Sacred Scandal

“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.”

Luke 1:26-31

Every time I read the birth story of Jesus, I wonder what it would have been like for Joseph and Mary during this time. Mary was a young virgin girl perhaps 15 or younger when the angel Gabriel met with her. She was a devout Jewish girl who humbly served the Lord. She found favor with God which means that God graciously chose her for this special divine task of being the birth mother of the Son of God. She did not doubt God’s ability to do what the angel had said although she wondered how God would go about carrying this out. She had heard about the miraculous pregnancy of her relative Elizabeth who had conceived in her old age.
 
This was also the hand of God, but Elizabeth had been married to Zachariah for decades so although people would be in awe of the circumstance, it would not be a cultural scandal. Not so with Mary. She was a young virgin betrothed to Joseph but they had not become legally husband and wife so their marriage would not have been consummated yet. It was not a huge community so people would have seen and known that she was pregnant outside of marriage. People would have talked. I wonder if even Mary’s parents or other family members believed her story of her divine pregnancy. Of course, Joseph would have been thought to be the baby’s father. To clear his name and untarnish his reputation he would have to publicly divorce her as their engagement was seen as the first step in the marriage process. If he didn’t publicly defend his honor, he would be castigated and maligned along with Mary.
 
Despite this, he loved Mary enough that he had determined to divorce her quietly to not make her shame any worse. It was then that an angel appeared in a dream and told him that the child Mary was carrying was conceived by the Holy Spirit and that the Child would be a son and they would name him Jesus for he would save his people from their sins. (cf. Matt 1:18-25). What faith this must have taken to believe God despite the public scorn and humiliation. How they trusted God with their situation knowing that their future would not be easy.
 
Mary and Joseph are examples of humble faithfulness in the face of challenging situations and the uncertainty of the future. Some traditions elevate these two into a special category of Christian to the point of almost removing their humanity. As Protestants we react against this glorification of sinful human beings by sometimes minimizing their role and devaluing their example of humble obedience. They had a unique role in redemptive history as the mother and adopted father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But in small ways we are called to humbly follow Jesus even when we are misunderstood, or we don’t know how the situations will work out. As you review the birth story in the weeks ahead, consider the faith and faithfulness of these two servants who were obedient to God in the face of immense misunderstanding and scorn.