God's Masterpiece Part 4 – The Divine Proposal

God had a plan which would reveal His glory and humility and it would take, not just Lucifer and the people of Israel, but the whole world by surprise. His humility was revealed as he was born among the poor as an infant going through all the stages of human growth like every other human.

"...though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men"

He was a human through and through, needing all the help and protection of any human child. He revealed His glory, in not only how he saved all humans but, in creating the masterpiece, the crowning glory of all His creation. God had decided that to be incarnate as a man, He would go through all the stages from when He can be a single cell inside a human mother to experiencing death like any man. And in that way, the messiah and saviour that Israel was expecting was going to be not only a son of man, but the Son of Man whom the prophet Daniel had prophesied about.

First He created His mother without any stain of the original sin, by virtue of His future acts of redemption. He made her completely pure, like the Ark of the Covenant. She was after all the bearer of the person who was the New Covenant and the fulfilment of all the old covenants. If her body was to contain His divine body (from when He was a single cell to when he would be ready to be born), she would have to be pure and holy. If the Ark of the Covenant (which had been the seat of a representation of God’s glory), was made with such care and precision, how much more importance was to be given to the true Ark which was to contain Him; – The Word made Flesh, The One True High Priest, and the Bread of Life that came down from heaven. So God Almighty, El Shaddai, made His mother pure and the created Immaculate Conception.

He preserved her virginity before, during and after the birth of her son, the Son of God. He protected her by virtue of her marriage to Joseph, a model father and man. The prophecy of Isaiah about Emmanuel was about a virgin who would give birth, so Lucifer would have been looking for an unmarried virgin from a powerful family who was to bear the King of the Universe. Because of his pride, Lucifer was not expecting what God, in his humility, had done.

God sent His angel to a young married girl in Nazareth, named Mary. Mary was a consecrated virgin who lived with her parents, but she was married to a young man named Joseph. The people who knew her loved her. It was not because she looked any different, but she had a joyful and hopeful demeanor that everyone liked. She was a humble and helpful girl. Her feet were covered in dirt and animal dung like anyone else’s. This was the girl to whom God sent His angel, to deliver a message.

The angel of the Lord appeared to Mary near the well at Nazareth. He came not imperiously but prostrate before his future queen. The angel was probably amazed at the humility of his God and creator. God had sent his messenger with, not a command, but a proposal that mirrored the courtship of Rebecca for Isaac. He delivered the message, echoing the greeting of the first man to the first woman – “Ave”. He addresses her as “full of grace” – “Kecharetomene”, because even though her name was Mary, her true name in the eyes of God reflected her real nature. She was “Full of Grace” and the Lord was with her.

Mary was a little troubled as anyone would be at seeing an angelic being. But the angel was not standing imperiously over her revealing his glorious nature, which would be usually incomprehensible for humans. She wondered what this meant.

The angel said to her – “Mary, you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever, his kingdom will never end”. Mary could not believe what she was hearing.

Mary herself was a descendant of David and her husband Joseph also had the royal blood of David flowing through his veins. She, like every faithful Israelite woman, was waiting for the messiah.

She remembered trying to understand the prophecies read out at the synagogue. She remembered the voice of God she heard in her heart, how she understood their meaning with clarity, especially the prophecy of the Son of Man. She also remembered hearing the oracle of Isaiah being read out, how the Lord God spoke to her through the scriptures, claiming her as His own – “You are mine”. She couldn’t remember a time anymore when she hadn’t heard Him in her heart, speaking to her and guiding her. Mary had also realised that the scriptures had said, the Messiah, the Saviour of Israel, would be the Lord of Hosts. She had trusted the promises of Yahweh and had given glory to the Lord God for His care and faithfulness.

Mary like every young girl in Israel and Judah had dreamt about being the mother of the Messiah. What could be a greater honour than that! But now that she had realised that the Messiah would be the Lord God, she was keenly aware of her nothingness, and in her humility, she decided to forgo the desire to be the mother of the Messiah, her saviour. She was just a young girl from Nazareth and she decided that she didn’t deserve this honour.

But the voice of Yahweh had still echoed in her heart; – “You are mine!”. She had then decided to go to the temple and consecrate herself to God as a perpetual virgin. Her vow of virginity made sure she could never know a man, could never bear children and could never be the mother of the Messiah.

Later on, in obedience to the high priest and his vision from God, Mary married a young man named Joseph. She decided to love Joseph with all her heart but had to tell him of her vow of virginity. Mary did not know what this marriage meant and may have been worried about facing Joseph’s reaction, but she had put her complete trust in Yahweh and trusted that the Lord God would take care of her no matter what happened.

When she told Joseph of her vow, Joseph revealed how it came to be that he was chosen to be her husband. He said that he had not come forward initially when the high priest called all the eligible bachelors to come to him. They were to bring a rod, and one of them was to be chosen as the husband for a young woman under his care. Joseph had to be specifically ordered to come when nobody was chosen. He told her the story of how the high priest collected sticks from the young men and placed them in the temple overnight. His was the stick that had miraculously bloomed with lilies on one end. He told her that the reason he didn’t come forward initially was because, as a young man he had decided to consecrate his virginity to Yahweh and live a celibate life. Mary and Joseph were amazed at how the Lord God had brought them together and chosen them to be with each other. Their love for each other strengthened as they both promised to help each other to keep their vows to the Lord.

Mary remembered all of this in an instant. She asked the angel – “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”. The angel answered – “The Holy Spirit will come on you. The power of the Most High will overshadow you, so the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.”

Mary realised the great and awe-inspiring plan of God. While Mary had thought she was taking herself out of the possibility of bearing the messiah, God had a different plan. Yahweh, the Lord God had worked in Mary’s life in such a way that He used Mary’s vow of perpetual virginity to be the very reason by which the prophecy of the saviour was to be fulfilled. How else to reveal the glory and power of the Creator and Eternal Father than for His Son to be incarnate of the perpetual virgin.

Now when she heard the word of God through the angel of the Lord, she humbly submitted herself to the Holy Spirit. She said – “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to your Word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary may have wondered how she was going to explain this to Joseph, her husband, with whom she hadn’t started living yet. They had been married by the high priest in the betrothal ceremony. She may have been worried about being found with a child. And the conclusion everyone would jump to if Joseph divorced her and then did not claim her child as his son. Being stoned to death seemed like a painful way to die.

Even with all these fears she remembered the Word of God to Isaiah the prophet, –

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you.
I have summoned you by name. You are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And when you pass through the rivers, they will sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
The flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord you God;
The Holy one of Israel;
Your Saviour"

Mary gave glory to God, and praised her Creator, her Saviour, so humble that He chose to be conceived in her and born of her flesh. She felt humbled and gave glory to Yahweh, her Lord.

Mary suddenly remembered what the angel had said about her aged cousin Elizabeth. In her old age she herself was bearing a son. She again gave thanks to God. Nothing was impossible for Yahweh. He really was El Shaddai, God Almighty. He would take care of her like a father would his daughter. She made preparations over the next few days to go to the hill country of Judea. She hurried and travelled the long distance to Zachariah’s house who was the husband of her kinswoman Elizabeth.