Christian History Home > Issue 83 > Hail Mary
Hail Mary
Her moment of obedience triggered two millennia of reverence.
David Lyle Jeffrey | posted 7/01/2004 12:00AM
In the sixth month of her elderly cousin Elizabeth's pregnancy, a young, betrothed Jewish girl was astonished by a visit from an angel. It was the angel Gabriel, and he greeted the girl Mary with a reverential "Hail" and announced that she had "found favor" with God and was to conceive and bear a child to be called Jesus. Shocking enough; but there was more: the conception would occur not by natural means, but by the agency of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35-37).
Mary responded in obedience. She called herself the Lord's "handmaiden" (Luke 1:38 48)—a humble title that set the tone for the rest of the New Testament accounts and became the foundation for centuries of Marian devotion.
Mary recognized that she had become, like Enoch (Gen. 5:22) and Noah (who "found grace in the eyes of the LORD" [Gen. 6:8]), one "highly favored" by God (Luke 1:2830). She saw that she would forever after be recognized as one "blessed … among women" (28, 42). This blessing was not for her alone, as she sang in her ... To view this item, you must be a member of ChristianHistory.net.
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