Betrothed

Now in the sixth month

the angel Gabriel was sent by God

to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

to a virgin betrothed to a man

whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.

The virgin's name was Mary.

Luke 1:26

I love the specificity of this verse! A specific angel was sent at a specific time to a specific place to a specific person with specific qualifications. God is always exact and intentional in fulfilling His plans. God had selected a young Jewish maiden named Mary, a virgin betrothed to a young Jewish man named Joseph. He had selected her to be the one who brought His Son into the world. In fact, there is a theological word for her that I really like. Mary is sometimes called the theotokos--God-bearer. Through these two people, God was bringing about the fulfillment of 4000 years of planning and prophecy.

Just to paint a clearer picture of what was happening at that moment in the lives, let me fill in some details for this story from what we know about 1st Century Jewish culture.

From the time a Jewish boy can talk, he is taught to memorize the Mosaic Law. His mother will have him play repeat-after-me, and each time he does it correctly, she places a drop of honey on his tongue. Such a sweet treat encourages him to get it right. He is taught to kiss his fingertips and touch the mezzuzah which hangs on the doorpost of their house--the little scroll holding a significant Scripture. For seven years he is schooled at the local synagogue in the law, and at twelve he becomes a son of the law--which is the meaning of bar mitzvah. If he shows no aptitude to become a master teacher of the law, he is apprenticed to a craftsman for a period of six or seven years, learning a trade so that he can support a wife and family. And at about age nineteen, he is ready for marriage.

He looks among the young girls at hand who have reached a marriageable age of about fourteen or fifteen, and, finding one with qualities he finds admirable, initiates the process of making her his wife. First his father approaches her father to discuss her availability. Then the prospective bridegroom meets with her father and brothers to negotiate a contract, the ketubah, which delineates the rights of the bride and what she can expect from her husband. Next the bridegroom arrives at her door with the bride-price in hand, along with wine and ring, and she is given the choice to accept or reject his proposal. If she accepts, the ring is placed on her finger; they share wine from the same vessel; and a shofar is blown to announce the betrothal. At that moment they are legally married; only a bill of divorcement can separate them.

The groom departs to his father's house with the promise that he goes to prepare a place for her, and that when he is finished he will come again and take her to himself as wife. A separation of nine to twelve months is usually observed while both the place and the bride are prepared for the union. The groom sends his friend as a go-between messenger to keep her informed about his progress and encouraged about his return.

In the meantime, the bride enters a mikvah, a ritual baptism referred to as sanctification. She chooses ten young girls to be her bridesmaids, and they spend alot of time assisting her in her wedding preparations. She keeps her bags packed and a lamp burning in the window, just in case he comes for her during the night and needs to know which house to enter. The bridesmaids keep her encouraged about the approaching wedding, constantly soliciting her love for her beloved or reminding her of what she has told them before. And everyone awaits the day when the father of the bridegroom inspects the place that is being prepared and says to his son, "Go get your bride!"

On that day, the shofar is blown again; it's called the last trump, and it announces to the neighbors that it is time to put on their wedding garments and come for the feast. The groom runs to the house of his bride, her name on his lips while his friend runs on ahead with the cry, "The bridegroom is coming!" When she hears the trump and the shout, she is supposed to ready herself with her wedding garment, place her light in the window and wait to be caught away to the huppah, the place of consummation that has been prepared for her.

We can imagine that it is in the midst of those preparations--the bridegroom at his father's house and the bride at her father's house--that Gabriel comes to Mary with some magnificent news.