Mary’s Radical ‘Yes’

When we talk about Mary, the mother of Jesus, we often focus on her purity or her central role in the Nativity. But what truly inspires me about her is her courage. She was just a young girl when the angel Gabriel appeared and presented a life-altering, reputation-shattering, impossible plan to her.

Imagine being told something that seems utterly insane, yet you know, deep in your soul, that it’s the truth of God. That’s where Mary was. Her response is one of the most powerful displays of trust in the entire Bible.

After hearing that she would conceive a child by the Holy Ghost—a virgin birth!—she didn’t argue, she didn’t run, and she didn’t even ask for a sign like Zechariah did. She simply said, in Luke 1:38 (KJV): "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her."