It’s A Boy: Mary Speaks

December 3, 2025 1^st Week of Advent

This past Sunday, we entered the season of Advent. Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” During these weeks leading up to Christmas, we prepare—preparing for His coming, His arrival. We light the first candle on the Advent wreath and begin counting down the weeks until Christmas Eve, the night we celebrate God becoming man, the night Jesus was born. As John writes, “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” — John 1:14 (MSG)

But Advent is not only a time to remember a child born in Bethlehem. It not only points us back to the moment God entered the world in human flesh—it also points us forward to His second coming…

…when Christ will return, judge wickedness, overthrow evil, and gather His children home.

So, Advent calls us to prepare our hearts—not just for a birth 2,000 years ago, but for a return that may be closer than we imagine. We prepare through self-examination, through prayer, and through transformation. We prepare our lives, our homes, and our hearts to receive Christ: the baby in a manger, the man on the cross, the risen Son of God, and the returning King.

This week, we turn our attention to Mary and her response to the astonishing news: “It’s a Boy.”

Luke 1:26–38 (NIV)

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”  Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Imagine how Mary must have felt. It’s impossible for us to fully grasp the shock of that moment. A young teenage girl—perhaps 13 or 15 years old—suddenly confronted by an angel, suddenly told she will bear a child, and not just any child, but the long-awaited Messiah, the Son of God. No wonder the angel’s first words were, “Do not be afraid.” She must have been shaking in her sandals.

God made Mary an extraordinary promise through Gabriel: “The Lord is with you.” (v. 28)

And she would need that promise. What God asked of her was no simple calling. A virgin becoming pregnant before marriage risked social and economic disaster. As one commentator explains, an unmarried pregnant girl could lose her future, her family, even her safety. Add to that Mary’s claim that her pregnancy was from the Holy Spirit—people would think she was either lying or out of her mind.

Mary would carry a lifetime of suspicion from neighbors and even family. Her obedience came with the possibility of ridicule, loneliness, and contempt. R. Alan Culpepper writes, “Mary is an important example…of one who is obedient to God even at great risk to self.”

Yet Mary knew the scriptures. She knew the promises of a coming Messiah. And she believed that God would keep His promise to be with her. She trusted Him.

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary said. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” (v. 38)

Douglas Connelly notes, “God certainly didn’t force this choice on Mary; she willingly embraced what God had for her. But the decision was made with no assurance that anyone except God would ever fully understand.”

Mary’s belief didn’t erase her fear, but she chose faith over fear. She chose obedience over self-preservation. She chose trust over certainty.

And we are given that same choice. God does not force us to believe, to follow, or to obey. But He invites us. He promises to walk with us. The question is: Do we choose to believe that?

What is God asking you to “step out” and do? Where is He leading you that you hesitate to go? What is next for you on this journey of faith?

Know this: God will walk with you.

Over the next month, week by week, we move closer to the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior. We will light candles. We will sing carols. We will prepare.

We will prepare to come face to face with Jesus—not only in a manger on Christmas Eve, but one day at His return, when every person will stand before Him.

And so we ask: Will we believe that God can use our lives to impact the world, just as He used the life of a teenage girl in a small town called Nazareth?

God is speaking today—maybe not through an angel, but through a sermon, a friend, a song, Scripture, the beauty of creation, or a stirring in your heart. How will you respond?

May we, like Mary, answer God’s call with the same simple, powerful words:

“I am the Lord’s servant… May it be to me as You have said.”

Amen.