Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! … Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. Luke 1:42, 45 ESV1
Read Luke 1:2-38
Those words were spoken to Mary by her relative, Elizabeth, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Mary had come to visit Elizabeth shortly after Mary became pregnant by the power of the same Holy Spirit. Mary had unquestionably accepted this strange happening with the words, “‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your [the angel, Gabriel’s] words’” (Luke 1:38). And Mary had excitedly agreed with Elizabeth’s announcement, saying, “‘From now on all generations will call me blessed’” (Luke 1:48). And Mary was blessed like no other woman on the face of this Earth has been blessed. But did Mary have any idea what that blessing would entail?
Did she know the repeated scorn she would experience from her family, friends, her entire town because she was pregnant out of wedlock? Did she know what it was going to feel like to be mocked for her unbelievable story of how she came to be in that state? Did she know what it was going to feel like to be rejected and nearly dumped by her fiancé? And even when he accepted her and believed her story, did she know she was going to have to travel, while nine months pregnant, on the back of a donkey to some far-off town to participate in a mandated census? And, after being in labor for who knows how long, did she know that when they finally got to Bethlehem there wasn’t even going to be a place for them to stay? Did she know how alone she would be going through her first delivery? Did she know how inadequate Joseph was going to feel as he paced back and forth in front of the stable? Did she know she was going to have to give birth, in a barn, where the only clean, dry place to lay her Baby was in a manger? Did she know, just as soon as the Baby was laid down to sleep and she found a somewhat clean, comfortable place to lay her weary head, a bunch of smelly, exuberant shepherds would show up exclaiming that an angel had told them to come and see her Baby? Did she feel blessed then?
Mary was obviously an incredible woman; maybe she did still feel blessed. After all, she had just given birth to a sweet, healthy Baby and had a loving, honorable man by her side. Maybe she was holding on in faith to the words Gabriel had spoken just nine months before, “‘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 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 1:31-33). That promise was well worth this little bit of discomfort, wasn’t it?
But did she know she would not see the fulfillment of that promise in her lifetime? Did she know, as she watched His highly public and often misunderstood ministry, that it would only last three years? Did she know that she, herself, would begin to doubt He knew what He was doing? Did she know how much it was going to hurt her when they mocked and rejected Him? Did she know He was going to be betrayed? Did she know her Little Boy was going to be stripped and beaten bloody? Did she know her Son was going to be falsely accused and sentenced to crucifixion? Did she know she was going to have to watch Him die? What of the promise of the angel then!
Yet, the promise is no less true. Jesus is exactly who Gabriel said He was. And He did (and will do) exactly what Gabriel said He would. And Mary is blessed. Not only did she carry, birth, and raise the Messiah, she is still revered as the purest, most godly, gentlest woman who ever walked this earth. She is referred to as, “The Mother of God.” Some people even pray to her. No other woman will ever achieve this status.
What about you? How blessed do you feel? Has God made a promise to you which isn’t working out the way you thought it would? Do you feel like you are being cursed instead of blessed? Are you beginning to doubt? If so, pray for God to help you restore the belief in His promise during this difficult time. Ask Him for eyes to see where He is working. And ask for help to rest in the truth, even when rest seems like the least natural thing to do. Then you too will be called blessed. And you will believe it.
1Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV unless otherwise marked. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.