She Said YES

Luke 1:26-38

The Annunciation is one of the more profound pieces of the myth of the Nativity according to Luke. It is profound on a variety of fronts. First, there is the message of peace from God rather than the abject terror humans feel when confronted by the divine. Second, there is the message of grace that Jesus embodies. Third, there is the remarkable birth. Finally, there is Mary’s consent.

1.

We cannot emphasize enough the contrast in the angelic visitations recorded in the gospels versus the encounters with the divine in other contextual religions. Whereas the encounter between the gods and humans usually does not end well in most other mythologies, the message from the divine in the gospels always begins, “Fear not!” God is love. Therefore, to meet with God is to meet the presence of God’s overwhelming and overarching love. To meet love may be awe-inducing, but it is not terror-stricken. Love, as Paul outlines in 1 Corinthians 13, is patient, kind, forbearing, merciful, compassionate, etc. It is not destructive. So, as God confronts Mary, it is not as a divine tyrant playing with a human consort (cf. Zeus/Jupiter, eg.), but rather redeeming love meeting a beloved child. It is this presence of God that sets Christian theology apart. We are not in the hands of an angry god, nor are we faced with an apathetic god, nor even a simple transcendent entity. We are met with love by love.

2.

The grace found in Jesus is first the grace of recollection; i.e., God never forgets us. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises to be with humanity. He is the Emmanuel sign. Interestingly, even though Luke writes primarily for a gentile audience, he here emphasizes that Jesus is the culmination of the messianic promise to Israel. There is a subtle message here―the promise to Israel was ALWAYS global in scope. The grace of God is that God may well covenant with specific people or a specific nation, but does so only on behalf of ALL humanity. God loves us all. Jesus will enter a specific context, but will be meaningful and effective for all contexts. This message was the heart of God’s promise to Abraham, is inherent in all of the Torah, and reiterated through David and the all subsequent prophets. God remembers. We need never fear that God forgets, overlooks, or dismisses any human anywhere. That is the full epitome of grace.

3.

To truly grasp the rationale behind the virgin birth, we need to understand the historical era in which Luke wrote. Remarkable births were an instrument in the mythologies of power. They were the means by which a tyrant/Caesar/king instilled fear within the populace―I am a child of the gods; I am more than human; therefore, my will is absolute. Luke employs the same mechanism for the arrival of the Son of God, but for completely different reasons. Again, fear has no place in Christ. Instead, Luke reveals the true nature of Jesus’ power―it flows directly from the being and presence of God; therefore, it flows directly from the being and presence of the love that is God. Jesus’ birth truly is unique because Jesus and his praxis of power are also truly unique―this is power to save, not to rule in abject authority. Luke is hearkening back to Isaiah in two ways―A) Jesus is promises redeemer born of a young woman; and B) Jesus is the promised child who is the Prince of Peace, etc., etc. As such, Jesus will reveal the truest power there is.

4.

The most remarkable moment in the story is the last―Mary consents. As we saw in the previous cycle of stories (Luke 1:5ff.); even a priest of God can have serious doubts about the efficacy of God’s promises. Unlike her cousin, Zechariah, though, Mary readily accepts the angelic message without a moment’s hesitation. Her faith is sure―i.e., her trust in God is complete. She needs no verification that anything promised will actually happen. She has no experience on which to base her trust. That is the definition of faith in its fullest expression. As Luke’s gospel unfolds, we are asked to remember Mary. Note how many disciples, would-be followers, enemies, hangers-on, etc. cannot match Mary’s faith. Of the actual people in Luke’s gospel, only Mary and a penitent thief are able to exude this type of faith. Belief is easy; faith is hard.

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The Annunciation lays the foundation for how the church should respond to the presence of Christ. It sets the stage for what Jesus means. It reveals the adequate response to that meaning. It immediately draws a line between human promises of redemption and actual redemption. It reveals the power of love―both God’s love for us and our love for God.