What if Mary Said “No”?

“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.” Luke 1:26-38

Most of us are familiar with the story of the Annunciation – where the angel Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary and informs her that she had been chosen to be the Mother of the Savior. Mary said yes, and Jesus was born — and his ministry is one of the redemption of the human race. Sounds simple, right? But, what would have happened if Mary said, “no”?

We can easily forget that Mary had free will – that she was not forced to go along with the plan that would result in the birth of our Savior. It sounds easy enough as it leaps off the pages of the bible – but it would have been less embarrassing to her family if she had just refused. She would not have to endure the judging comments from the neighbors – and Joseph would not have had to consider ending the engagement. The Bible tells us that Mary was “greatly troubled” when visited by the angel Gabriel. But, who wouldn’t have been troubled? For most of us, our worrying would start as soon as G-d revealed “the plan”. G-d’s plan is not always our plan – often is nowhere near our plans for our lives. However, Mary embraced G-d’s plan without needing to know all of the details – which we just shake our heads when we hear such willingness to follow G-d’s will, especially when it involves so much uncertainty.

But if Mary said no, then who would have said yes? Elizabeth was already pregnant with her son John. Mary was the chosen one. This means that none other had been found who could even be considered for the call. So if Mary said “No”, then G-d would have had to possibly find another route – possibly a completely different plan of salvation for the people of earth. There would be other great men and even women of faith to be born – perhaps they would be chosen.

It is hard for us to fathom Mary saying “No” because so many of our faith stories revolve around her saying “Yes”. But G-d always finds a way – and finds the right people – and who knows, you and I may be someone yet to be called to something great.

Pastor Dave

What if Abraham’s Hand Had Slipped?

“When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” Genesis 22:9-14

The Binding of Isaac by his father Abraham, known in Hebrew as the Akedah, is one of the best known — and most troubling — stories in the Bible. In it, G-d orders Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac – his only son, on Mount Moriah. Abraham agrees, but then is stopped at the last minute when God sends an angel who tells him to sacrifice a ram instead. This story is traditionally read on the second day of Rosh Hashanah. The shofar or ram’s horn blown on the holiday is a reminder of how Isaac was spared.
How could Abraham have been so sure that G-d had, indeed, commanded him to kill his innocent child? Even if he was convinced that G-d had so commanded him, how could he be expected to sacrifice his own son? Is obedience to G-d’s will so supreme an obligation for you and me that it might override our sense of morality – to kill an innocent? And, what is more paradoxical is the fact that Isaac is the product of a miracle from G-d — giving Isaac to Abraham and Sarah when they were of advanced age and had promised Abraham that, through Isaac, Sarah would be a mother of many nations – and Abraham the father of many nations. (louisjacobs.org, The Problem of the Akedah in Jewish Thought)

But what if the angel said no, but Abraham’s hand slipped, and the knife was plunged into Isaac’s neck? The death would have been in obedience to G-d—but the promise, the covenant between Abraham and G-d would have been negated. Would there have been another promise? Would another son be born to Abraham and Sarah – who were now some ten to fifteen years older? Or, would G-d have found it necessary to switch the promise to Ishmael? After all, Ishmael was the other son, the one born to Hagar, the would-be father of the Ishmaelites. The family tree would just have followed a different branch – and there would not have been Esau, and Jacob, and Israel’s twelve sons – and, of course, what would we do without the wonderful story of Joseph? Just one slip of the hand, one delay in the command to relent, and the people would have been called Ishmaelites, not Israelites.

Pastor Dave