Before Relinquishing the Christmas Season to the new year…
Let’s consider the second of the four “Do Not Be Afraid’s” relating to the Christmas story. Four appearances of angels, four “Fear Not’s”, and four admonishments to respond in faith.
The second time we see an angel appear, we find the young virgin, Mary, alone, maybe working around the house, maybe quietly praying in her bedroom, maybe harvesting wheat out in the field, maybe heading to the well to draw water for her family. We don’t know where she was that day, but when the angel addressed her, we know she was startled and frightened. She had no idea what to do with this angel’s salutation,
“Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
She may have looked around for who the angel might be talking to. When she realized no one else was there, she must have thought to herself, “Who? Me? I’m just a poor girl under Roman rule with no real hope for any significance in my life.”
And then came the angel’s comforting yet confusing words, amazing yet frightening promise!
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”
It’s interesting that Mary responded with a question, similar to the question of Zacharias a few verses before. “How can this be, seeing I do not know a man?” (Zacharias wanted to know how it was possible since he and his wife were too old to have a child.)
What was the difference? I believe it is in Mary’s response of faith, of belief in the impossible, of trust in her God. Zacharias asked for a sign, a response of unbelief. Zacharias wanted “proof”. Mary wondered “how”.
For Mary, who did not ask for proof, the angel gave assurance when he sent her to Elisabeth’s house while it was too early in Mary’s pregnancy for her to know for sure that there was a baby growing inside of her. The unrequested proof came, when the baby inside Elisabeth, “leaped in her womb for joy” and when Elisabeth prophesied, commending Mary’s faith. “Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
For Zacharias, God gave proof as well. He would not be able to speak until John was born.
For Zacharias, he lacked a submission to God’s miraculous answer to his prayer, and in so doing he missed the joy and blessing of sharing his incredible news with Elisabeth and with the world.
As for Mary, she submitted to God’s plan for her,
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord! Let it be unto me according to your word.”
And she sang with joy proclaiming the miracle:
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior…”