Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Lisa Halverson on Mary, the Mother of Jesus

I am always interested in what my fellow Latter-day Saints write when they touch the topic of Mary (see my book, Behold the Mother of My Lord: Towards a Mormon Mariology [2017]). Lisa Halverson, in the chapter, “Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ,” wrote the following about Mary as an example of one who humbly listened to God and obedience to his words:

 

As a young woman—not much more than a girl—Mary, daughter of Anna and Joachim, heard and saw the angel Gabriel. He spoke these words to her: “Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women” (Luke 1:28).

 

Mary “was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation should be” (Luke 1:29). Her confusion is understandable. Though of the line of David, her family held no great position or wealth. They lived in Nazareth, the backwaters of the Roman Empire, in a village of two hundred to four hundred people, where everyone knew everyone else. By order of the Jewish queen Salome Alexandra one hundred years before, the boys were literature. But their families were farmers and stonecutters (translated as “carpenters” in the King James Version of the Bible), finding work an hour’s walk away in Sepphoris, the opulent Greek-style regional capital being built by Herod Antipas. In her circumstance, Mary may not have felt particularly favoured or blessed. In any case, it was clearly an unusual “manner of salutation,” and she was confused and even a bit afraid.

 

Seeing Mary’s confusion, Gabriel added: “Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS” (Luke 1:30-31).

 

Still confused and expressing “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?,” Mary continued to listen and was told that “with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). Her ready response to hearing Gabriel’s incredible message was faithful and trusting: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy world” (Luke 1:38).

 

Many have wondered how she, not much older than a child, could have such faith. It may have come from her close listening to Gabriel’s words. Remember what he said:

 

Hail, thou that art highly favoured,
the Lord is with the . . .
Fear not,
Mary: for thou hast
found favour with God
. (Luke 1:38, 30; emphasis added)

 

First, her fears were assuaged as she heard that the Lord was with her. And if He was with her, she could not fail! Additionally, the assurance that she was “highly favoured” had meanings beyond simply being a favorite. It also meant to be graced and honored with blessings and to be made acceptable. Before Gabriel delivered the most earth-shattering news she would ever hear, he told her that God would make her acceptable. Hearing these words, she knew that the Lord would indeed magnify her for this sacred and holy calling. He loved her, and through His grace, she was enough.

 

By the time Mary saw her cousin Elisabeth, she had let the words she heard sink deep down into her very being: “My soul doth magnify the Lord,” she exclaimed upon seeing Elisabeth! (Luke 1:46).

 

In the passage that follows (often called the Magnificat), Mary testifies of the same grace she heard from Gabriel:

 

[H]e 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 holpen his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy. (Luke 1:49-[54])

 

This beautiful testimony grew deep during the three-month period that would have included morning sickness; derision, shame, and exclusion from many of her small-town neighbors; and nearly the end of her betrothal to her beloved Joseph. Surely she was a woman of immeasurable faith. Still, how was she so certain of God’s goodness when her own life was so tumultuous? Because she had listened closely when a messenger from God spoke to her, telling her that there was no need to fear because God was with her and would “favour” her—as He favors all of His children who come upon him!—by magnifying her and making her equal to the assignments that lay before her. (Taylor D. Halverson, Lisa R. Halverson, and Tyler J. Griffin, Hear Him: Listening to the Voice of God in Scriptures and in Our Lives [Line of Sight Publishing, 2020], 80-83; the names of Mary's parents are not provided in canonical scripture but appears in extra-biblical texts such as the Protoevangelium of James)