Mary: ​Submission Rarely Is It An Easy Thing

How could she expect anyone to understand? She was a young girl who was engaged. Now she was expecting a baby that was not her fiancé’s child. In her culture that could mean death by stoning. How could she explain that the angel of the Lord had appeared to her and asked her to be part of a holy miracle that had been determined before creation? ​Mary was willing to do what God asked of her, but she had no idea what all was involved when she would become the mother of the Messiah.​Mary is one of the most incredible women in the Bible to study, not because she was perfect or superhuman, but because she was a common young girl with exceptional character—willing to be used of God. She was submissive to His will for her life. Most scholars believe she was a young teenager. In Mary's day, it was the custom for parents to choose whom their daughters should marry. A girl could be married once she reached twelve years old.  ​

​Although Mary was only a young girl, God chose her to be the mother of Jesus for several reasons.

1. First, the Old Testament predicted the Savior's family heritage and ancestors. Jesus was to be a descendant of King David (Psalm 132:12) and from the Jewish tribe of Judah (Zechariah 10:3, 4).  David and Judah were distant great-grandfathers of Mary (Luke 4:23-38), so Jesus would be born into the right family.
   
   
2. Mary was also chosen because she was a virgin. Isaiah 7:14 said the Messiah would be born of a virgin. This meant Mary was a morally pure young lady. The Bible says Jesus was sinless (1 John 3:5), but how could this happen since all men are born sinners? His father was God. Jesus was born into this world without an earthly father. Luke 1:27 says, "With God nothing shall be impossible."
   
   
3. Mary was chosen to be Jesus' mother because she was willing to let God use her (Luke 1:38).
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Mary's decision to submit to God’s plan was not an easy one. She was engaged, which in that day was the same as being legally married, to Joseph. What would Joseph say when he found out she was going to have a baby? At first Joseph considered a private divorce (Matthew 1:19), but the Lord sent an angel to let him know God had a special plan for Mary. ​​​

The Bible says that Mary pondered or kept all "these things in her heart." 

What things? ​The early days of Jesus' life were filled with unusual events:

• The visit from the shepherds
• The statements of Simeon and Anna in the temple when Jesus was only weeks old
• The visit from the Magi later

​The Bible doesn't tell us much about Jesus' boyhood. He did have four brothers and several sisters (Mark 6:3), but it does not tell us about His home life. Luke included one story about Jesus when He was twelve years old. His family went to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. After the Feast His parents started back home with a group of other travelers. 

At the end of the day His parents began checking, and they discovered Jesus was not with them. Joseph and Mary returned to Jerusalem. They looked for three days and finally found Jesus in the temple. Mary wanted to know why Jesus had done this to them (Luke 2:48). Jesus calmly said, "Didn't you know, I had to be in my Father's house?" Mary must have begun to understand that Jesus did not just belong to her but was sent by God to be the Savior of the world.

Jesus' public ministry began when He was thirty years old. His mother wanted to be a part of His ministry, but He had to obey His heavenly Father and left home. His mother checked on Him (Mark 3:31-35), but she had to share Him with the people of the world. 

​Mary's final heartbreak concerning her Son would come as she stood at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified (John 19:25). While on the cross Jesus told His disciple John to take care of His mother. John took Mary into his own home from that time.

​The last mention of Mary is in Acts 1:14. She was gathered with the believers waiting for the Holy Spirit. This means she had accepted Jesus as her personal Savior. Mary was an exceptional lady who was willing to live in submission to God’s plan as it unfolded in a very personal way.​

"...Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it unto me according to Thy Word"  (Luke 1:38).

For me personally, I think the two most difficult things Mary had to submit to was:

1. First, the realization that day in the temple when Jesus was 12 years old that she had to let Him go, that He had a bigger purpose in life than just being her first-born son.
   
   
2. Second, that day on the cross when she had to endure the agony of watching Him die. Surely, like the many others that followed Him, she did not fully understand the implications of His death. Maybe she had heard Him say it, but could she really comprehend what, "rise again" meant?
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What do you think the most difficult things Mary had to submit to were?