In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And 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 call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Luke 1:26-45

When we read the Christmas story in the New Testament, our focus is usually on the baby Jesus. I mean, he IS the reason for the season.

In all fairness, we should put most of the emphasis on Jesus - the miracle of his birth, the humility of how he came to earth, and the effect his birth would have on the world. But I also think it’s important to pause and think about Jesus’ mother, Mary. In Luke 1:26-45, an angel appeared to Mary with the news that she would become pregnant with the son of God. Historians believe that Mary was around fourteen years old when the angel came to her. Yes, fourteen - right in the throes of her early teenage years, Mary is informed that, as a virgin, she will give birth to a baby. Oh, and she and her fiance Joseph are just supposed to roll with this unexpected news. 

Maybe it’s because I’ve been pregnant and given birth three times, or maybe it’s because I’m a mother to only daughters, or maybe it’s because I teach teenagers every day, but this story always makes me think a lot about the young Mary. FOURTEEN. Basically still a child herself. And yet the angel said, “you have found favor with God” (vs. 28). That's right - God himself thought, “Yup, that’s her.” What was it about Mary - of all the women in the universe, narrowed down to the town of Nazareth, at that exact time in history - that made God choose her as the mother of the son that He would send to earth in human flesh? I often think about that as I’m raising my own daughters. Are we raising them to be girls that God would favor? My husband and I are certainly making an effort to instill good character. We want people to know they love Jesus by their speech, by their respect for their teachers and coaches, and by how they treat others. But is that enough? Did Mary have some special quality that God was looking for? And how do we make sure our girls have it, too? 

I also think about it from my standpoint as a mom: do I have the qualities God was looking for in a mother for his son? Am I always patient? Do my words point my girls to Jesus? Am I modeling humility for them? Do I always show love and respect for their dad? I’m fairly certain that based solely on my lack of patience with my children most days, I would have been disqualified from the running. I’m not exactly sure what God saw in Mary, but it humbles me, encourages me, and challenges me to be better. 

When we look at the story again, we also notice that Mary really isn’t given a choice. The angel didn’t ask if this was something she’d be interested in, if this was convenient timing, or if it fit into the plan that, at fourteen, she had loosely sketched out for her life. She could have responded in so many ways, but after she asked for a little clarity, she said, “I am the Lord’s servant” (vs. 38). Acceptance. Perhaps resignation. But she basically said, “Okay, let’s do this.” Yet again, I find myself humbled by the story of the young Mary - is this how I respond when the Lord calls me? Or on the rare occasions when he gives me a glimpse of His plan? Sadly, it’s usually not my go-to response. I’m fairly certain that I wouldn’t have passed this test either. 

So as we move through what is the busiest season of the year for most of us, I hope we can pause for just a moment to allow Mary’s story to challenge us: 

• What does it mean to find favor with God? I wish I had a concrete, uniform answer to that question, but I definitely haven’t figured it out. I think it’s probably a little different for each of us. Am I actively growing in my faith? Am I walking a little closer with him every day? Do my actions and my words bring glory and honor to Him? Am I pointing others to Him in how I treat them?

• And when God asks for my obedience, is my answer always a quick, unconditional “I am the Lord’s servant”? Or do I move ahead with my own plans? Do I justify what I want because it makes me comfortable? Do I sit still because I’m lazy and it’s too much work to move?

Tonya Corrente