Mary, was it one of Herod's soldiers?

It really doesn't matter what your position is on the ancient Christmas story, ok? Over the years, I've learned the importance of this historical account isn't about me.  On the contrary, whatever your mental process is on this "story" be it skeptic, rationalist, agnostic or atheist, this account exists and stands firmly in the conviction of many people. I would venture to say the vast majority of anyone subscribing to a "religion" have a position on what happened 2000 years ago. Their perspectives may surprise you. Islam and Christianity are actually unified on the account, that this young girl, Mary, was a virgin. There is nothing else shared between Islam and Christianity, but I have a deep respect for the beliefs of my Muslim friends. The other major religion, Judaism, is of the opinion that the key character in our story was a Semite and somewhat of a deluded victim of extreme poverty. To many Jews, Mary was the mother of a misguided rabbi. Nevertheless, this "ancient superstition" stands.

We all know the story, most likely because we are influenced by it in some way. We may not admit it, but we are influenced by it. In fact,

Some time ago, I wrote a similar perspective on this topic entitled  "Was that Jewish Peasant Girl Lying? " and I wonder if you would be a patient reader and allow me to propose some other perspectives on my first narrative?

First of all, these traditions about the first Christmas could be entirely false or this could be a infallible account of actual events. Also, it could be an embellishment of a story. It doesn't matter that a prophet, hundreds of years earlier,  talked about a virgin birth of the Messiah (see Isaiah 7:14). Maybe Isaiah was mistaken though, probably that old text could be translated "young girl" and not a virgin. Or maybe it was translated and copied wrong, written after the account of these things (we should mention here the Isaiah papyrus known as the Dead Sea Scrolls).

Who was this teenage girl, Mary? Did she even exist?  Where did this story come up about being a virgin?

 

At the outset, as you come to this story there are angels. In our minds, there may or may not have been angelic visitations - most of us fall into one of those two camps. In our current culture we may dismiss these heavenly visitors, but in the text there were two such visitations. One to the father of the man who would later become "John The Baptist" (a rather extreme fundamentalist in the Baptist-sense) and this young teen girl.

On Zechariah, he was a Hebrew disbeliever. Now, if you are a disbeliever in Mary's account, please ponder Zechariah skepticism for a moment. It doesn't matter what the angel says to him, he doesn't believe it. A  very religious man and a priest going about this act of religiosity, he was interrupted in one of the most important duties assigned to ancient priests of his day - the annual rite of offering a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people.  The angel is saying his "older wife - Elizabeth" will have a son.

For the record, the Qur'an references and Elizabeth, Zachariah and John the Baptist as exalted doers of good. In essence, Islam recognizes the angelic visitation to Zachariah.

Anyway, Zechariah chokes. He's never heard a voice in the sanctuary before. He is scared and maybe not thinking correctly. It is usually quiet in here, this is a sacred place.  All he says is, "how can this be?" Folks, my wife and I are similar in age, both in our mid-50s. We have been married 34 years, raised 3 daughters and now have 6 grandchildren. I could easily cut this guy a break, most likely I would have the same response. However, the angel rebuffs him. Zechariah is not to speak until the baby is born.

Now we have Mary. Same angel, but a more preposterous claim. I'd  be the first person to dismiss the possibility of a virgin birth. After all, how can a woman become pregnant when she has never had sexual intercourse? She plainly asks the angel this very question. An explanation is given.

At this point, the jury is out. What will Mary say to this angel?

I've wondered through the years, what ran threw her head at that precise moment in time.

She can hear her father going ballistic when she presents the urine strip test results to her family.

"Mary, was it one of Herod's soldiers?"

Or, he might be thinking "that Joseph.. he has ruined the reputation of our family."

 
She is a scared young girl, but replies to the angel "let it be done according to your word."

Let's be clear here, ok? Mary was not raped by a man or by a spiritual  being or a "Holy Spirit" or whatever else we can conjure up. What happened to her was by her consent.

Did she immediately tell her family or Joseph about this visitation? I don't know. It isn't clear. They did find out though, either by her explanation or by the obvious shape of her physical appearance. The bible text does say that she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth's house. This visit was purposeful. Elizabeth is obviously pregnant by this time. This woman also validates any doubts Mary would have about her own spiritual journey in this matter.

Now, for the record, I don't deify Mary. She was a person just like you and I. She is an example of faith in a faithless age, both then and now.

If you are interested in what I am writing about here, can I encourage you to read the original text account of these things?  Read Luke 1:1-45.