I often think when I read the Nativity Story that if I was living in those times and an Angel of the Lord appeared to me and asked of me what he did of Mary and Joseph...would I have said "Yes" like they did. Now days being pregnant before marriage...and even having a baby without being married seem to be no big deal. But back then it was an entirely different story...with fatal consequences most of the time for the unmarried woman carrying a child. Would you tell that Angel yes right away like Mary did, or would you tell the Angel you needed time to think about what was being asked of you, etc? Joseph had just as many hard decisions to make as Mary did back then. So whether you are a "Mary" or a "Joseph"...if you had found yourself walking in their shoes back then...would you have made the same decisions they did, or a completely different one? I'm going to be honest here and tell you that even though I love God and Jesus I would probably have asked the Angel if I could talk it over with Joseph first to see if he was going to stand by my side through the "thick and thin" of everything. Then again I have always said if I KNEW God was asking something of me...then I could not say "No" to Him. But I still think I would have wanted to talk to Joseph about everything before saying "Yes" because my decision would affect his life too. If the Angel would have told me that I could not talk to Joseph first but just had to trust God and give Him my answer...I can honestly say I don't know what my answer would have been. But I hope it would have been "Yes" just like Mary said.
If I saw an angel I would think I was hallucinating. I wouldn't think it was real and I'd be worried I'm losing my mind. Lots of people even now say that God or Satan told them to kill someone and thats why they did it...most are mentally ill.
Also, I don't want to upset you but if I was Mary and married to Joseph and got pregnant and it wasn't his baby, I might use an excuse like an angel came to me and said.... My belief is that Mary and Joseph had a child named Jesus. He was a great guy.
No one will upset me with their answers...but just remember I said if you lived back then. So don't think of living in today's time period when you answer this question.
I've been mislead - I thought she was told this was how it was to be Oh I don't know, I'm definitely not as clued up as I used to be. Don't retain info anymore @Babs Hunt
Nobody would really care today if Mary got pregnant before she married or not in today's world. And neither Mary or Joseph told everyone it was God's child she was having.
I'm not either...all my religious education stopped after my few years in a catholic school. I did go to once a week catechism classes until high school though. We're not a very religious family, even the ones that do go to a church. Only going through the motions really and that's how my parents were also. Our way is to have our child go through the lessons and then when they're 18 make a decision for themselves on what they believe or don't believe.
No Patsy you have not been mislead. The Angel of the Lord did come to Mary and explain how God favored her and what He was going to do. But her answer to the Angel saying: "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be done to me according to your word." shows that Mary said "Yes" to what God had planned for her. She could have just as easily said that she was sorry but she didn't want this to happen to her...and just as God doesn't force anyone to believe in Him now...He wouldn't have forced Mary to carry Jesus either.
No, I'm not assuming. All through the Bible God never forced His will on anyone but the free will He gave them let them choose to believe or not, etc. Even Jesus was free to decide to die on that Cross for our sins, or not to do it.
Maybe the Bible left out the parts were he forced his will. We weren't there when it was orginally written so nothing is 100% accurate or even translated accurately.