“…Let
it be” (Luke 1:38)
READINGS (COI & paired as between the
Gospel and the Old Testament readings)
(Year B: Fourth Sunday of Advent 20th
December 2020)
‘Is he still
coming?’ the child asks in the TV Christmas advert for a supermarket. The
awaited person is grandad (playing on the expectation that the audience thinks
it is santa at first). Is there a
possibility that we, as adults, could rekindle something of that childlike (not
childish) hope and excitement at the coming of our baby saviour on Christmas
Day? We are so close to that Day. We are
in the company of Mary and Jesus and Joseph. However, for now, Mary is to the
fore. Her ‘yes’ is our ‘yes’ and her questioning is our questioning.
We can be sure of one thing: God.
Everything else is tentative.
Let’s walk through the story especially
from Mary’s perspective as she recounted it to others (including, possibly,
Luke?).
26-27:
An angel arrives
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
The opening lines of this passage conveys a
lot of information. Mary and Joseph are named including Gabriel (literally
meaning ‘God is my strength). Joseph is not some bystander of little
consequence. The lineage (important to Jewish readers) is that of the house of
David. The timing and location are
precise – ‘the sixth month’ and a little town called Nazareth in the hill
country of Galilee in the far north of Palestine south of Lebanon and Syria.
Where did the incarnation event happen? It
happened in an insignificant town that anybody of significance knew nothing about
and was never mentioned in the Old Testament or by the historian Josephus. The place may have been despised by
Palestinians and, based on the account in Luke
4:23-30, was inhabited by not a few jealous and vicious-minded persons.
The sending of the angel Gabriel is at a
definite moment in time and place to a special woman. The great event of the
in-carnation is set in-time and in-space.
28-29:
A greeting and an anxious response
And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.Even Mary who trusted God in all things was perplexed. She lived in trust and care for others including her cousin Elizabeth.
30:
Do not be afraid!
The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid,
Mary, for you have found favour with God.
Mary was perplexed at this unexpected and
very unusual development. What could it mean? The angel Gabriel urges her to
not be afraid. For Mary has found favour with God who is with her. Fear can
paralyse our thinking and behaviour. We can discover new life when we let go of
fear and embrace uncertainty in the trust that we have found favour with God
because we His children.
31:
Jesus
And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.
The name of Jesus reveals the essential.
The one who is conceived and is to come is the one who saves. Jeshua
(he-who-saves), Jesus, is coming to save, to redeem, to restore, to unite and
to reconcile
32-33:
This is no ordinary saviour or leader
‘He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’
Expressed in terms and concepts that had a
special resonance for a Jewish people, Mary is left in no doubt that the one
who is conceived within her is destined to accomplish great things that will
impact on everyone born and yet to be born. Do we know what possibilities are
contained in the smallest of ‘yeses’ and the smallest and most humble of
beginnings? In becoming flesh, God became not just an adult human being but an
unborn child and a foetus. This hard to
imagine or get our heads around but the message of Jesus Christ is always
radical, new and surprising.
34-35:
How can this be?
Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.
There is much in our faith and discipleship
that is difficult to understand and even, sometimes, accept. We might call out ‘how can this be?’. Mary was not afraid to question and to wonder
and to struggle. In his response, the
angel assures her of the overwhelming power and possibilities in God ‘the Most
High’. We may not understand how or when or why but we can rest our weary heads
and hearts in that space afforded by a quiet trusting and assurance of things
unseen and yet hoped for.
The specific role of the Holy Spirit (the
Holy Breath or Ruach in Hebrew) is
central to the Annunciation in Luke. The Holy
Ruach was hovering over the waters at the dawn of creation (Genesis 1:2)
just as She (the word is feminine in the Hebrew) covered Mary at the moment of
In-Carnation – the becoming flesh of God.
We may note that God became flesh not at the birth of Jesus which we
celebrate this Christmas but at the moment of conception of Jesus. Hence, the liturgical calendar marks the
incarnation on the 25th March.
36-37:
All things are possible
And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’
With echoes of Jeremiah
32:27 (‘See, I am the Lord, the
God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me?‘), the Angel reassures Mary.
What we imagine to be impossible or inconsistent is possible in the greater
plan of God. The Holy Spirit is key to that trusting which opens gates, melts
stubborn hearts and sets the world on fire.
38:
Fiat
Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.
Mary let the holy spirit do her work in the
depths of her heart. Her yes, her ‘fiat’ opened the gates of heaven that God
could become one of us and we could become fully alive in God. Note that Luke
does not tell us that Mary went away to consider the matter or that she
consulted the village wise-men or kindred. It is not clear what advice might
have ensued! ‘Take your time’, ‘Are you
sure it was an angel?’, ‘How do you know that it might have been an angel of
darkness disguised in light?’, ‘What will Joseph, the neighbours and cousins
think?’ or ‘This could land you in big trouble for the rest of your life’.
Its all very well for us to sit back and
say ‘Mary had no option’ or, perhaps, ‘Mary found it easy to say yes because
she was not weak and fragile like one of us’. The reality is that she could
have said ‘no’ and in saying ‘yes’ it cost her and Joseph and the wider family.
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