Magazine for December 2010
Nobody of importance
She was nobody. Her family was of no consequence. There was nothing about her that marked her out from anyone else. The words ordinary and humdrum seem a reasonable description of her. If you passed her walking down the street you probably wouldn’t notice her. She was just like you or me – she was nothing special. I think my description of Mary is pretty reasonable yet God chose her to give birth to our saviour, Jesus. And who were Mary’s first visitors after Jesus birth? Shepherds – and they too were people of no importance.
After Jesus was born the wise men came in search of him and started at King Herod’s palace. For them it seemed natural to seek Jesus amongst the great and powerful. Eventually they found Jesus in a house in a provincial town amongst ordinary people. But should this be a surprise to us? God is unexpected in the way He works and the weak and the ordinary are very special to God.
Our value of Christmas can become distorted by unwittingly substituting food and drink and presents for the joy of the Christmas message. As a result of this, many people can feel excluded and their sense of being of little worth can become exaggerated. But the Christmas message declares that God has a purpose for everyone however unimportant they might feel. I imagine that Mary felt unimportant prior to being told by the angel that she would give birth to the Son of God. Sin had separated us from God and Jesus came into the world to bring us back. To God, we are all very important and through Jesus we have all been given the chance to share in God’s glory.
David Bradshaw