03 Dec Why Mary Said Yes
Catholics love Mary, and Protestants trying to avoid the appearance of idolatry minimise her. But Mary is in fact uniquely special in the Bible, not just because of being the mother of Jesus, but because of another quality.
Do a search through the scriptures and find every place an angel appears to a person. What do you notice?
Every time the person who sees the angel is troubled, or afraid. Mary is no exception on this point. But then what?
After the angel Gabriel outlines the call of God to her, and what is being asked of her, she doesn’t respond with an argument, or an attempt to get out of it, rather she responds with a question about how. And then with a yes.
Prior to this in scripture, Moses when encountering the burning bush tried five times to get out of it. He simply didn’t want to do what God was asking of him. Gideon didn’t trust God completely and had to put down multiple tests to make sure it was the Lord. Jeremiah looked at his own inadequacy and said “I’m too young.”
So many others didn’t want to obey, or didn’t trust it was God, or didn’t feel competent themselves, and struggled with God’s call. But Mary, a teenage girl, is trusting, willing. Her only question is about the details.
Mary must have known that some level of difficulty lay in her future, but she trusted God without having to know what it was.
‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ she said. Luke 1:38. ‘May it be to me as you have said.’
The difference (it seems to me) is that Mary was focussed on the Lord. What does God want? But most of us are focussed on ourselves, that is, what do we want? We would like to serve the Lord if we think we can, or if we think it will work, but Mary wanted to do whatever God said, even if she didn’t understand it.
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