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Sunday, December 25, 2005

Why Mary?

Why did God choose Mary to be the mother of Jesus? Many look for something in Mary or for something she did. She was a young Jewish virgin. She was holy. She was receptive. And on it goes. Out of all the women who have ever lived, was she the only receptive holy young virgin? Out of all the young unmarried Jewish women in her day, was she the only receptive holy young virgin? Why did God choose Mary? The Bible does not say. The wrong answer has made Mary the object of worship and special adoration.

The birth of Jesus Christ happened as much according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God as His crucifixion. He came in the fullness of time -- God’s time -- to the right people in the right place. He fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of His first advent.

Why did God choose Mary? The Bible does not say. But this we know. The angel announced to Mary, "thou hast found favour with God." The Greek word for favour is "charis", which is translated "grace" well over 100 times in the Bible. Mary became the mother of Jesus by GOD'S unmerited favour, His eternal choice, and His unlimited power. It was nothing that Mary did. It was nothing that she was. God extended grace. Oh, how the natural man recoils from this being an unconditional choice on God's part. But God did not ask Mary if she, a young unmarried Jewish virgin girl who had never known a man, wanted to be the mother of the Saviour. He chose her. He called her. The Holy Ghost came upon her, she conceived and brought forth a Son and called His name Jesus -- "for he shall save his people from their sins."

How like God's choice of Mary is His choice to save poor undeserving sinners. It is nothing they do. It is nothing they are. God extended grace. Thank God for His grace.

7 comments:

Sapience said...

And indeed, it is by Mary's own statement (what is commonly called the Magnificat) that God should be the focus of how we understand how and why she was blessed, not her own nature.

Jim Shaver said...

Outstanding thoughts. I preached on this very subject on Dec 18 when I preached a sermon entitled "Chosen by God".

R. L. Vaughn said...

patti, thank you for being the first to reply on my new web log. Your stress of Mary's focus on God and not herself is very perceptive and something I failed to highlight. Thanks.

R. L. Vaughn said...

sbccalvinist, thanks for your thoughts. The post was prompted by a discussion on why God chose Mary. Most of the opinions of all these (who were Baptists) either hinted at or outright saw something in Mary as the cause of God's choice. Mary could not have even conceived (pun intended) of this being possible, much less chosen it! With mankind it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Anonymous said...

Where in KJV do you find that Mary was "holy"?

R. L. Vaughn said...

Hoyt, your question points up that I was not clear enough. As far as I know, the Bible never calls Mary "holy". These sentences -- She was a young Jewish virgin. She was holy. She was receptive. -- probably should have been in quotes, as I was referencing them as how some people explain why God chose Mary. Those reasons, even if they were, are not reasons why God chose Mary.

R. L. Vaughn said...

This should say - "Those reasons, even if they were true, are not reasons why God chose Mary."