In Luke 1, verses 28-30, the angel Gabriel says to Mary: ‘Greetings, O favoured one, the Lord is with you! … Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.’

In Mary’s language it was probably: ‘Shalom (peace to you). God has chosen you. The Lord is with you. … Do not be afraid, you afflicted one. God is merciful to you.’

Mary first receives a promise from God. Her name is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Miriam, which means ‘bitterness’ or ‘affliction’.

As she has to register on the tax list in Bethlehem and had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem despite her pregnancy, she could have been an heiress daughter (Genesis 36:8). This means that Mary would have had no brothers and would have been the owner of a family property. Perhaps the parents gave their daughter the name Bitterness because the son they had hoped for, did not come.

It is precisely with a young woman who grows up in difficulties that God wants to write history. The message is: however difficult your life may be, God looks at your heart, not your circumstances (1 Samuel 16:7).