Luke 1:26-38
The Daily Office
I recently bought a new study Bible that I'm really enjoying, the Life With God Bible. The study notes don't focus as much on the history, or the Greek and Hebrew. Instead, the editors focus their commentary on the spiritual life of the reader. In particular, they tie different verses to "spiritual disciplines" that we should make a habit of, so that the soil of our hearts may be nourished for a warmer relationship with God.
Mary's reply to the Angel Gabriel – "Here I am, the slave of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word." – is typical of the spiritual discipline of "submission," according to this study Bible. For some people of faith, this is more than a discipline among several. It is the whole of their faith. "Islam" means, "Peace through submission to God's will." It should come as no surprise that as Muslims consider Jesus the last great prophet before Muhammad; they consider Mary perhaps the greatest of all women. And Muslims too, believe in the virginal conception of Jesus.
There is more to Mary than her submission. For as Gabriel himself said to Mary, "You have found favor with God," or just as accurately, "you have been graced by God." As Christians, we have tended to focus on our inability to submit to God as we should, and on God's subsequent grace toward us. As Americans, we are jealous for our individual freedom and suspicious of anyone who would have us "submit" to anyone's will.
But as the Christmas season approaches, with just a few days of Advent left to prepare for Jesus's coming, perhaps submission is just what you and I need to consider. With what are you struggling in your life? Do you feel as though you're stuck in that struggle, like you just keep beating your head against the same wall, or you keep having the same button get pushed? Is there something of God, not man, in that struggle to which you can submit and say like Mary, "Here I am, the slave of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word" ?
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