Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, December 22, 2025
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary.’ This passage begins identically to a similar passage earlier in Luke 1 about Zechariah and the birth of John the Baptist. (Luke often puts two similar stories together in his text, one centering a man and the other centering a woman. These two passages begin that pattern.) Like Zechariah, Mary had good reason to be afraid. This was an angel after all. But unlike Zechariah, Mary had an even more profound reason to be afraid. Even though the angel’s admonition to not be afraid was followed by what appeared to be good news, the social norms of the day made that good news far more frightening than just the appearance of an angel.
Mary, an unmarried woman, was being told to carry an illegitimate child. Unlike Zechariah, a man of privilege who was married to the woman who was giving birth to his heir, Mary was a second class citizen held to an entirely different standard than her counterpart in these passages. Women had no power and no value except as married producers of children. Doing what God—who called it “good news”—was asking meant risking her reputation, her entire future, and even her very life.
Miraculously, Mary said, “Yes.” Her faith in her God who keeps promises far outweighed any fear of the human culture she knew to be corrupt and unjust (as you will see when you read her Magnificat in a couple of days). She is an astonishing example to all of us who are called to do the often frightening work of God in the world.
What is the hardest thing I have ever felt called to do?
