Be a Handmaid of the Lord
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her,“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, 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 to him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there will be no end.”And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” And the angel said to her,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born will be called holy,
the Son of God.And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1: 26-38 RSVCE)
I don’t know how much time you’ve spent pondering the annunciation, retold in the Scripture above (one of the few that uses the word “handmaid” rather than “servant”, although either will do), but as I’ve grown older, become a wife and a mother, it’s become more and more meaningful to me. I lay down my life daily for the well-being of my family; I put their needs first, and only address my own because I know that in order to keep pouring myself out, I have to be filled. I can’t imagine being Mary at twelve or thirteen, coming face-to-face with Gabriel and given the News.
The evangelical church doesn’t spend a whole lot of time on Mary–maybe just a reflection around Christmas. People seem to love that song, “Mary, Did You Know?” but that’s as far as a lot of people get. (Also, that song bugs me. Mary knew who she was giving birth to. She makes that clear in Luke 1:46-55. When we ask these kinds of base questions, we detract from who she was–but I’m getting ahead of myself. Suffice it to say that Mary wasn’t just a teen mom, and Jesus wasn’t just her baby boy. For Pete’s sake.)
If we dig a bit deeper into Mary’s story, especially this particular scene where she is approached with the announcement that she’s going to bear the Messiah, it’s not hard to see that she was a special human, created to be the mother of Christ.
I’ve heard a number of sermons that depict Mary as an ordinary teenage girl, broken and messy, who simply got the luck of the draw and then had to deal with it, narrowly escaping a life of private shame when Joseph nearly divorced her, riding to Bethlehem on a donkey while hugely pregnant for the census, giving birth in a dirty stable with a bunch of smelly animals around, being forced to live as an exile in Egypt, and then watching her beloved son die a miserable death on the cross. As time has rolled on, this kind of picture of Mary feels both careless and irresponsible to me. I’m much more inclined to come alongside the Catholics and believe that Mary was created–designed, if you will–to be the mother of Our Lord. The annunciation did not take place by chance or because God looked down from heaven one day and said, “Hey, Mary looks like a good choice to be the mother of my Son. I guess it’s time to do this thing.” I would argue that Mary was anything but ordinary.
I obviously have a limited amount of space to talk about this in a short devotional. There are many good books on the topic of Mary, a lot of them Catholic, but don’t let that scare you if you’re not a Marian devotee–Mary is for all of us. In being the handmaid of the Lord, she became the handmaid of the world, and that includes you and me. At any rate, if Mary isn’t someone you’ve spent much time thinking about, I just want to get the juices flowing.
The beginning of the passage points out Mary’s lineage, that she was “of the house of David.” The prophecies of the Messiah made it clear that he would be descended of the house of David. Reading the genealogies of Christ in the Gospels always gives me shivers: it is clear from those genealogies that Jesus was God’s plan from the beginning. Therefore, we can ascertain that Mary was also part of that plan–chosen even before her birth.
Now, let’s look at how Gabriel addressed Mary. “Hail, full of grace,” he greeted her. Mary was already full of grace. God had already poured out his grace upon her. This tells me she was prepared for what she was about to hear. God had been preparing her.
Then Gabriel says to her, “The Lord is with you!” God was already with Mary. Before the annunciation. He also tells her she has the Lord’s favor, by which we can presume she led a life of devotion to the Lord.
Gabriel’s arrival was not the event that caused Mary to be full of grace, or the event that caused the Lord to be with her. Those things already were. Gabriel simply informs her of what’s to come next: the incarnation of Christ via the Holy Spirit.
Mary responds without hesitation (she is curious to know how this miraculous birth will come about, but once Gabriel explains, she doesn’t pause). She simply says, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” She is so devoted to and in tune with God that she accepts her commissioning without reservation.
There’s a lot more we could say about Mary. She must have been pure of heart. She had to have been incredibly strong. Her Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) gives us a beautiful picture of her faith in and devotion to the Lord.
If you keep reading about Mary, it is clear that she was the first servant of Christ, and really, his first disciple. She was his right hand at the Wedding at Cana, the one who nudged him into ministry. She knew what he was there to do before anyone else did. She was his devoted mother, yes, but she was also his devoted servant and disciple. She was there at the cross, and she remained with the Twelve afterward, a part of the first gasping breaths of the early church.
When I read about Mary, I, too, want to be a handmaid of the Lord, open to the good works he has for me and unhesitating in my willingness to accept my own commissioning.
Father in heaven, help us to see how Mary was an example of devotion to you and your Son, an example we can learn from, be inspired by, and follow as we seek to live as disciples of Christ. Help us to hunger to be your unhesitating handmaids, ready to live out the callings you have placed on our lives. Amen.
Scripture for Reflection
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” (Luke 1:46-49 RSVCE)
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 RSVCE)
Reach for More
Read the Gospel accounts of Mary and ask yourself, How can Mary’s example of service to Christ speak to me? What does it look like for you, in your everyday life, to be a handmaid of the Lord?
has loved the written word for as long as she can remember. A former English teacher turned editor, she has spent the past twelve years in the publishing industry. A writer herself in the fringe hours of her working-and-homeschooling mom life, Harmony has a heart for leading and coaching aspiring writers. She is the owner of The Glorious Table and cohost and producer at The Relatable Homeschoolers podcast. Harmony lives in Memphis with her husband and two daughters. You can find her at HarmonyHarkema.com and on Instagram @harmonyharkema.
Photograph © Quah Choong Ming, used with permission
