Perhaps you have heard the story of the farmer who discovered that a beautiful white horse had wandered onto his property. Despite the best efforts to find its owner, no one came forward and he was told to keep the horse, his friends saying: "You are so blessed to have received a wonderful horse like that for nothing." And the farmer replied: "Who knows. We shall see."
A few weeks later while the farmer’s son was riding the horse he fell off and broke his leg badly. His friends said: "Oh how terrible. Such a bad break and especially sad as he is at the prime of his life, what a tragedy.” And the farmer replied: “Who knows. We shall see."
A few months later war broke out—a terrible war in which many young men lost their lives. When the conscripting team came to the farmer’s house they said: "Your son’s leg is too badly broken, he cannot go to war." And the farmer’s friends said: "How blessed you are. Your son does not have to go to war. His life is safe." And the farmer replied, "Who knows. We shall see"…
The story goes on at great length making one simple point: when something happens, we don’t know if it is going to be a blessing or curse, or something in between. Only time puts things in the right perspective.
When something unexpected happens, what’s your instinct?
When something unexpected happens, what’s your instinct? Are you happily expectant of a good outcome? Or are you suspicious? Or is your response even stronger, and do you find yourself plunging into anxiety or even dread? Or perhaps like the farmer, you delay responding, and are content to use "Who knows. We shall see." as your mantra.
With Christmas upon us I thought we could look at this question through the lens of Mary’s story. Let’s face it, her life took a pretty unexpected turn when the angel Gabriel announced that she was to be the mother of God.
Joe and Mary ordinary
It’s best to think it through as she would, playing it forward, guessing what might happen, but not actually knowing. Pretend you are her, and imagine you don’t know the full story. You are Mary, and you are about to be told you will be the mother of Jesus. OK. I accept that this takes a leap of imagination (I am Mary) but that is why we have imaginations. When we use them, Bible passages speak to us much more deeply. If you are a man and can’t imagine what it would be like to be Mary... well, fair enough, try imagining you are Joseph.
You are about to be married. You are about as ordinary a couple as can possibly be with one little exception. Joseph is probably a fair amount older than Mary. But hey, this was the ancient world, and there was nothing too unusual about marriages like that back then. Not that we are certain how old Joseph was. Much is made of the fact that Joseph dies in Jesus’ adolescent years, but that doesn’t mean he was especially old when he married. The most likely guess is that Mary was about 14 and Joseph around 30, but don’t bet your house on it, we can’t be sure.
According to Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3, Joseph was a carpenter. Strictly the Greek word used, "tekton", can also mean a builder or a stonemason, but the tradition of the church has been that he was a carpenter, and there is no good reason to doubt it. In short, Joseph has a reputable trade, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary.
To say it again, Joseph and Mary seemed a very ordinary couple for that time. But remember that time. They were a Jewish couple, and as such were part of a conquered people under Roman rule. Again, that was not too unusual for the ancient world. Most people weren't born into countries where everyone is free.
This was an ordinary couple.
This then was an ordinary couple, looking forward to an ordinary wedding (well, as ordinary as they were in those days—they were actually a pretty big deal, a real community celebration that could go on for days), and an ordinary life. They hoped to live happily, have children, and then die at appropriate points, perhaps being remembered in the hearts of a few for a decade or two afterwards.
An extraordinary interruption
But then… then an angel suddenly appears to Mary and announces a fairly significant change. Mary will give birth to the Messiah!
Let’s link it to the farmer’s story: "You are so blessed. The horse has just wandered into your field. Well done. You will be the Mother of the Messiah. You have been saved from obscurity and will be remembered forever." Hmmm... Who knows. We shall see.
Actually, in the short term it was chaos. There was the "she’s a pregnant virgin" thing. We’d find that difficult to believe today and they found it difficult then. Of course, that included Joseph finding it difficult. As I said, imagine it was you. What would you assume? Thankfully, God comes to Joseph in a dream and assures him all is well. Did Joseph ever wonder if his dream was an exercise in denial and wish fulfilment? We cannot know.
Let’s look at Mary’s first encounter with the angel. You find it in Luke 1:26-38.
Ordinary was now forever off the agenda.
Mary’s first responses is fear. Luke 1:29 tells us she was "greatly troubled" and had to be reassured, "do not be afraid' (v30). Was the angel’s reassurance valid, or was it given a little too quickly? Sure, Mary was in no immediate danger, but hers was no longer going to be an ordinary life. Realistically, ordinary was now forever off the agenda. I wonder if she ever sensed the loss of that?
Mary’s default is trust and faith. Quite remarkable really, considering all that lay ahead. Ah, but that is what she didn’t know. At this early stage she says with remarkable calm: "I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said."(v38)
Is it the right answer? At this stage, all we can say is: “Who knows. We shall see…”
Blessings or burdens
Let’s ask this question: Was Mary’s call a blessing or a burden? We can filter the question through several bible passages that mention Mary.
There is the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:7-20)
You know the story well. Mary and Joseph have to go for the census in Joseph’s hometown, Bethlehem. There is no room for them there and the child is born in a stable. It’s fair to fit this all into the high anxiety zone. Be practical for a moment. Both infant and maternal mortality rates were dramatically higher than they are today. Add to this the journey on a donkey in late pregnancy, lack of proper shelter during childbirth, and no local support. Well, clearly this was a high risk pregnancy!
But you know what? It seems like it went OK (true, I write this as a mere male looking simply at the outcome). Both mother and child are fine. And after all that dread and fearfulness, you can imagine the delight after the birth takes place. To add to it all, a group of shepherds pop in and report that a choir of angels was singing in ecstatic delight because this child had been born. That would have been more than a little bit special, don’t you think?
Was this a blessing or burden?
Was this a blessing or burden? I'd put this experience in the blessing basket. It must have been so exciting, overwhelming even. Luke 2:19 tells us that after the shepherds left, Mary treasured all these things in her heart. Was she thinking: "Just wait tell I’m home and tell this to mom and the family. This has been such a special day. A happy, happy day."
Eight days later Mary and Joseph go to dedicate Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem. There they encounter Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:21-38).
They made a modest offering at the temple—a pair of doves, a concessional offering for those who couldn’t afford more, perhaps suggesting that Joseph was not a super successful craftsman (see Leviticus 12:8 and Luke 2:22-24). While there they bump into Simeon, a godly man, who glorifies God for sending the Messiah, but ominously predicts that he will be a sign that is spoken against and then, fixing his gaze on Mary, he says: "And a sword will pierce your own soul to" (35). Oh my… I have enough of an imagination to know that would have unsettled me. How do you just shrug that off?
Was Simeon passing on a blessing or a burden? Wouldn’t you have asked, "What did he mean when he said a sword will pierce my own soul? How... why?" Clearly Mary remembers these words and they are etched within her, for only she could have told the story to the gospel writers, and it is decades later when she tells it. They must have impacted her deeply.
A while later, there is the visit of wise men and a dream (Matthew 2:1-15).
While the visit of the wise men would have been welcome, and the gifts they brought even more so, they alert the local king, Herod the Great, to the birth of the Messiah. Herod can’t bear the thought of any alternate king. If those wise men had been a little wiser they would have listened to some of the local gossip. Why did they allow their news to be shared with Herod? Hadn’t they heard that it was commonly said that it was "safer to be Herod’s pig than to be Herod’s son"? He was one of those paranoid despots who killed at whim. What were the wise men thinking in bringing him into the conversation?
I expect you remember the story. Joseph is warned in a dream to flee to Egypt and to do so immediately. They escape at night and soon afterwards Herod’s cronies kill all the male babies in the area. Mary, Joseph and Jesus stay as refugees in Egypt until the threat has past, probably 2 or 3 years.
When has it ever been fun to be a refugee?
So was the angel’s visit a blessing or burden? What do you think? When has it ever been fun to be a refugee? And what about the senseless killing of the babies in Bethlehem? What must those parents have felt? Those would have been tough years. Very tough years.
The years pass. The child grows. Joseph dies, and Jesus begins his ministry. John 2: 1-11 records the first miracle of Jesus, when he turns water into wine at a wedding where the thirst of the crowd had been underestimated. If you read the account, you find it’s a proud mother miracle. Seeing a problem was emerging, Mary tells the waiters, "Do whatever he (Jesus) tells you." Mary is confident that Jesus can do something miraculous. Jesus is less pleased.
Unlike Mary, he realises that this will give his ministry a public face that can’t be backed away from. In verse 4 he objects, "My time has not yet come." Realistically Mary was being a little pushy, but this was a relaxed Mary. With her family around her, she felt confident it would be OK to get Jesus to do the remarkable. Did she ever look back and wish she had delayed for a few years? Why was she in such a rush to get his public ministry underway? Had she forgotten Simeon’s warning?
Jesus’ ministry takes off and Mark 3:20-31 provides an intriguing snapshot of some of the angst within his family. This is a perplexing passage and verse 31 makes it clear his mother was very much part of it. As Jesus’ ministry is getting underway and large crowds are gathering, his family try and take him away saying, "He is out of his mind" (v21).
This is getting out of hand.
It’s a hotly debated passage. What does it mean? They probably don’t mean "he is mad", but that this is getting out of hand. He is getting noticed, and with Roman occupation, no good thing came from getting noticed. Though Jesus’ brothers say "he is mad", I think the intent behind it is, "the attention he is getting is frightening us. We don’t know where it will lead, but it won’t be good." And of course they were right! Jesus faces one death threat after another. It might have been early in his ministry, but they are already sensing Calvary.
Mary, do you remember Simeon saying "a sword will pierce your own heart"? Are you feeling it now? Is it sinking in and making you afraid? Are you asking: "Where will this lead?" Are you seeing the shadow of a Cross in the distance?
If you aked Mary then if the angel’s visit was a blessing or a burden I think she would have looked at you and said simply, “I am so afraid… so afraid…”
Time marches along. John 19:25-27 records the ever haunting portrait of Mary standing near the cross of Jesus. Ah Simeon, you were right, you were right. He had said: "And a sword will pierce your own heart", and it did… it did.
Do you remember Jesus’ words: "Woman, here is your son." He is pointing to John, the beloved disciple. In other words, "I can’t look after you anymore, but John will. You have a new home."
And you can hear Mary say: "But I don’t want a new home and I don’t want a new son. I want you and I want the life we had, back in those carefree days at the wedding in Canaan, when the future seemed filled with promise… but now that sword has pierced my heart and it is all too much... it is too much."
The angel’s visit. Was it a blessing or a burden? Today it’s obvious. It’s a burden. A shattering burden. Her heart is broken, broken beyond the speaking of it. And now the story is over. The old enemy death chortles in delight. Dreams are cheap, and another one has just been shattered.
Except... Well, you know as well as I do. That wasn’t the end of the story. There is the resurrection, and ascension, and the birth of the Church, and Mary comes to be seen as the mother of the Church.
The angel’s visit. Blessing or burden? No longer do we need to say, “Who knows. We shall see.”
Burden or blessing? Blessing, blessing, blessing.
Saying yes to God is always good
All stories are interesting, but some are simply the stories of other people and have little to say to us. Is this in that category? I think not!
Like Mary, we never really know what we are signing up for when we say yes to God. And the journey that bold "yes" leads us on is likely to have many twists and turns. We might often question the wisdom of our decision. Perhaps if asked if we did the right thing we might agnostically say: “Who knows. We shall see.”
But I’d encourage you to be a little bolder. Saying "yes" to God is always the right decision, even if the current chapter makes that proposition sound improbable. Perhaps we can morph the farmers answer from "Who knows? We shall see", into "Who knows? We do!… For Christ has come, Christ has died, Christ has risen and Christ will come again."
Originally published by Brian Harris. Republished with permission.
Dr Brian Harris, is based in Perth Australia. After decades of church pastoring and 17 years leading a theological college, he now directs the Avenir Leadership Institute, a future-focused consultancy which helps to shape the kinds of leaders the world needs. Brian is the author of seven books, the latest of which are: Why Christianity is Probably True (Paternoster, 2020) and Stirrers and Saints: Forming Spiritual Leaders of Skill, Depth and Character (Paternoster, 2024).
