“May everything you have said about me come true” (Luke 1:38). With those words a young (probably teenage) Mary responded to the greatest discipleship call ever given. She had been chosen to give birth to the Son of God. The ramifications would be huge.

Mary was pledged to marry Joseph. She was a resident of Nazareth, a town of only a few hundred people, in a culture of close ties, shared homes, and quickly spread gossip. And she was about to get pregnant? This would be difficult to keep secret and even more difficult to explain.

Did she tell anyone about Gabriel’s visit? Did her mother know? Did her father feel dishonored? The penalty for adultery was stoning (Leviticus 20:10). This was risky business for an innocent virgin.

“May everything you have said about me come true.”

And Joseph. How would she tell him? His plans for a quiet divorce suggest that he discovered the news later on, knowing nothing of the divine miracle (Matthew 1:19). And even after his personal angelic visitation (v.20) and the halting of the divorce plans, how did the wedding ceremony go? Who whispered and who snickered about the bride and her “secret”? Was the young family treated a little differently in the street? Was the murky nature of Jesus’ paternity a source of ridicule?

Mary would watch her son grow up, leave home, and be rejected by her neighbors. Then she saw Him hang on a cross of shame. A sword would pierce her soul (Luke 2:35).

“May everything you have said about me come true.” Mary’s obedience is astounding and is rightly a model for us to imitate. Will we respond to the call of God even when pain, misunderstanding, and ridicule might follow? —Sheridan Voysey