MARY WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO ACCEPT JESUS ON HIS OWN TERMS, REGARDLESS OF THE PERSONAL COST.

In a closely knit Jewish community in the 1st century, the news an angel brought could not have been entirely welcome. The law regarded a betrothed woman who became pregnant as an adulteress, subject to death by stoning.

Matthew tells of Joseph agreeing to divorce Mary in private rather than press charges, until an angel shows up to correct his perception of betrayl. Luke tells of a tremulous Mary hurrying off to the one person who could possibly understand what she  was going through - her relative Elizabeth, who miraculously got pregnant in old age after another angelic annunciation. Elizabeth believes Mary and shares her joy, and yet the scene poignantly highlights the contrast between the two women: the whole countryside is talking about Elizabeth's healed womb even as Mary must hide the shame of her own miracle.

In a few months, the birth of John the Baptist took place amid great fanfare, complete with midwives, doting relatives, and the traditional village chorus celebrating the birth of a Jewish male. Six months later, Jesus was born far from home, with no midwife, extended family, or village chorus present. A male head of household would have sufficed for the Roman census; did Joseph drag his pregnant wife along to Bethlehem in order to spare her the ignomity of childbirth in her home village?

God arranged the most humiliating  circumstances possible for His entrance, as if to avoid any charge of favoritism: small towns do not treat kindly young boys who grow up with questionable paternity... Often a work of God comes with two edges, great joy and great pain, and Mary embraced both. She was the first person to accept Jesus on His own terms, regardless of the personal cost ( Philip Yancey).