Stunned. Terrified. Both fear and excitement stirred in her heart. How could she ever explain it? Did my ears deceive me? I’m pregnant?!? Yet that’s what the Angel told her. “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son….” [1]
But I am a virgin, she thinks. I’ve never been with a man! And I am betrothed to Joseph. What will he think of me? What will he do? He may reject me, abandon me!
Thoughts raced rapidly. She would be mocked, ridiculed, scorned, maybe even sent away, dismissed, rejected, thrown out. Joseph would divorce her, and she would be wrongfully tainted forever as a cheater, fornicator, and adulterer. [2]
But I did nothing wrong! The angel came to me and told me this! I am pregnant, with a child conceived in my womb, and this was nowhere near the plans Joseph and I had for our lives together.
How could she ever survive this unexpected mystery? What was she to do? I’m too young for this. This is too much. So overwhelming!
It was bizarre, twisted, upside down. Mary had never had sex with Joseph, or any man! How could she be pregnant?
For a moment, a cloud of fear blanketed Mary. Dark thoughts crossed her mind. I can hide this, go away for a while, have the baby in secret, and maybe… sacrifice it on the altar of Baal, or Molech, pagan gods that many believed would bring blessing to the land. [3] I can turn this whole thing around and resume my plans with Joseph as if nothing happened.
The people in her family or the community of Nazareth did not practice the sacrifice of their babies to Baal, but other Jews did, and had done so for a long time. Maybe this could be a means of escape. Give up this baby to the Gods. His death may bring blessings to the land and she and Joseph could live their lives under the radar. It could all be forgotten and erased from her life.
Mary’s heart sank in the darkness of these thoughts. She screamed silently to herself: NO! She quickly dismissed these runaway thoughts. NO!
She knew better. Baal was not the true God. Only God Almighty, El Shaddi was the one true God in covenant with the Jewish nation. In fact, Mary had grown up learning about the history of her people and how they embraced the customs of the pagan world and worshiped pagan Gods, sacrificing their children to their death on the altars of these Gods. [4] She knew about the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others who pled with the Israelites to turn back to God. She remembered the teachings of Moses through her readings of the Torah. He warned them against this heinous practice. [5] To choose life was to choose blessing. [6]
Mary shook herself back to the present. The angel told her not to be afraid. She mustered up the courage to question the Angel named Gabriel. “How can this be?”
She soaked up his words that followed. “Mary, you have found favor with God.”
Wow! And then he told her: “You will conceive in your womb and bear a Son and shall call His name JESUS.” [7] The unexplainable prophecy of the Holy Scriptures was being fulfilled in her!
Mary quieted the noise in her head and settled in her heart on how she was going to respond to this life-changing news. She landed on the convictions of her faith and her devotion to serving God. With an unknown future ahead, this was what she would cling to and put her hope in.
Yes, she was pregnant. No, she didn’t know what the fallout would be or what she would do. But she knew she was carrying the holiness of an unplanned pregnancy within her womb. She believed the Angel Gabriel’s words of hope to her: “For with God nothing will be impossible.” She would be the mother of the son of the Most High God. His birth would bring salvation to all of mankind.
Mary chose a response that would radically change the course of her life and the entire world. Mary chose the side of blessing. Mary chose life. Fear subsided and hope thronged her heart. “Be it unto me according to your word,” she answered Gabriel. [8]
Some 2000 years have passed since Mary made this holy decision to choose life. This Christmas season we celebrate his birth once again! Jesus, the son of God was born in the flesh, with a divine mission to rescue, save, heal, deliver, and bring hope, salvation, and peace to us all.
May we never forget this moment in history that changed the world! Join me in singing one of my favorite songs of hope and wonder: “Mary Did You Know?”
I pray you experience the true meaning of Christmas this season, as you celebrate with your family, friends, and loved ones.
Dr. Pamela
[1] Christ’s Birth Announced to Mary https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A26-38&version=NKJV#:~:text=Christ%E2%80%99s%20Birth%20Announced,departed%20from%20her
[2] During New Testament times, when a Jewish man and woman become engaged, their commitment to marriage became a legal civil marital contract and binding in covenant before God, even though they had not consummated the marriage which they were preparing for. The engagement could only be revoked through a divorce proceeding. Stone, P. (2016). The Perry Stone Hebraic Prophetic Study Bible. New Testament. King James Study Bible. Austin: Fedd Books.
[3] During New Testament times, when a Jewish man and woman become engaged, their commitment to marriage became a legal civil marital contract and binding in covenant before God, even though they had not consummated the marriage which they were preparing for. The engagement could only be revoked through a divorce proceeding. Stone, P. (2016). The Perry Stone Hebraic Prophetic Study Bible. New Testament. King James Study Bible. Austin: Fedd Books.
[4] After the Israelites settled into the Promised Land, they began turning away from God and set their affections on the pagan Gods of the land. (Judges 2:11-12) They believed Baal offered blessings of fertility, fruitfulness, increase, gain, and prosperity. Cahn, J. (2022). The Return of the Gods. Lake Mary, FL: Charisma. Retrieved from https://booksbyjonathancahn.com/the-return-of-the-gods/
[5] Psalm 106:36-37: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+106%3A36-37&version=NKJV
[6] Leviticus 18:21: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+18%3A21&version=NKJV
[7] Christ’s Birth Announced to Mary https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A26-38&version=NKJV#:~:text=Christ%E2%80%99s%20Birth%20Announced,departed%20from%20her.
[8] Christ’s Birth Announced to Mary https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A26-38&version=NKJV#:~:text=Christ%E2%80%99s%20Birth%20Announced,departed%20from%20her.