The Careful Account
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her. Luke 1:38 · Berean Standard Bible
Mary answers, 'I am the Lord's servant. Let everything you've said happen to me.' Then the angel leaves.
This is the most courageous 'yes' in history. Mary knows this will be confusing, scandalous, and difficult. But she says yes to God anyway.
Mary gives her consent to God's plan.
A teenage girl says yes to God, knowing it will turn her world upside down. Her courage in this moment changes the course of history. Sometimes one 'yes' is all God needs.
Mary responds with complete submission: 'Idou he doule Kuriou; genoito moi kata to rhema sou' (Behold the servant of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word). Then the angel departs.
Mary's self-designation as doule (female servant/slave) echoes Hannah's prayer (1 Samuel 1:11). Her genoito (may it be) is the optative of wish, actively embracing God's will. This is the model response of faith.
Mary responds to Gabriel with her fiat, her consent of faith.
Mary's response is one of the most significant statements in Scripture: total surrender to God's plan. Her 'yes' makes possible the incarnation. She becomes the model of faithful obedience.
36Look, even Elizabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month.
37For no word from God will ever fail.”
38“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.
39In those days Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah,
40where she entered the home of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
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