Jump to content
JesusWalk Bible Study Forum

Q4. Mary's Response to the Angel


Recommended Posts

The essence of Mary's response lies in her complete trust in God. She views herself as the servant or "handmaiden" of God, bending herself to His will. She knows what the possible consequences of such a pregnancy could be, yet her faith is greater than her fear because she knows she is accepting God's plan for her life. If we could trust in God as completely as St.Mary did, how much easier our lives would be! "Let it be done to me according to your will." "Not my will, but Your Will be done." Words that we need to keep in our hearts, minds, and actions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
  • Replies 128
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

The essence of Mary’s positive response to the angle is that of one of submission. We should also submit to God and live the life that He wants us to live. The sense that Mary’s response was an “informed consent” was that she knew the consciences of her decision. When we respond to God we are consenting to follow Him because we know that He has our back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...

Q4. (Luke 1:38) What is the essence of Mary's positive response to the angel? What can we learn from her response for our own lives? In what sense was Mary's response an "informed consent"? When we respond to God, what do we consent to?

Mary was just a teenager and she certainly had that childlike faith and in total submission to the will of God, she said, “behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word”. She did not worry about the consequences of becoming an unwed mother.

We need to be submitted to the will God. We tend to lean upon our understanding, which are acquired by our experiences. But our understanding is limited and very inferior to the unlimited wisdom of God. We need to trust in His higher thoughts and in His higher ways.

In her days it was the dream of every Jewish girl to become the mother of the Messiah. But probably Mary wouldn’t have realized till the angel came, that it would be as an unwed mother. But when the angel said that she would conceive the Child through the Holy Spirit, she submitted to God’s will without a moment of hesitation. She would have been fully aware of the consequences of having a child before her marriage. She knew she would have been accused of adultery, she had no surety whether Joseph would believe her. If Joseph divorced her, she would have been without support to bring up the Child. Yet she fully submitted to God’s will.

When we respond to God, we consent to His higher ways and higher thoughts. In essence we are saying “Father knows best”, in spite of what we feel about the situation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...

When I think of Mary's response I am reminded of Abraham's obedience to do as God asked and take his son Isaac to the place God would show him and sacrifice him there. No doubt Mary had dreams and expectations as to what her future would be like once married to Joseph, but by her willing submission to what the angel was saying to her - all those dreams were set aside.

Be it done to me according to the will of God means I am no longer the one in control of my life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...