Mary’s Story, Chapter I, “Thou Shalt Conceive in Thy Womb”

Hi, my name is Mary. Yes, you know me well, or at least you should; you see, I am the mother of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Messiah. I’m not sure if many of you know, so I will give a quick explanation of what Lord means when it’s connected to Jesus Messiah. You see, “lord” has many meanings, in Greek it is the word “kurios” which means “having power” or “authority”. It can mean; Lord, master, Master, owner, or even Sir. Of course we all know Jesus had power and authority, and is the Master and Lord of all, yet when it is applied to Jesus Messiah, it is thus; Messiah-King; Lord is the designation of Jesus as the Messiah-King predicted in the Psalms, by the Prophets and by Moses. So now we know Jesus Messiah is the King of kings (as reported in Scripture – Revelation 17:14), let me now move on. I had no idea what was to become of my life, yet all the while God had a plan set in motion from the beginning (John 1:1) to use me in His plan of salvation for everyone. While many will scoff and say things against me, my testimony in the Scriptures is truth; let me talk to you a little about it.

I was a devout Jew, I was brought up in a well-to-do family in the line of David. My father was Eli-Joachim, a very rich man and my brother was Joseph of Arimathea, who held the chief seat on the Sanhedrin of the six official seats of the house of Judah. Joseph, my espoused, well, he came from a cursed line, and was not the choice I would have made for myself; suffice it to say he did some work for my father and I was offered as “payment” for this work. So, here I was espoused to someone lower in social status than I and not feeling too blessed when the angel Gabriel appeared to me and spoke these words, “Hail, thou art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” – Luke 1:28. Now, being that I had lost my social status, I wondered at these words Gabriel spoke to me, because I was no longer favoured by anyone, being that I was to marry Joseph. But, Gabriel spoke again, and said, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” – Luke 1:30-32. I wondered at this, I had not been with any man and I spoke my thoughts. Gabriel said to me, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.” – Luke 1:35-37. I told Gabriel I am the Lord’s servant, let it be as you have said, and then Gabriel was gone. Of course I was overjoyed, not only was I to carry the Messiah, my cousin, who was supposedly barren, was also with child! What a mighty and awesome God I serve!

I packed up my stuff, being espoused and pregnant isn’t the best thing to be, and headed out to my cousin Elisabeth’s house as soon as I could. As soon as I got there I told Elisabeth all that had happened, and when she heard this, the child in her womb jumped for joy, and she was filled with the Holy Ghost and said, “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.” – Luke 1:42-45. God had revealed to her the truth as well, how exciting was this!? I couldn’t contain myself and I said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.” – Luke 1:46-55. After this I stayed with her for a while, about three months, and then I returned home.

This is just but the beginning of my story, this is how my great God and Saviour found favour with me and I was to be the mother of His only begotten.  God manifesting Himself in the flesh to redeem His people. I had a lot to learn still, about Jesus, His ministry on earth, and the worst part, my son, the Son of God, would be betrayed and killed. He would willingly sacrifice Himself for everyone. What lay in store for the next 33 years, I did not know, but I was more than willing to find out…