King of glory?

I wonder what He said to her about her faithfulness to God’s calling upon her life.

It makes me wonder what He will say to me about mine.

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