As Mary walked, lost in thought, a familiar landscape unfolded before her. Beyond the edge of the forest lay the small village of Nazareth, her lifelong home. Looking at the village—unchanged as ever—Mary wondered whether her current worries were truly so important.
How could she have lived in this village all these years and not faced hardship? Even before her father was injured, life had always been difficult, full of endless worries. It wasn’t just things like drought or debt—family relationships could be just as hard. Yet, despite all of this, her family had managed to stay close, their trust growing over time. The warmth they shared now had been built through all of those experiences; it hadn’t simply appeared overnight. Could she have lived the life she led now—surrounded by warmth and trust—if she hadn’t had her parents and siblings? Absolutely not.
Thinking of all this, she began to see why Joseph worried so much. If she had to shoulder those same burdens all by herself, with no one to lean on, perhaps she would have acted just as he did. In that case, were her complaints about him really fair?
Joseph did have many good qualities. He was calm, slow to anger, and never considered only himself. He was thoughtful of others, always trying to do better. He made mistakes, of course, but he strove not to repeat them. Even now, he was still growing as a person. If Joseph was working to change, then surely there were things she herself needed to change, too. It was not about being right or wrong, but about two people learning how to become one. Isn’t that why God spoke of marriage as two becoming one flesh?
Of course, she couldn’t expect to understand Joseph completely from the beginning. She hadn’t known him long—how much could anyone really know about another so quickly? Two people from such different backgrounds could hardly be a perfect match right away. But as they spent more time together, she would come to understand and accept his ways. Joseph had the seed of faith; she decided she could trust in that and keep moving forward.
With her mind made up, Mary headed for the well where everything had started, hoping it would help her understand Joseph better. Arriving at the well, she sat down and leaned against the willow tree where Joseph had once sat. What had moved Joseph’s heart that day, to become interested in someone he barely knew?
That day, she had been chatting with her closest friend. She couldn’t recall exactly what they’d talked about—perhaps the struggles of their daily work, or what kind of person they hoped to marry. Her friend had always liked to speak of her ideal husband, so it was probably that. Dreaming of marrying a handsome, wealthy man made sense; her friend had been beautiful since childhood. If anyone had several suitors to choose from, wouldn't they want the best? Mary imagined she might have felt the same in her friend’s place.
Her friend’s parents must have shared those hopes, for while Mary was still only betrothed to Joseph, her friend wed a wealthy young man from Sepphoris. Mary offered congratulations, happy her friend’s dream had come true, but couldn’t help feeling a twinge of bitterness. At the time, she thought it was simply sadness at drifting apart—but maybe she was, in her heart, comparing Joseph to her friend’s husband.
Sepphoris—where her friend now lived—had once been King Herod’s home when he governed Galilee, and it remained the region’s capital, a large and bustling city. Mary had heard stories of it: perched on a hill, rich in springs and streams, famous for culture and markets filled with things she’d never seen or imagined.
Picturing Sepphoris’s abundance, she felt she and her friend were now headed along very different paths. At that moment, the dissatisfaction she thought she’d let go of rose within her again. Mary shook her head, trying to banish the envy flaring up inside.
Joseph might not have wealth, but he had genuine faith in God. His love for the Lord and his pure desire to follow God’s word were deeper than anyone else's. Shouldn’t that be enough? She and her friend had each chosen their own lives. Now, it was up to them to do their best with what they’d been given. What mattered was living righteously before God, not living in comfort.
To break the grip of envy, Mary closed her eyes and tried to simply feel the world as it was, letting go of every thought.
* * *
A voice she had never heard before—unfamiliar, yet somehow familiar—broke the silence:
“Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”
Startled by the suddenness of the moment, Mary opened her eyes. Before her stood a figure she had never seen before—a person glowing softly with light.
‘How can a person shine like this?’ she thought, caught between wonder and confusion, unsure whether this was a dream or reality.
The figure spoke again:
“Don’t be afraid, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and shall name 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 the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”
“How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”
“The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God. Behold, Elizabeth, your relative, also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”
“Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”
Hearing her reply, the angel smiled at her, then faded away. Mary blinked, and once again saw only the quiet, familiar scene of the well. The radiant figure was gone, as if he had never been there at all.
Was this a dream? Or was it real? The figure’s presence had felt far too real to be just a dream. And what did his words mean? He said that she would have a child and should name him Jesus. Jesus—that name meant “God is salvation.” He said the child would one day become great and would receive David’s throne. Didn’t reigning over the house of Jacob forever mean he would be the Messiah? And what could it possibly mean for the child to be called the Son of the Most High?
She had confessed she hoped his words would come true, but it was difficult to truly believe. She was just an ordinary girl from a poor family, working every day simply to get by. Why would something like this happen to someone like her?
Driven by urgency, Mary hurried home to tell someone what had happened. When she flung open the door, she found a stranger inside.
“Mom.”
“Why all the ruckus? Come, greet our guest. He’s come from afar to share good news.”
“Hello,” Mary said, bowing politely.
“Nice to meet you. You must be Mary.”
“Yes, sir.”
Once the introductions were finished, Mary’s mother, beaming with happiness, turned to Mary.
“Mary, Elizabeth is pregnant.”
“What?” Mary was stunned.
“You’re surprised too? I was shocked when I first heard.”
“Is that really true?”
“Of course! Isn’t it incredible? How could she be expecting a child at her age?”
Mary’s mother, chattering excitedly as she explained the situation, looked even more pleased than the person who had brought the news. Yet right then, Mary was more curious about something else. She turned to the messenger and asked,
“Excuse me, but did you come here by yourself? Is there…someone else with you, perhaps?”
“No, I came alone.”
“Really? You didn’t come with, well…someone who looked like they were glowing, or anything like that?”
Mary’s mother gave her a puzzled look and said,
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“It’s nothing, Mom. Just wondering.”
Though Mary’s mother looked at her strangely, in truth, no one was more surprised in that moment than Mary herself.
“Mom, I’m going to visit Elizabeth.”
“They actually asked if you could help out. But since you’re about to get married, I found it hard to give them an answer. Are you sure you can go?”
“Of course! No, I have to go. I’ll get ready and leave right away.”
“Right this moment?”
“Yes, immediately.”
“Don’t you think you should at least tell your father and Joseph? Isn’t this much too sudden?”
Her mother’s worries rolled in, but Mary barely heard a word. If Elizabeth truly was pregnant, maybe what she’d experienced was true after all. Still, she desperately needed confirmation. Maybe Elizabeth would have the answer she sought.
“Please, Mom. Explain everything to them for me.”
Mary spread out a cloth and began packing her clothes, paying no attention to her mother’s ongoing protests. Her mother knew from experience that once Mary set her mind on something, no amount of persuasion would change her mind. Although Mary would be traveling safely to Ein Karem in Judea with the messenger, her mother was already getting a headache just thinking about how she would explain all this to her husband and to Joseph.
As Mary stepped out the door, her footprints marked a long path behind her. Would the traces she left behind—like these footprints—be a path that pleased God, or one carved by her own desires?
For now, nothing was certain. But she walked on, each step steady and strong, praying that God might guide her on the right path.
The passage from Luke 1:28–38 quoted in this narrative is taken directly from the World English Bible (WEB) translation.
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