Luke 1:26-38 gives an account of the announcement of the birth of Jesus. The story is unique to Luke.
I begin with some theological reflections. Luke is aware of a tendency in early Christian devotion to compare the conception of Jesus to annunciation patterns in the Old Testament, combining these traditions with the idea of a virginal conception while the parents of Mary and Joseph contracted their marriage. Luke has carefully structured this chapter in a way that makes it clear that Jesus is superior to John the Baptist.[1] The birth of Jesus according to the evangelist Luke is part of the larger Lukan narrative containing the foretelling, birth, and childhood of Jesus. It extends from the angel Gabriel's annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist in 1:5-25 (following a preface to Luke's gospel in 1:1-4) to Jesus' self-pronouncement of his mission in 2:41-52, on the eve of his adult life and ministry. This large narrative sequence shares many elements with the evangelist Matthew's account of the same period in Jesus' life (see Matthew 1:18-25), with considerable attention paid to Mary, Jesus' mother, who is, for Luke, an Antiochene physician, was the exemplary believer in God's promises and power to work wonders in impossible circumstances. Mary was willing to serve God as God had called her to do. In this, she is a model for all those servant believers whom God has called. Mary would receive a blessing for it (see 1:45 and 1:48). Jesus said that we would share in this blessing (Luke 11:27-28).
Yet, God stands at the beginning of the life of this man, Jesus.[2] Throughout this account, Luke draws our attention toward Christ. We must never forget the amazing feature of this message.
"Our Muslim brothers and sisters do not believe that God would so lower himself because 'Allah Akbar,' God is great, and would not demean himself to be an ordinary human being. "But Christian Faith believes that precisely because God is so great, he shows his greatness in this great Christmas act of humility and condescension ... by becoming one of us and even going to the ... extent of dying for us as a common criminal."[3]
"The Annunciation" is one of the most important and most succinct statements in the New Testament about the identity and nature of Jesus Christ. It marks the first event in the lives of Mary and Joseph that will lead directly to the birth of their son, the Savior, the one who brings God and humanity face-to-face. Many scholars would suggest that his passage is an etiology of divine sonship. It offers a basis for something already known, namely, that Jesus is the Son of God. The story presupposes the title “Son of God” for the promised child. The filial relation of Jesus to the Father is one that Luke legitimately traces back to his conception and birth. One can do so, however, only from the perspective of what one already knows through the revelation of God in the Easter event.[4] In the power of the Spirit, he was the Son of God from his birth, which is the special point of this passage. Only from this perspective does Luke have so much to say about Mary. Because of whom Jesus is Mary rightly receives honor as the “mother of God” in the Council of Ephesus (431). This statement about Mary became ecumenically binding, confirming belief in the Incarnation of the Son.[5] A shift takes place from the views of Paul in Romans and Galatians and the view of Luke.[6] Luke links the birth of the Baptist with that of Jesus. God sent Gabriel (1:19), a pattern we find in the Old Testament with Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 18:11), the parents of Samson (Judges 13:4-5), Elkanah and Hannah (I Samuel 1-2), and others. The angel goes to a specific place, Nazareth, an insignificant town in Galilee of about 150 people, contrasting sharply with the announcement of the birth of the Baptist in the precincts of the Temple. The prominence of Nazareth in the early life of Jesus is unexpected and remarkable, given it receives no mention in the Old Testament, Talmud, Midrash, or Josephus. Its identification here is a mark of the precision of Luke as an historian. The divine use made of improbable circumstances for world-transforming purposes is a biblical theme into which the origin of Jesus in Nazareth fits. We have a time and place in our time, and Luke continues the identification with a person, the virgin Mary, denoting both her youth and her unmarried state. Luke is emphasizing the miraculous nature of the birth of Jesus, placing Jesus in the long tradition of miraculous births of important Old Testament figures. While scholars will point to other contemporary pagan stories of virgin births, Luke makes it clear that he has no interest in giving an account of just another heroic world leader. In Jesus' case, however, the evangelist has preserved what must certainly be a remarkable historical datum, which is the embarrassing fact of Mary's premarital pregnancy. Given the religious and cultural context in which the evangelist was writing, in which premarital pregnancy bore a far greater stigma than it bears in modern times, Mary's unexpected pregnancy would have been a disastrous obstacle for an evangelist attempting to assemble an apologia of respectability for the long-awaited Messiah. Premarital conception bore a heavy penalty among Jews in the Greco-Roman world. Further, her parents negotiated the betrothal of their daughter to Joseph. Mary would have been about twelve, the engagement lasting about a year. Luke again draws a contrast with the Baptist, as John was of priestly descent, but Jesus was of royal descent. Gabriel greets her as the favored one and that the Lord is with her, but Mary is perplexed, so the angel calms her down and informs her that she has found favor with God. The emphasis shifts to the child she will conceive, a son, whom she will name Jesus, Joshua in Hebrew, which means, “the Lord saves.” This child will be great, the Son of the Most High, as the Lord gives to him the throne of his ancestor David, reigning over the House of Jacob forever. The heritage of Jesus brings to life the ancient messianic promises made to David by Nathan in II Samuel 7:14, 16, where the Lord will be a father to his descendant and his descendant will be a son to the Lord. Further, the Lord promises the firmness of the kingdom and house of David before the Lord forever and his throne established forever. Such promises to David in the Old Testament are the biblical basis for stating that Jesus is king as well as prophet and priest in the Christian tradition of the offices of Christ. Yet, Luke is not just restating promises from the past, but lifting them into a new revelation of the divine promise in the Son, [7] and of his kingdom there will be no end. In I Corinthians 15:28, the Son will hand over the kingdom to the Father, so that God may be all in all. The lordship of the Son is nothing other than proclaiming the lordship of the Father.[8] In that sense, the Father consummates the lordship of the Son when all creation honors the Father. Thus, we can see here the profound Christological reflection of Luke. Continuing the emphasis upon the child, Mary asks how this can happen, since she is a virgin. In Gabriel responding that the Holy Spirit come upon her, identifying the Spirit with the power of the Most High overshadowing her. Divine sonship has its origin in the presence and working of the Spirit within him, tracing that connection to his birth.[9] We can see the unique relation of Son and Spirit. This unique relation is a miraculous sign of the mystery that Jesus fulfills the Jewish Messianic hopes of his divine role as Son. The relationship of this man to the Holy Spirit is so close that he owes his existence to the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, the Spirit is the creative movement of God in the world, and certainly is so in the origin of Jesus.[10] Given this origin of the Son, the child will be holy and the Son of God. The Holy Spirit is the force that will make the birth possible. Like the baptism of Jesus, this story affirms that the man Jesus of Nazareth is the Son by virtue of the descent of the Spirit. The Son takes within the divine self that which is genuinely other, humanity. The Holy Spirit brings human existence into unity with God in the mode of being of the Logos, to use the terminology of the Gospel of John. This flesh is also divine, in fellowship with the divine, and in unity with God. This flesh is the Logos, the Word that becomes human. All of this is the work of the Holy Spirit.[11] Gabriel informs Mary of the pregnancy of Elizabeth, proof of the divine promise to both, for nothing is impossible with God. The response of Mary is simple, as she becomes the model disciple: Here I am, the servant of the Lord, so let it be with me according to your word. Only then does the angel depart. She unhesitatingly listens and serves. There was much that Mary did not know about how this child would change her life, including the suffering through which she must live. She did know she was a servant of the Lord. She opens herself to what the angel has said and demonstrates her obedience to the purpose of God. There is a miraculous dimension of her willingness to embrace this promise and believe. Her faith in the power of God is an example of accepting trust. Mary becomes the first disciple. With this response, Mary is the first disciple in this gospel. God places the divine plan of salvation into human hands. In that sense, the divine plan required the cooperation of Mary and, eventually, the disciples as the remnant of the Jews who accepted the message that Jesus fulfilled Jewish messianic hopes.[12] Mary becomes an example for all future disciples to follow. Before Luke focuses on Jesus, he pauses to invite us to look upon the obedience and favored status of Mary.
I now offer some exegetical and homiletical reflections.
Some think that it has strong “Jewish -Christian” overtones. Raymond Brown argues against such a source. Rather, he argues that Luke was aware of tendency in early Christian tradition to compare the conception of Jesus to the Old Testament salvific figures using an annunciation pattern. Combined with that was the idea of a virginal conception that took place while the parents of Mary and Joseph contracted their marriage. Luke has carefully structured this chapter in a way that makes it clear that Jesus is superior to John the Baptist.[13]
The birth of Jesus according to the evangelist Luke is part of the larger Lukan narrative containing the foretelling, birth, and childhood of Jesus. It extends from the angel Gabriel's annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist in 1:5-25 (following a preface to Luke's gospel in 1:1-4) to Jesus' self-pronouncement of his mission in 2:41-52, on the eve of his adult life and ministry. This large narrative sequence shares many elements with the evangelist Matthew's account of the same period in Jesus' life (see Matthew 1:18-25), with considerable attention paid to Mary, Jesus' mother, who is, for Luke, an Antiochene physician, was the exemplary believer in God's promises and power to work wonders in impossible circumstances. Mary was willing to serve God as God had called her to do. In this, she is a model for all those servant believers whom God has called. Mary would receive a blessing for it (see 1:45 and 1:48). Jesus said that we would share in this blessing (Luke 11:27-28).
Yet, God stands at the beginning of the life of this man, Jesus.[14] Throughout this account, Luke draws our attention toward Christ. We must never forget the amazing feature of this message.
"Our Muslim brothers and sisters do not believe that God would so lower himself because 'Allah Akbar,' God is great, and would not demean himself to be an ordinary human being. "But Christian Faith believes that precisely because God is so great, he shows his greatness in this great Christmas act of humility and condescension ... by becoming one of us and even going to the ... extent of dying for us as a common criminal."[15]
"The Annunciation" is one of the most important and most succinct statements in the New Testament about the identity and nature of Jesus Christ. It marks the first event in the lives of Mary and Joseph that will lead directly to the birth of their son, the Savior, the one who brings God and humanity face-to-face. Many scholars would suggest that his passage is an etiology of divine sonship. It offers a basis for something already known, namely, that Jesus is the Son of God. The story presupposes the title “Son of God” for the promised child. The filial relation of Jesus to the Father is one that Luke legitimately traces back to his conception and birth. One can do so, however, only from the perspective of what one already knows through the revelation of God in the Easter event.[16] In the power of the Spirit, he was the Son of God from his birth, which is the special point of this passage. Only from this perspective does Luke have so much to say about Mary. Because of whom Jesus is Mary rightly receives honor as the “mother of God” in the Council of Ephesus (431). This statement about Mary became ecumenically binding, confirming belief in the Incarnation of the Son.[17] A shift takes place from the views of Paul in Romans and Galatians and the view of Luke.[18]
Why did God choose Mary? Why does God choose us? We do not know, but we honor God and open ourselves to God’s good news when we willingly say “yes” (or even “okay”) to God. While the rest of us cannot be the mother of the Son of God, God does invite us to serve God according to how God calls us. We, too, may willingly “carry” the Christ child to the world, that the world might receive the gift of reconciliation to God (see II Corinthians 5:17-21).
Luke begins with the circumstances of the announcement to Mary. Inevitably, he begins with drawing our attention to Mary. 26 In the sixth month of the pregnancy of Elizabeth is the date in the history of this event. Luke is linking these two births. The angel Gabriel (see 1:19) was sent by God, also appears to Zechariah in answer to prayer and a reward for their exemplary piety. Such a pattern is one we find in the Old Testament with Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 18:11), the parents of Samson (Judges 13:4-5), Elkanah and Hannah (I Samuel 1-2), and others. The angel Gabriel (“mighty one of El/God” or “El/God is mighty” or even, perhaps, “El/God is my warrior”) appears first in the Bible as a human being envisioned by the seer Daniel (Daniel 8:15-17, 9:12, 22), who deciphers the visions Daniel sees of the end-time day of judgment. In extra- and post-biblical texts (e.g., 1 Enoch 40:3, 9:1; 2 Enoch 24:1; Targum on Genesis 37:15, Deuteronomy. 34:6, etc.), Gabriel assumes a greater importance than he has in the Bible itself. The angel announced the birth of Jesus in a specific place, to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, an insignificant village of perhaps 150 people. The announcement of the birth of the Baptist occurs in the distinguished precincts of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Gospels admit that prominence of Nazareth in the life and ministry of Jesus is both unexpected and remarkable. The town receives no mention in the Old Testament, Talmud, Midrash, or Josephus. Its identification here is a mark of the precision of Luke as an historian. The divine use made of improbable circumstances for world-transforming purposes is a biblical theme into which the origin of Jesus in Nazareth fits. We have a time and place in our time, and Luke continues the identification with a person, 27 to a virgin (παρθένον) engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s (παρθένου) name was Mary. The term "virgin" denotes both Mary's youth and her unmarried state; in this context, it denotes, by extension, her sexually inexperienced state. (The history of the term, from its Semitic roots, reveals a progression to this meaning. In its earliest occurrences, the word simply denoted a young woman; in the Ugaritic mythological texts, for instance, the word btlt, the Semitic equivalent of parqenos), is an epithet of the goddess Anat, who is unambiguously sexually active.) Luke's use of the term here emphasizes, of course, the miraculous nature of Jesus' birth, placing Jesus in the long tradition of miraculous births of important Old Testament figures. While scholars will point to other contemporary pagan stories of virgin births, Luke makes it clear that he has no interest in giving an account of just another heroic world leader. In Jesus' case, however, the evangelist has preserved what must certainly be a remarkable historical datum, which is the embarrassing fact of Mary's premarital pregnancy. Given the religious and cultural context in which the evangelist was writing, in which premarital pregnancy bore a far greater stigma than it bears in modern times, Mary's unexpected pregnancy would have been a disastrous obstacle for an evangelist attempting to assemble an apologia of respectability for the long-awaited Messiah. Premarital conception bore a heavy penalty among Jews in the Greco-Roman world.
Carlo Caretto, a Roman Catholic priest, lived among the Arabs. He was working as a meteorologist in the area. In this way, he could unite his daily tasks with huge silences and lengthy periods of prayer. He was particularly fond of the Tuaregs who lived in tents. As he traveled, he would often stay with them after he finished his work. Quite by chance, he discovered a girl in the camp betrothed to a boy in another camp. She had not gone to live with him because she was too young. In his mind, he linked this with the betrothal of Mary and Joseph in our text. Two years later, he returned to the camp. Wanting to make conversation, he asked if the marriage had taken place. There was an awkward silence. People were embarrassed. He did not pursue the subject then, but later that night he asked one of the servants of the chief the reason for the silence. The servant looked cautiously around. He trusted Carretto as a man of God, so he trusted him with the answer. The servant made a well-known Arab sign, passing his hand under his chin, indicating that someone had cut her throat. The reason? Before the wedding, someone discovered the pregnancy of the girl. The honor of the betrayed family required this sacrifice. They killed her because she was not faithful to her future husband.[19] I share this with you because times have changed so much. Yet, among some tribes in the Middle East, such honor killings remain acceptable. We forget what a risk Mary took to become a disciple of the Lord at this early stage.
Further, her parents negotiated the betrothal of their daughter to Joseph. Mary would have been about twelve, the engagement lasting about a year. Luke again draws a contrast with the Baptist, as John was of priestly descent, but Jesus was of royal descent. 28 And he (Gabriel) came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, Gabriel calming Mary with the traditional language of angelic reassurance, Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God.
Karl Barth wants to insist that this story is not a statement about the one who was, is and will be the Son of God as to how, but rather, the way, in which the Son became a human being. For him, the New Testament and responsible theology avoids myth at this point. The Holy Spirit is not the divine Father of the man Jesus. The Son becomes a human being in this way. God could have acted in other ways. However, God chose this way. The virgin birth is the sign that accompanies the mystery of the Incarnation. God stands at the beginning of this man, Jesus. God gives to Mary the capacity to be the mother of this Son. God makes the divine Son the Son of Mary. God gives to her what she could not procure for herself.[20]
The emphasis in the story shifts to the child of Mary. We will note the heightened Christology of these verses. Gabriel then affirms, 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. Joshua in Hebrew, which means, “The Lord saves.” As Christians sing at Advent and Christmas:
“Good Christian friends rejoice,
with heart, and soul, and voice;
Now ye need not fear the grave:
Jesus Christ was born to save!”
Gabriel continues that 32 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. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. The heritage of Jesus brings to life the ancient messianic promises made to David by Nathan in II Samuel 7:14, 16, where the Lord will be a father to his descendant and his descendant will be a son to the Lord. Further, the Lord promises the firmness of the kingdom and house of David before the Lord forever and his throne established forever. Such promises to David in the Old Testament are the biblical basis for stating that Jesus is king as well as prophet and priest in the Christian tradition of the offices of Christ. Yet, Luke is not just restating promises from the past, but lifting them into a new revelation of the divine promise in the Son. [21] Further, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” In I Corinthians 15:28, the Son will hand over the kingdom to the Father, so that God may be all in all. The lordship of the Son is nothing other than proclaiming the lordship of the Father.[22] In that sense, the Father consummates the lordship of the Son when all creation honors the Father. Thus, we can see here the profound Christological reflection of Luke.
Luke continues his emphasis upon Christ. 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” We should never be afraid of our questions regarding what God is doing in our lives. Is there a simpler account behind Luke that erases such an affirmation by Mary and thus permits conception through Joseph? It would simply mean that an act of God occurred through Joseph rather than apart from him. Such an approach to the childhood of Jesus assumes it makes the events and patterns of the narrative clearer without the birth through a virgin. [23] 35The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Divine sonship has its origin in the presence and working of the Spirit within him, tracing that connection to his birth.[24] We can see the unique relation of Son and Spirit. This unique relation is a miraculous sign of the mystery that Jesus fulfills the Jewish Messianic hopes of his divine role as Son. The relationship of this man to the Holy Spirit is so close that he owes his existence to the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, the Spirit is the creative movement of God in the world, and certainly is so in the origin of Jesus.[25] C.S. Lewis expresses this loving scandal beautifully:
Did you ever think, when you were a child, what fun it would be if your toys could come to life? Well, suppose you could really have brought them to life. Imagine turning a tin soldier into a real little man. It would involve turning the tin into flesh. And suppose the tin soldier did not like it. He is not interested in the flesh; all he sees is that the tin is being spoiled. He thinks you are killing him. He will do everything he can do to prevent you. He will not be made into a man if he can help it.
What you would have done about that tin soldier I do not know. But what God did about us was this. The Second person in God, the Son, became human Himself: was born into the world as an actual man - a real man of a particular height, with hair of a particular color, speaking a particular language, weighing so many pounds. The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a fetus inside a Woman's body. If you want to get the hang of it, think of how you would like to become a slug or a crab.[26]
Therefore, the child will be holy. The child will be Son of God. The Holy Spirit is the force that will make the birth possible. Like the baptism of Jesus, this story affirms that the man Jesus of Nazareth is the Son by virtue of the descent of the Spirit. The Son takes within the divine self that which is genuinely other, humanity. The Holy Spirit brings human existence into unity with God in the mode of being of the Logos, to use the terminology of the Gospel of John. This flesh is also divine, in fellowship with the divine, and in unity with God. This flesh is the Logos, the Word that becomes human. All of this is the work of the Holy Spirit.[27]
The focus of Luke has been on the child of Mary, of course, but he does invite us to pause for a moment on what Mary does. Gabriel lets Mary know that 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. This information offers Mary proof of the promise to her by revealing the remarkable pregnancy of Elizabeth. Gabriel then affirms 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” The response of Mary is simple, 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then, finally, the angel departed from her. She is unhesitating in her willingness to serve or listen. Further, she opens herself to what the angel has said. She demonstrates her complete, unyielding obedience to the purposes of God.
Here is a book idea. Tillich wrote “Courage to Be” a study of autonomy. Today, we may need a new study, “Courage to Embrace” a study of affirmation and intimacy. In The Four Quartets, T.S. Eliot ponders the universal human vocation, one which Mary embraced at a critical point:
“... to apprehend
The point of intersection of the timeless
With time ...”
Martin Luther in one of his Christmas sermons said there were three miracles that occurred in Christ’s birth: God became human, a virgin conceived and Mary believed. For Luther, the greatest miracle was the third miracle, Mary believed.[28]She displays that faith in the power of God that rests not on understanding but on trust. In this stance of accepting trust, the unmarried and expectant maiden represented the highest form of faith for the writer of the gospel. Luke has set the stage for the birth of the one who trusted in his Father. Mary gives over the very essence of her being, makes herself a slave out of obedience to the divine will. Mary will live out her life in service to God. With this response, Mary is the first disciple in this gospel. God places the divine plan of salvation into human hands. In that sense, the divine plan required the cooperation of Mary and, eventually, the disciples as the remnant of the Jews who accepted the message that Jesus fulfilled Jewish messianic hopes.[29] Mary becomes an example for all future disciples to follow. Before Luke focuses on Jesus, he pauses to invite us to look upon the obedience and favored status of Mary. In this pause, Luke is unique, for Matthew will focus on Joseph, Mark on the coming of the Spirit at baptism, and John will reflect upon the pre-existent Logos. Luke has focused upon particulars like time, place, and the main actors in this drama.
Karl Barth will want to stress the theological point that humanity has not produced Jesus Christ as the realization of one of its possibilities. It has no cause to boast of Christ with others whom it considers its best. It was not itself the active subject in his becoming a human being. Humanity is not the guarantor of the divine Son. Thus, whether in the people of Israel, or specifically in Mary, they were simply there. To his mind, then, there was no cooperation or merit. Yet, in contrast to this view of Barth, is there any sense at all in which God placed the saving plan of God into human hands, and that it did require the “cooperation” of Mary and, eventually, the disciples and the “remnant” of Jews who accepted the message that Jesus fulfilled messianic hopes?[30]
Her miraculous conception through the power of the Holy Spirit, her obedience to the divine will, and her attentiveness to the divine message she receives, makes Mary the first disciple. In fact, Mary's response to all she hears makes her an example for all future disciples to follow. Protestant theology, on the other hand, has often seemed to look forward through these passages to focus instead on the result of Mary's visitation and obedience--the human birth of the Son of God, the arrival of Jesus Christ on Earth. Luke's text offers weight to both these foci. Clearly, the gospel writer wants to convey Jesus' divine origins and to emphasize the miraculous nature of his coming into our midst. Yet it is also true that Luke chose to look at Mary's obedience and her "favored" status--not at Joseph as did Matthew, or at the Spirit as did Mark, or at the pre-existent Word as did John--as the conduit God chose to play a part in this greatest chapter of salvation-history. In even a casual reading of Luke's gospel, it is evident that the saving action God is about to undertake through Mary as Luke announces in much the same way as the pronouncement made to Zechariah about John the Baptist's birth. Luke begins both by carefully noting such particulars as time, place and the histories of the main actors in these dramas. The fact that Luke presents the time of the announcement to Mary in terms of Elizabeth's already existing pregnancy further strengthens the connection between these two events. Instead of occurring in a distinguished location, such as the Jerusalem pronouncement of John's birth, Mary receives her astounding news in the dusty, insignificant location of Nazareth in Galilee. Yet, the place of the Annunciation reflects the location where much of Jesus' ministry will take place.
Karl Barth is well-known for his rejection of the Mariology trajectory of one part of Christian tradition. The New Testament, as do the Councils of Ephesus and Chacedon, take a Christological interest in the person of Mary. The Christmas story does so as well. He refers to Adolf Schlatter, who said that she is merely the “subsidiary figure of a servant.” Further, he asserts that one cannot legitimately gather from the scene between the angel Gabriel and the Virgin a single statement that does not point away from Mary and to Christ. In particular, he refers to 1:28, where he thinks so many Mariological speculations have begun, and against which he would offer stern warning.[31]
I want to focus our attention upon the insight of Mary as servant and offer a brief reflection.
Almost 40 years ago, songwriter Mark Lowry scribbled down some lyrics for a Christmas song about Mary, the mother of Jesus. After all, people were canting carols set in the bleak midwinter about herald angels singing from the realms of glory while shepherds watched their flocks by night, all seated on the ground. And, of course, about sweet, little Jesus born on this silent night. Few carols paid homage to the teenage girl who had a baby 2,000 years ago in a manger in the little town of Bethlehem, Judea.
The song that Lowry wrote reached Number 6 on CCM Magazine’s Adult Contemporary Chart. At the time, Lowry was with the Gaither Vocal Band, and he recorded his song on their 1998 Christmas album, Still the Greatest Story Ever Told. Today, the song has become a modern Christmas classic, recorded by hundreds of artists over the years, and different versions have periodically reached the top 10 in the Billboard R&B and Holiday charts.
His song consists of a series of questions.
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
That your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you’ve delivered
Will soon deliver you?
No, Mary did not know much about the path her son would take. In that, she was a lot like us. There is much uncertainty in our lives as well. There is much we do not know about how our beliefs and values might change over the years. She did not know how much suffering would become part of her life because of this child. Yet, she did know that she was a servant of the Lord, and she respond with faith to what the angel told her.
We find true joy in life when we discover that we are part a mighty purpose. We willingly exert great passion to be part of it. We refuse to be the selfish little clod of ailments and grievances in which we complain that the world will not devote itself to making us happy.[32] Such is our temptation, but we must reject it. We lead by serving and we serve by leading. Yet, we must also note the difference between servanthood and servitude.
• Servitude is imposed; servanthood is embraced.
• Servitude enslaves; servanthood emancipates.
• Servitude denigrates; servanthood uplifts.
• Servitude crushes; servanthood fulfills.
• Servitude despairs; servanthood rejoices![33]
We find here the key to Christmas joy. The little-known secret of Christmas is that our joy is full when we study and learn from Mary as servant, God as servant, Jesus as servant, and become servants ourselves. When we do, our joy will be full.
Working through ordinary people like Moses and Mary, [Archbishop Desmond] Tutu said, God can accomplish extraordinary things. Tutu drew laughter from the congregation as he reconstructed the exchange between the Angel Gabriel and Mary:
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
“Hello, Mary.”
“Hello.”
“I’m Gabriel, the archangel.”
Mm-hmm.
“God asks, ‘Will you be the mother of his Son’?”
And she says, “Whhh-what? You know in this village, you can’t scratch yourself without them knowing that you’ve done so, and you’re asking me to be what? An unmarried mother? No, no, no, no, no. I’m a decent girl. Try next door.”
“We would have been in a real pickle,” Tutu observed. “Mercifully for us, she said, ‘Behold, the handmaiden of the Lord.’ And God was able to accomplish a splendid work. The Incarnation could happen. Jesus could be born, and our salvation be set under way.
“For God, you are someone who is indispensable. There isn’t anyone quite like you. There isn’t anyone who can serve God quite like you. There isn’t anyone who can replace you. And God depends on you.
“There’s a story that we were told at one of the Lambeth Conferences a number of years ago,” Tutu continued, “of a Russian priest who was not very sophisticated, and a young, brash physicist rushed up to him and said, having trotted up all the normal arguments for atheism, this guy then says, ‘And therefore, I don’t believe in God!’
“And the little priest said, ‘It doesn’t matter. God believes in you.’
“God believes in you,” Tutu finished quietly. “God believes in you.”[34]
[1] Raymond Brown (Birth of the Messiah, 1977, 246)
[2] Barth (Church Dogmatics, IV.1 [59.1], 207)
[3] --Theologian F. Dale Bruner, cited in K. Connie Kang, "A Christmas story of the Incarnation," The Los Angeles Times, December 22, 2007, http://articles.latimes.com.
[4] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 366.
[5] Pannenberg Systematic Theology Volume 2, 317-8.
[6] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 302.
[7] (Birth of the Messiah, 1977, 309)
[8] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 1, 313, Volume 3, 608.
[9] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 1, 266-7, 316.
[10] Barth (Church Dogmatics, III.2 [46.1], 333)
[11] Barth (Church Dogmatics I.1 [12.2], 485)
[12] In contrast to the view of Barth (Church Dogmatics, IV.2 [64.2], 45)
[13] Raymond Brown (Birth of the Messiah, 1977, 246)
[14] Barth (Church Dogmatics, IV.1 [59.1], 207)
[15] --Theologian F. Dale Bruner, cited in K. Connie Kang, "A Christmas story of the Incarnation," The Los Angeles Times, December 22, 2007, http://articles.latimes.com.
[16] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 366.
[17] Pannenberg Systematic Theology Volume 2, 317-8.
[18] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 302.
[19]Story of Carlo Carretto, Blessed are you who Believed, 1983, p. 3-4.
[20] (Church Dogmatics, IV.1 [59.1], 207)
[21] (Birth of the Messiah, 1977, 309)
[22] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 1, 313, Volume 3, 608.
[23] (Church Dogmatics, I.2 [15.3], 176)
[24] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 1, 266-7, 316.
[25] Barth (Church Dogmatics, III.2 [46.1], 333)
[26] (C. S. Lewis, 1898-1963.)
[27] Barth (Church Dogmatics I.1 [12.2], 485)
[28] —Faith J. Conklin, “The third miracle.” Advent Sermon, Kresge Chapel, Claremont School of Theology Web Site, December 10, 2003. cst.edu.
[29] In contrast to the view of Barth (Church Dogmatics, IV.2 [64.2], 45)
[30] (Church Dogmatics, IV.2 [64.2], 45)
[31] (Church Dogmatics, I.2, [15.2], 139)
[32] Inspired by George Bernard Shaw.
[33] A. Roy Medley, in his address to the General Board of American Baptist Churches on November 16, 2001
[34] —Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in a sermon at the Cathedral of St. John in Providence, Rhode Island, February 20, 1999 (Episcopal News Service).
liked slave vs servanthood Also the Tutu story
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