Friday, December 15, 2017

When God became man: A submissive response

"And Mary said, 'Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her" (Luke 1:38).

Mary, a pure Jewish young woman, had received news that was both rapturously joyous and overwhelmingly frightening. She would become pregnant with the Messiah, but she would do so as a maiden only betrothed and not yet married.

She basked in the glow of the angel Gabriel explaining what would happen because God had chosen her, but she probably could sense some of the cost that would come as well. What would her betrothed, Joseph, think? What would others think? What would happen to her?

Yet, faced with all these fearful prospects, what was her response? "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord" -- in other words, "I embrace Your will for my life." And "may it be done to me according to your word" -- in other words, "do unto me just as You have said You will."

-- Photo by Aleks Dahlberg on Unsplash

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