Were it not for St. Luke’s care and thoroughness as a believer-researcher and evangelist we would not have the extended account of the wondrous events that preceded the birth of Jesus. Luke tells us that he “carefully investigated everything from the beginning” in order to “write a careful account” of Jesus’ life. Thank God we have the Spirit-guided work of St. Luke in the Church and are able to catch a glimpse of the human drama that was a part of the divine plot unfolding for the salvation of the world.
In this Gospel we have preserved, by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, the awe-inspiring account of the calling of Zachariah and Elizabeth to be the parents of the forerunner of the Messiah (John). Even more importantly, however, it is by St. Luke’s hand that we are granted to privilege to know of the Virgin Mary’s encounter with the angel and the miraculous virginal conception of Jesus. We should pause to ask ourselves what exactly is God trying to tell us by the narrative of a young woman who willingly says yes to God’s purposes for her life. Let’s give attention to a portion of the story (Luke 1:26-32).
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! (Blessed are you among women.)”
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.”
Mary’s calling to be the Mother of our Lord is a wonderful mystery in itself. She has rightly been called by the ancient church “the blessed Theotokos” — meaning the One who “bears” God. Such a title reflects the early Christians’ conviction that Mary’s son was God incarnate. Her role in God’s economy of salvation was to be the woman through whom God might take on humanity. If the Savior from Heaven was going to be truly and fully human, as the creeds say, he had to be born into this world just like the rest of us. One wonders if, when creating Eve from Adam’s rib, God was anticipating Mary’s role in conceiving and bearing our Lord as he fashioned the female womb.
One might ask “Why Mary?” (Or for that matter “Why Joseph?”) I heard one preacher say once that God could have chosen just any old vessel through whom His Son would be born. That kind of thinking, however, fails to take seriously the full humanity of Jesus Christ. Mary was not simply “a vessel” or a conduit that God used to get into the world. She was in every sense the Mother of God-Incarnate. Her election to this role was based, so far as we know from the scriptural account of her, on her willing free obedience to be “the hand maiden of the Lord.”
Mary is chosen by God for this great role, because of her sanctity and because of her faith and because of her willingness and because of her love for the People of God. The angel tells her that she is going to bear the One who will be God’s gift of hope and salvation for his people. To this she simply replies, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”
God chose her because of her faithfulness and because she was betrothed to a man who was faithful, as well — Joseph. Remember that the same angel appears to Joseph in a dream to tell him that Mary’s child has been conceived by the Holy Spirit and will “save his people from their sins.” Choosing such a one to be the mother of Christ, God the Father was providing for the truly human nurture of God the Son incarnate. If Jesus was truly human, then all his knowledge of God (as a human boy and then man) would have begun with the instruction that he received at home. Only a woman of greatest holiness and faith could do. And only a man (Joseph) who was willing to embrace a glorious, even if difficult, role as the earthly caretaker of the Son of God would suffice.
Where did Jesus learn (as a human boy) about his unique identity and calling? No doubt from Mary and Joseph! It is inconceivable that Mary would not have prayed for her baby each day; and she would have whispered into his ear from the earliest moments as she nursed him, “You are the Son of God; you are called to save us all.” Recall that when Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem at age twelve to be in the Temple he answers his parents’ question about why he would do this to them: “Did you not know I would be about my Father’s business!” It is as though he was saying to Mary (and Joseph) I am being who you told me I am.
The more we see Jesus as a real human being, taking upon himself all our limitations (except sin) and submitting to each aspect of human life — from conception through nurture and education all the way to death — the greater our appreciation of Mary. Realizing that he was truly and fully human, we can and should honor Mary as the one chosen to be the Mother of God our Savior. And the more highly we honor her, the more we reminded that God looks always for people who will serve Him. She is a great reminder to us that God does not work “on” His creation. He works in and through His creation. As those who bear God’s image, we are the crucible of God’s saving activity for all of His creation.
By being the first one in whom Christ dwelled, Mary is the first of us to be redeemed by his Incarnate life being present in our world. By obeying the call of God, she brings salvation to herself as well as us. She is not saved by her works or by her non-Christ-dependent sanctity. But her willingness brings the gift of the very One whose name means “the Lord saves” (Jesus). And her obedience to God the Father in receiving the presence of his Son through the Holy Spirit is an example to us all. We are all called to receive him in us. The Apostle Paul exhorts us to remember that Christ in us is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).
Jesus saves us, not by what he does, but because of who he is. Receiving him deeply into our lives is to receive salvation itself. While the Holy Spirit does not make him incarnate in us (as he did in Mary), the Spirit does bring to us salvation as the gift of God. Note the preposition “of”. Salvation is not a gift “from” God; it is the gift “of” God in our lives. God alone by his presence saves. He is what we need.
Through Mary’s example and obedience, He is what we receive. A fully divine Savior and a fully human Lord — the God-Man — Jesus is born of the blessed Virgin. Thank God for Mary (and Joseph).
Prepare to receive Him — Emmanuel, God with us — in ever deeper ways. In receiving Him, be one who bears Christ to others.
