Daily Worship

Mother and Son

Katy Emslie-Smith December 09, 2021 0 0
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Luke 1: 38 (NIVUK)

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

The good news of the coming of Jesus Christ has always inspired servanthood.

Mary’s answer to this news is profound in its simplicity: “I am your servant. Let it be to me as you have said”. The plainness of her statement belies the complexity of emotions involved. This position was not easily arrived at. She was initially deeply troubled, questioning the rationality of what was going on, not fully understanding events and having no idea of where this would all lead. Nevertheless she came to this point of submission and trust.

We don’t witness her bargaining, setting conditions, seeking benefit for herself. Her pure and plain response makes fertile ground for the unfolding gospel as God becomes incarnate, Word becomes flesh.

We know little of Jesus’ boyhood, but we know that he had a devout mother who understood that to live in accordance with the way God intends, service must shape life, even in times of crisis. Who knows how the influence of Mary shaped the heart and spirit of the boy and young man Jesus, as she shared her own values of service and a desire to be faithful to God’s purposes as revealed in the Scriptures? Who knows how, as she taught the young Jesus her ways, she may have instilled in him the resilience, courage and silent strength needed for him to become God’s servant, the suffering servant, the servant of all humanity? Who knows how as she helped him towards adult life, she may have imparted the self forgetfulness and emptying of service? Like mother, like son?

Mary was only human. Jesus, fully human, fully God, modelled the ultimate servanthood, made himself nothing and humbled himself to Gethsemane, Golgotha, the grave and beyond.

 

PRAYER:

 

Lord, teach us true service. Jesus, as our teacher, transform our hearts into those of servants whose first desire is to see not our own but your will be done. Amen.