Carson Village, Birmingham, Alabama
I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as You have said.” ~ Luke 1:38
The weather cooperated today and we were able to get out again! Highs low 60’s and sunny! We left this morning to do some final grocery shopping (which took an hour and a half!) For two people, we certainly do a lot of shopping! Just once, I’d like to go even five days with nothing on our list, and an entire week without stopping at a store of some kind.
Once everything was put in its proper place, we headed out for the nearby Southern Museum of Flight to challenge our minds a bit, and then drove over to Ruffner State Park for some much needed physical exertion. Followed by dinner at Casa Fiesta, and a look at ‘the Bethlehem Star’.
The museum, though relatively small, was put together pretty well. Although maybe ‘small’ isn’t the right word? How can you say ‘small’ when you’re talking about a building that houses airplanes? And once you’ve checked out several of these museums, you think you’ve seen just about everything there is to see, but each place has something new! Today was no different. Plus, it only cost us $2.50/person when Blaine showed them our Groupon!
Enjoy the tour – – for free! 😊
They built 32 of them beginning in 1964 for the Cold War.
It went down into a lake during a training mission.
The crew was fine.
We didn’t take a lot of pictures of our hike today. It was mostly just an opportunity to get out, enjoy the beautiful, sunny day, take in loads of fresh air, and work off some of the calories we’ll be eating at dinner.
Dinner was as expected – delicious! Have you ever put something in your mouth that was so good, you didn’t want to stop eating it? Even when your tummy says to stop? Well, that’s the Fiesta Bowls at Casa Fiesta! We knew going in what was going to happen because it’s the dish Blaine ordered our first time out with David. I don’t know what they put in this bowl that makes it so good – it’s just rice, some cheese sauce, and four types of meats, but my, oh, MY is it beyond description! So we gorged ourselves like fat little piggies. Oh, we talked about taking some home, but we just couldn’t stop.
Out in the parking lot, we spotted the Christmas Star. Jupiter and Saturn aligning. According to the news reports, it’s been 800 years since this has happened! Glad we didn’t miss it! Pretty cool!
Even though I had other things to talk about today, I’d like to stay on schedule with my daily Christmas thoughts, so let’s take a look at Mary today.
The time is six months after Elizabeth became pregnant. We always want to assume it’s been six months since the angel’s visit to Zechariah, but we don’t know. What does matter, is that God’s timing is perfect, so however long Zechariah and Elizabeth had to wait for their miraculous pregnancy, it was just the right amount of time in order for every single event to line up perfectly for Jesus’ birth. We also know, from Luke 1:24, that from the time Elizabeth knew she was pregnant, she remained in seclusion for five months. The reason is either not important, or no one wants to speculate, because in my research, no one talks about this, not even the great commentator Matthew Henry, and he expounds in great detail about everything. 😊 One possibility I thought of? Back then, if a woman was barren, people believed that it was a punishment from God for some sin the husband and/or wife committed. This is what Zechariah and Elizabeth lived with for many years. Kinda like the way Job’s friends treated him. So that being the case, maybe Elizabeth just wanted to make sure the pregnancy would go off without a hitch before she let others know, so they wouldn’t ridicule her?
And now we come to Mary.
It’s hard to imagine what Mary would have been going through. Women in 1st Century Palestine had lives unimaginable to women here in the United States. Mary could have been as young as twelve when she married Joseph. She would have been forced to leave her home and live with her husband. I don’t know about you, but even the thought of having a baby at twenty in 21st century America scares me. I cannot fathom having a baby under Mary’s circumstances. Jewish women had little to no rights economically or politically. While they were under the care of their father, everything they did was approved by him. When they got married the father’s role then switched to their husbands. There are written and archaeological evidence of how these women led their lives. Mary would have been a young girl who worked most of her days. Mary would not have had any say in her divorce. The family was the center of social institutions. If a man divorced a woman she would have no say in whether or not it happened. Individuals were not as important as their family name. Mary would have been concerned about her family and the affect her pregnancy would have had on one them. If Joseph would have divorced her it would have had a horrible outcome for Mary. Without a husband Mary would have had even less rights than while married.
To become pregnant out of wedlock would have been a tragic occurrence. It would have been unacceptable and would have costly consequences. If Joseph would have refused to marry Mary, one of a few different things would have happened. According to a BCC article on Mary, a woman who became pregnant would be forced to abandon her family, could possibly be sold into slavery, or could be stoned to death. According to the Leviticus Law the punishment for adultery is death. This would have been a viable option at the time to deal with Mary’s situation.
Women who were accused of adultery were made to undergo a process that would prove or deny their innocence. Most of the time, these would produce guilty verdicts. Mary most likely would have been found guilty and forced to face the punishment. ~Womenintheancientworld.com
Mary knew all these things. And yet . . . .
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent a named angel, Gabriel, to visit Mary in Nazareth, who tells her that She’s highly favored, God is with her, she is about to give birth to a son and is to name him Jesus. He is the Son of the Most High and God will give him the throne of David and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever – His kingdom will never end. This will happen when the Holy Spirit overshadows her so He will be called the Son of God. He also tells her Elizabeth is in her 6th month, and everyone knows that Elizabeth is elderly and barren.
![Ava+maria+Gabriel+comes+to+mary+with+message.jpg] Still from the movie "The Nativity" | The nativity story, Annunciation, Blessed mother](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/43/34/e0/4334e0c9158dff3a825788cf98c3c0d0.jpg)
So what does all this mean? Here are some insights I’ve picked up over the years.
First, Mary and Joseph were from the town of Nazareth. This is important to think about because as Jesus began His ministry, this was one of the sticking points for the religious leaders. The prophecies said the Messiah would be from Bethlehem. Not Nazareth. In addition, Nazareth was not a well thought of town. It’s never mentioned in the Old Testament, nor by the historian Josephus. If you do a concordance search, Jesus is often referred to as “Jesus of Nazareth” in the Gospels and Acts. This is because people were often identified by where they hailed from. Nazareth’s about 70 miles north of Jerusalem.
Why is Mary immediately identified as a virgin, even before we know her name? I think it’s because of the importance of His sinless nature. Over and over in scripture, we read about sin coming from Adam. This is why the angel explains how she will bear a son by telling her that the Holy Spirit will overshadow her. Every translation I could find uses the word “overshadow”. So I looked it up in the Lexicon. It explains the word as the Holy Spirit exerting creative energy upon the womb of the virgin Mary and impregnating it, (a use of the word which seems to have been drawn from the familiar O. T. idea of a cloud as symbolizing the immediate presence and power of God) It may be explained like the cloud in Exodus that shielded people from God’s divine nature.
Mary is from the line of David, as was Joseph, her betrothed. This is also important for the fulfillment of prophecy. Having both parents descending from the line of David, leaves no room for argument about that prophecy being fulfilled.
Mary’s first response to Gabriel’s greeting was to be “greatly troubled”. But Gabriel sets her mind at ease by telling her not to be afraid because God has favored her. And, he calls her by name. And then, he sets about giving her the details mentioned above that describe the enormity of her calling.
Mary’s response to all this? “How can this be since I’m a virgin?” She didn’t question what was said. She had the faith that it would occur. She wasn’t concerned with how she could handle it. She just wanted to know the ‘physicality’ of it. Unlike Zechariah who doubted the truth told him by God’s Messenger.
Why did he tell her about Elizabeth? I think so she wouldn’t feel alone and also to give her confirmation that what was said was true. A sign, if you will. I believe he also tells her as evidence that nothing is impossible with God – not a pregnancy in an elderly barren woman (like Abraham’s Sarah) and not a virgin birth.
Mary’s final response? Despite the extraordinary ramifications of raising the Messiah, despite knowing that it most certainly would be an unimaginable shock to Joseph, and her family, and the people of her town, despite the fact that her very life would be on the line, despite the anxiousness this announcement surely must have caused her, she said, displaying great faith, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” She was willing. She had faith that God would work out any details that needed worked out, even though she knew the repercussions of being pregnant and unmarried (the Law said stoning was appropriate in such circumstances). And yet, she was willing.
Oh that we would all display so much faith in the One True God!
By the way – Mary’s trek to see Elizabeth was 80-100 miles. So it took her awhile. By the time Mary returns home, she’s probably getting close to five months along. I wonder at the other details that scripture doesn’t share with us. Did God tell her to go home to Joseph? (When Mary returned home, we know Joseph wasn’t aware she was pregnant, because when he found out he wanted to divorce her.) Was she eager for this birth, or did she feel the enormous weight of it? I’m not talking about doubt, or worry, I’m talking about the task that’s been given her. Can you imagine the sense of responsibility she must have felt? It’s weighty enough to raise a child, but knowing you’re raising the Son of God?
Well, all these questions demonstrate how little faith I have. It’s hard to step out without knowing the answers ahead of time! And yet, that’s what our Father asks of us. Trust. And He’s proven over and over that He’s Worthy.