LUKE 1:26-38
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.28And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." 29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He 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. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" 35The 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.36And 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. 37For nothing will be impossible with God." 38Then 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.
In our first year homiletics class at Columbia Seminary, we found new ways to explore scriptural texts that are well-known and commonly-read. One can easily skim over important details, because we've heard this story before- every year in Advent. Our minds gravitate toward particular doctrinal points: virgin Mary and barren Elizabeth both giving birth to children (and not just any children, but Jesus and John the Baptist); the angel Gabriel speaks to Mary and says, "Do not be afraid." However, when each character in this story is assigned to your goofy seminary friends and the whole story is dramatized, this passage takes on new life.
Suddenly the angel seems to have such an important speaking role- is he supposed to be super-excited when delivering the news to Mary, or extra-sensitive? Wait, how does the "power of the Most High" overshadow Mary exactly (stage directions please!)? Joseph just stands off at a distance the whole time- this is really Mary's show, and she does marvelously well with comprehending the angel and even giving permission for this craziness to move into her home. Our classmate who portrays the ancestor David seems to hang over the scene- does this really symbolize how Israel saw itself in those days? Always looking up and longing to return to the glory days of King David when they were not under foreign occupation or Roman taxation? What if Mary hadn't given those famous last words: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word?" Would the angel have stayed to convince her? Was she chosen because God knew Mary would respond with such deep faith?
All these questions float to the surface, and the best way to explore these questions is to read within the context of the rest of the gospel. The author of Luke felt it was necessary to tell about the birth of Jesus and introduce the symbolism of the ancestral line of David, the miraculous births, and the visit from the angel. If one was accustomed to hearing only the later life of Jesus, this would be the back-story, but it's not a disconnected back-story. It points to the life and miracles and teachings of Jesus. It points to Jerusalem. It points to a cross. And thankfully, it points to the resurrection. As we continue on the journey of Advent, I hope that we see this not as the final holiday of a previous calendar year (interrupted by New Year's resolutions), but as the first holiday of the liturgical year. It's not a disembodied story that ends once we have to change our wall calendars. We've just starting this journey with Jesus, and we do not fully know where Jesus will take us.
As the coming of Christ is near, how will our lives continued to be disrupted and diverged because we walk with Christ?
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