“Now in the sixth month [of Elizabeth’s pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.” Luke 1:26-27 (AMP)
Matthew tells the story of Jesus lineage from Joseph’s perspective, yet Luke tells the story about the young virgin girl. Who was Mary? It is interesting that while both Matthew and Luke carefully trace the blood-line of Joseph (who was not a part of Jesus’ conception), no information about Mary’s lineage is recorded in the KJV Bible.
Why would Mary’s lineage be left out of the Bible? First, from a human perspective, the community would have presumed that Joseph was the father of Jesus because he did not put Mary away when she became pregnant before their wedding. Second, Joseph did not contradict the community’s assumption. Maybe a third reason would be that if the focus were placed upon Mary’s heritage it could detract from Christ’s divinity?
Mary was a virgin and was “engaged” to marry Joseph. Joseph apparently was an older man who had previously been married. It is presumed that his first wife passed away after having children. According to the customs of the time period, Mary probably was between the age of 13 and 16 when the angel came to her to tell her that she was going to give birth to the Saviour of the world. Think back to your youth when you would have been 13-16, and you’ve never even been kissed. Yet an angel of the Lord comes and tells you that you’re going to have a baby. Not only are you going to have a baby, but this baby would be the Son of the Most High – God! Oh, by the way, you aren’t going to become pregnant in the usual manner. The Holy Spirit was going to come upon her and she would become pregnant. Now, that’s just a bit far out there even in today’s culture! It most likely was even harder to imagine for Mary to comprehend in the culture of her day.
What I find amazing is Mary’s response to the angel’s message. “Then Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel left her.” Luke 1:35 (AMP). Such child-like faith and trust.
Lord, you haven’t asked me to demonstrate the level of faith and trust that you asked of Mary. You’ve given me evidence upon evidence of God’s character through your life walking on this earth. Oh that I might trust you as implicitly as Mary did. Open my eyes to see the truths of Your Word in the Bible. Truths that tell me of God’s character and His love for humanity. Take away my prejudices and preconceived ideas about who you are and what you want of me today. Let the Holy Spirit teach me, lead me and guide me so that when you come to claim your bride, I will be ready to welcome you with open arms because You are my Lord and Saviour.
Published on MyBibleRoom.com 5/28/25, 9:00 pm