Mary – The First Disciple

This season, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, I want us to look into and learn from the life of someone that was favored enough to be a part of it, highly favored rather!

I’ve always thought of Mary as the first disciple of Jesus, the first one that “left her nets” and followed His call. She followed Him into the unknown, into an experience that was so entirely new, so unexplainable to any outsider. What would she tell the world? What would she tell her betrothed, Joseph? She didn’t pause to think of any of that, all she did was answer His call – “I am Yours, may it happen to me according to Your word.” (Luke 1:38)

The song of Mary, that we read in the first chapter of Luke, comes from her most meek, humble, and lowly state and yet is so awe-inspiring, exultant, and prophetic at the same time! It is truly an illustration of how much God pours His Holy Spirit into the humble and obedient.

While reading through the gospels, there were many times I noticed little things about Mary that I connected with on a personal level. For example, reading through Luke 1 & 2, these two verses always caught my attention: ”But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.” (Luke 1:29) “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19). I would pause at these verses because I would always feel a kinship to Mary in the way she always pondered before she spoke, kept things in her heart and contemplated on them before she expressed herself. I so dearly valued that trait, but I soon realized that was just the least of her. As I read through her song, trying to imagine her state of mind, I was able to see her in a whole new light. Just a 16-year-old, she sang of the glory of God with wisdom far beyond her years.

The song of Mary

She practiced humility.

“And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant.”

She acknowledges her lowly state, and truly humbles herself before her God. It is easy to assume that Mary was meek by nature, but you read in verses 51 & 52 of her complete understanding of God’s dislike for the proud at heart. She understands that, as a matter of principle, the lofty will not be honored by God. So she may very well have been fierce and bold in nature, but she practiced humility in its true sense as obedience to God.

She believed.

“For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.”

This verse, so short and yet so profound, reveals to us that Mary has believed the promise given to her by the angel of God. And beyond just believing, she understands the magnitude of the honor given to her and the great mission that she has become a part of!

She feared the Lord.

“His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.”

The Hebrew verb used in this verse means “to fear, to respect, to revere” and the Hebrew noun "yirah" that is used for the fear of God is a culmination of many positive understandings of who God is - This fear acknowledges God’s good intentions (Exodus 20:20), His power and majesty, is produced by meditating on His Word (Proverbs 2:5), and makes a person receptive to wisdom and knowledge (Proverbs 1:7). As is so evident from Mary's behaviour, by all these definitions of yirah, she truly did fear the Lord.

She prophesied, being filled with the Spirit.

"He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty."

Mary, being filled with the Spirit, is one of the first persons in the New Testament to prophesy of the works of Christ. As most of us know, Jesus did feed the hungry, literally and metaphorically (Matthew 14:13-21), and He did send the rich away empty (Matthew 10:17-27).

She was knowledgeable in Scripture.

"He has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly"

"He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

These two verses are direct quotes from the Psalms of David, and Mary brings them in her song in such perfect context, that it shows her knowledge of Scriptures and it's power. Being sound in Scripture also explains the fear of the Lord in her, her submission to the will of God, and her quick understanding of the promise spoken to her by the Angel of God.

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The song of Mary, although it may seem like just an emotional outpouring of her heart, it was so much more, in that it was Spirit filled and rooted in the knowledge of God's word. Mary also showed us that being favoured or highly favoured doesn’t always reflect in our life in the conventional manner. Her version of being favoured by God included the possibility of losing her betrothed husband, having to flee multiple times in fear of danger, and having had to give birth away from the comfort of an inn but rather in a manger. She even had to yield to the point of watching the son she loved and raised be crucified on a cross. But in all of these circumstances, God always intervened on her behalf, be it with Joseph (Mathew 1:20) or in the form of the wise men that knew not to go back to Herod, and ultimately in the resurrection of Christ as the eternal King! Mary (like Joseph from the old testament) showed us by example that the favour of God doesn’t necessarily mean being constantly blessed, but it does mean we would constantly BE a blessing. (Luke 1:43,44,56)

Because this young woman submitted to God's plans for her life, she was able to be part of the greatest miracle the world has ever seen - the King of Kings decided to lay down His crown and be born as a helpless babe to come and live amongst us. May we submit our own lives as she did, and experience the miracle of Christ, that is - Immanuel, "God with us".

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