Mary: God's Personal Presence (Luke 1:26-38)

“The Lord is with you”. How does this happen, and what does this mean?? “The Lord is with you” (verse 28). These are the words the angel said to Mary when introducing that Mary would conceive and bear a son, who will be called Jesus, the Son of God. We read (in verse 29) that Mary was quite perplexed about this and was pondering what this “greeting” meant, so we might ponder about this also! “The Lord is with you”. These are really appropriate words, because, as the Lord God would draw close to Mary, she would give birth to the child, that would draw close to all humanity. Indeed, this child would actually be the answer to humanity’s most pressing need. Jesus would bring God close to everyone, because Jesus was to take up human life on earth. Indeed, “the Lord is with you”!

Mary, being perplexed herself about what this “greeting” meant, and then wondering however it could be that she was pregnant, then heard the angel give the following assurance: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you; and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (v.35). God’s attentiveness to Mary was very ‘up close and personal’ … very intimate. And this foreshadowed and demonstrated God’s available presence to all the people of His creation. All the community of God – the Trinity – are involved here: God the Creator, Parent, Initiator; Jesus the Saviour, Redeemer, Lord; Holy Spirit the Guide, Comforter, Transformer.

There are two references in the surrounding verses to Mary finding God’s favour: “Greetings, favoured one!” (v.28), and, “Mary … you have found favour with God” (v.30). What was going on here!? Obviously, in one way, Mary had shown certain character traits to allow her to be chosen for this most important and blessed of roles. And the wisdom of God’s choice, as always, was seen in Mary’s later statement, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (v.38). Still … pretty impressive for a girl maybe as young as 12 or 13! But also, there is a sense in which this expression of “favour” upon Mary, foreshadows and demonstrates the “favour” (or, grace) of God upon all people. God loves us so much, and so wants to connect with and relate to the people of His creation, that God brings this outstanding and unprecedented gift of grace to all humankind. The “favour” upon Mary leads to the great gift of the glorious Son of God to all of us on earth! Jesus will then come to reign over a kingdom made up of all his followers from across all nations.

Part of God being with us, is what he wants to do in us, with us, and through us! It is clear what God was going to achieve through an obedient Mary, but what does it mean for each of us that God is with us??? God’s grace is not only saving grace, but also purposeful grace – “the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (v.35) … meaning an ‘effective’ and ‘purposeful’ God overshadows us!! God’s grace is not only so that we can escape something (darkness, sin, death), but also so that we can engage in something (eternal life, kingdom living, mission). Yet, lest we start to shake in our boots, this will never be in the absence of God’s presence … but actually quite the opposite – like Mary (v.35), we are being “overshadowed” too. Have a look at the front cover of Leonard Sweet’s book ‘I am a Follower’, and you’ll see a bit of what this means.

This whole business of God being with us is so important. It means we can overcome our fear, deal positively with our suffering, cope patiently and courageously with outside opposition, and not feel so daunted about the challenges of life (especially being involved in God’s mission). Just as Mary needed to be reassured about this reality at the moment of her calling to be Jesus’ mother, the original disciples needed a similar reassurance when Jesus pointed them toward the mission-field. Matthew records Jesus saying to his disciples, “And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20b). Luke records these words of Jesus: “You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:48-49). You can see the common themes between God’s angel’s words to Mary and Jesus’ words to his disciples … both incorporating God’s close presence and God’s purposeful effectiveness (or “power”).

This ‘divine presence’ and experience of empowerment is worn so close to us it is like the clothes that we wear next to our skin – that is how close God can be. Now, because this ‘divine presence’ has such an activation of grace attached to it, what is happening here would perhaps be better designated ‘divine agency’! Luke’s whole ‘birth’ narrative here emphasises ‘divine agency’ – God, and God alone, has brought about these remarkable events. And, as a result of these first Christmas events, ‘divine agency’ will ultimately facilitate a transformation in people’s lives so that they can live out, in their various contexts, the life of Jesus. “Together, these transformed human beings form an unmistakable Jesus community that is capable of transforming the world into a Jesus kind of place” (Leonard Sweet, p.225). Hard to imagine!?! Or can we just begin to imagine it?!? “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).