MARY
Mary stood on the flat roof of her home in Nazareth. The newly-washed clothes were dry and she was enjoying the fresh scent of linen and wool, still warm from the sun.
She peered behind, thinking someone was there. The nape of her neck pricked. She heard, “Shalom, highly favoured one!”
Why call me highly favoured, she thought.
Instinctively, she pulled her veil over her face, lowered her eyes and backed away. “Shalom,” she stammered.
The angel, for it was Gabriel, respectfully stayed his distance. His voice was low and clear. “Don’t be afraid, Mary. You have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.”
But that’s impossible. I know how babies are conceived. I’m not pregnant.
Mary looked up and asked, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
“The Holy Spirit will come on you,” Gabriel explained, “and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elisabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.”
Mary’s eyes opened wide and her hands covered her mouth.
This is unbelievable! I am going to have a baby without sleeping with Joseph or any other man? And the little one already has a name, Jesus? Could this be the king we have been waiting for? And Cousin Elisabeth? She is too old to be pregnant!
Trembling, Mary gazed in astonishment into Gabriel’s eyes. Truth and love emanated from him. She sank onto her knees and bowed.
Softly, firmly, she said, “I am the Lord’s servant.”
Looking up, she saw she was alone once more. A rush of warm blood coursed through her veins, and a blush of pleasure flooded her cheeks. God had chosen her to bear His Child!
***
“Mary seems quiet this evening,” remarked Anne, Mary’s mother, to her husband.
“Is everything all right, Mary?” asked Joachim.
“Yes, Abba,” replied, Mary, “but I would very much like to go and visit Cousin Elisabeth.”
Mary’s parents lifted their eyes in surprise and reflected as they studied their daughter. They had learned to trust her intuition; she was not given to hasty decisions.
Finally, her father said, “I’ll talk to your Uncle Reuben tomorrow. He’ll be traveling with the caravan to Jerusalem soon to sell his dried fish. You can travel with him.”
“Thank you, Abba!” Mary’s eyes shone with love and gratitude.
“Cousin Elisabeth and Zacharias are getting old,” said her mother. “I’m anxious for news of them. I’ll prepare some dainties for you to take.”
***
During the long miles of walking, Mary pondered Gabriel’s words.
Is Elisabeth really pregnant after all these years? What will people say when my body begins to bulge? Will they believe my outrageous story? Oh! Joseph, what will you think of me?
When Mary arrived her face was lined with her concerns, but Elisabeth laughed and exclaimed, “Your baby is exalted by God, and you are blessed among women! Why am I so honoured that the mother of my Lord visits me?”
“So you already knew that God has honoured me with His Son?”
“Oh, yes, my dear,” chuckled Elisabeth. “The moment the sound of your greeting entered my ears, the babe in my womb skipped like a lamb for sheer joy. And look at me! Bearing fruit like a melon in winter!”
The two women, one wrinkled and bulging, the other pristine and smooth, but both in the flush of pregnancy, talked, laughed, worked and encouraged one another for three months. Silent Zacharias watched, a gleam of joy and wonder in his eyes.
When Uncle Reuben returned to take Mary home, he shook his head in disbelief. “A child for Elisabeth and Zacharias at their age?” he muttered. “Impossible! Yet, anything is possible for the Almighty One!”
He laughed heartily, thrust his hands to the sky, and praised God.
Then, remembering Mary’s thickening waistline, he grew sober. “What does this all mean? And what shall I tell Joachim and Anne?”
From Luke 1: 26 – 56
by Andrea Kidd
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