Mary Did You Know?

Article from the 12/7/16 Weekly Update by Tim Keller

Have you ever had one of those days when an angel appeared to you, interrupted your life and sent it on a rollercoaster ride of emotion and struggle?

No? Me either.

One of the problems with dusting off the Christmas story every 365 days is that with each passing stroke of the clock we move further and further away from the powerful drama that played out when the events actually transpired. Without a little extra effort on our part, our images and ideas of the key moments of the arrival of Jesus on earth can be represented by children in bathrobes or gloriously touched-up images on overpriced Christmas cards.

The truth is so much more dramatic.

An angel appeared to Mary. Mary had never seen an angel before, so the mere fact that she didn’t faint is quite impressive. We must also remember that Mary wasn’t a perfectly sinless young woman. If she had a selfish thought about how her life was about to change forever it wouldn’t have been a major surprise.

I think I’m most intrigued by what the responses of her family and community must have been. Although the Bible is silent on the subject we can assume that the little town of Bethlehem was buzzing with rumors and gossip about Mary’s increasing girth. How it must have hurt Mary to realize that she was the recipient of a supernatural gift from Holy Spirit, yet subject to the wagging tongues of the uninformed of Bethlehem.

It’s the pain in the Christmas story that we’re prone to photo-shop out of existence. We want Mary’s path to be easy; complex, but easy. It was most assuredly not. Mary’s heart felt the pain of a life set on fire and burned to the ground only to have a new one emerge in its place. There must have been a profound sense of loss that needed to be filled by the comfort of the Spirit.

The fear she must have experienced was real, full-fledged fear. The same kind we get when pondering how we’re going to pay for our children’s college education or care for an elderly parent. The drama of Mary’s emotions wasn’t the stuff of a chintzy pageant.

Yet, she took the necessary steps of faith, said the right things, and endured the pain and the loss and the unknown. She traveled while pregnant, gave birth in a stable and endured the unexpected arrival of shepherds to the birthing room. Dramatic, but not easy.

As you contemplate the story of Mary this December, may I invite you to take a minute and reflect on the drama of her life and encounters with God. Perhaps it will help you the next time you encounter Jesus.