Honor is the respect, trust, and confidence given to a person, earned through the character they exhibited in the life they lived—the outgrowth of living a life of grace. Not easily gained nor easily bestowed.
One lady exhibited these qualities in life, and she holds a place of honor in every Christmas Nativity. Sitting calmly beside an infant in a manger in a stable filled with animals, I’m not sure today’s depiction is realistic. If you had birthed a baby in a barn, amid straw and animals, you probably wouldn’t be perfectly coiffed. Joyous but weary, not only from the long trip you made nine months pregnant abreast a donkey, but also suffering through a natural birth with no epidural. I think disheveled and spent would be more accurate.
Yet Mary, the mother of Jesus, personifies grace. If we take the time not just to pass by the Nativity but to peer into the pages written about her, we find a much more complex life. She lived a life with challenges, without all of the answers, and like the rest of us: one day at a time. How she handled the circumstances she faced exemplifies why she is and should be honored.
I want to share a little backstory on this woman whose image has probably been depicted more than any other in history. From a distance, it might seem like there was very little we women could relate to. This is absolutely not true.
Who Was Mary?
You may know that Mary lived in Nazareth of Galilee, but did you know that this small town was considered “the other side of the tracks?” When Nathanael of Cana (an important man of the time) asked Jesus, “What good can come out of Galilee?” it was because people there were looked down upon. People placed little value on who they were or what they did. They were considered unimportant and easily dismissed.
She also was a peasant girl. With very little, she worked hard for what she had, living a life without luxury or convenience. Nothing grand about this lady; her life was simple, living day to day to make ends meet. When she was chosen to bear the Son of God, it was not because of what she could give him. But she was chosen for a reason: she would give her son the most important thing in life, her willing heart.
The way she lived makes her a lady of honor and sets her apart. Stop to ponder that through all of human history, this was the young lady that God chose to bear His Child. Mary was His choice. We do a disservice if we discount that truth. She was a lady like us, but throughout her life, she showed the character that I believe warranted that choice.
A Life-Changing Announcement
The first glimpse into this woman’s character came when she received the initial announcement of Christ’s birth. Imagine a young teen being approached by an angel who tells you you’re going to have a baby —not just any baby, but God’s. She had been raised caring for animals in an era where sex education wasn’t necessary; it was simply a fact of life. What someone she had never met told her was not biologically possible.
“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 then said, ‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!’ But she was greatly troubled, 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. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.'” (Luke 1:26-33)
All right, stop the clocks! First, an angel shows up, tells you you’ve found favor, and says, “Don’t be afraid.” I don’t think I’d merely be troubled; it would be more likely that I’d be running out the door with a “Who is this crazy guy?” coming out of my mouth! But this young lady stayed, giving the time it would take to discern what sort of greeting she had just received and why. Talk about grace!
Then he repeated that she had found favor with God. This must have been an important point. Who wouldn’t want favor with God? She would become pregnant with the Son of the Most High, who would rule forever. It sounds like a lofty, noble honor bestowed upon this girl. It was. The Bible says she was blessed among women, but this blessing came at a price.
Pregnant with the Savior
Let’s look at her place in life: pregnant in her time, within her culture, and not even married. She was betrothed to a man named Joseph. This meant her family and his had agreed, or contracted, that the two would wed. She would marry him as a virgin, not having been with another man. The families most likely exchanged gifts and entered a waiting period, looking forward to the day they would be joined.
How would she explain this to her friends, her family, Joseph’s family, and Joseph, the man she was supposed to marry? At that moment, she had every reason to believe that all would shun her. The community would disdain her, her family would turn their backs, and the man she was to marry would walk away, leaving this child to be raised fatherless. There was even more at stake than a ruined reputation: The culture of the day allowed the stoning of unwed mothers. She would not only lose her reputation, but she could potentially lose her life.
Yet the angel, Gabriel, told her she had found favor. I think it helps us realize that difficult life events, viewed only from the side of the difficulties, don’t tell the whole story. We must always remember that everything has a purpose; we must be confident there is always hope, even when we can’t see it.
Mary did not live for the next several months in the peaceful view of the Nativity that we display every Christmas. I feel pretty confident that as her pregnancy became apparent, there were ladies looking down upon her and talking behind her back. Even though we later learn that Joseph was kind, she still faced his understandable withdrawal from their arrangement.
He first quietly walked away from the betrothal, only to be told by God there was another side to the story. She believed he became her husband after Christ’s birth and cared for the baby as a father should. It would take no stretch of imagination to think she would have faced scorn in her community, no matter what Joseph or others who loved her said.
A Woman of Faith and Honor
In a complete contradiction to human understanding, she found herself in a place of honor. I believe this was given to her because she believed and she was willing. Her next response didn’t consider the what-ifs or react to the neighborhood tongue-waggers; it was led by pure faith in the God she served. Augustine once said of this lady, “Mary first conceived Christ in her heart by faith before she conceived in the womb.”
“And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.” Luke 1:34-38
Mary displayed some common sense here. The obvious question: but I’m a virgin! His explanation was perhaps a bit difficult to comprehend, but I love that he followed up with something relatable. He told her something she didn’t know until then: her relative Elizabeth was going to have a baby.
The family knew well that Elizabeth and Zechariah wanted children but could not have them. They were well advanced in age at this point in the story and never would. This was a game-changer. What a perfect stepping stone to expand one’s faith: discovering that God had already done the impossible.
Mary ended this conversation well. She said, I’m all in. She didn’t say Perhaps I’m kind of on board. She didn’t say there were contingencies she needed to meet before she felt comfortable agreeing. This lady said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).
This meant she accepted what she had just been told as truth. She agreed to take the road ahead, even knowing it might be difficult. This amazing young lady willingly agreed to live out everything asked of her. Truly, Mary, the mother of Christ, was a lady of honor—one we would do well to learn from, a great example to us all.
(Original artwork by Simon Dewey.)
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If you’re curious to learn more about who God is, start here: Grit and Grace, but What About God? – 105.
