Micah 5:2-4
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-56
Mary is a teenage unwed mother and the greeting she receives from Elizabeth is expectant and affirming: “blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus”. This is the substance of the prayer of the rosary, long cherished in catholic tradition. Generations upon generations have found comfort in the prayer, found peace in the meditations on our wondrous God who moves in time and space in the most unlikely circumstances. Mary in time would be known in theological terms as theotokos – God bearer.
What does it look like to bear God in human form? Mary describes it in the form of the Magnificat: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call be blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
The Gospel of Luke is the only place where this hymn is found. The biographer is crafting the gospel as a history – how God works in and through events and people to bring about mercy and grace. Luke is writing to the Gentiles and it is very important that the history of Judaism is not cancelled but affirmed in the coming of Christ. Rooting the history of Christianity in Judaism, Luke assures the reader that the promises of God are true, trustworthy, and reliable. God did not abandon his first people in opening the new covenant but is fulfilling the ancient prophecies in the person of Jesus.
The infancy of John is juxtaposed with the infancy of Jesus just as the pregnancy of Elizabeth and of Mary is in parallel. The annunciation to Zechariah (Luke 1:8-23) parallels the annunciation to Mary (1:26-38). Luke makes it clear that the transition from John the Baptist in the tradition of all the Hebrew prophets anticipates the coming of the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus was be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. Luke makes it clear that Jesus is also a Davidic messiah, a link forged by the birth in the city of David. In Luke’s genealogy Jesus is son of David and more than a descendent because this child is conceived of the Holy Spirit, and is therefore Son of God and Son of Man…divine and human.
Mary is more than a representative woman; she also represents the faithful people of Israel. The reversal of her condition symbolizes the great reversal that God’s visitation will bring upon all people. As a woman, she was lowly and an outcast, a member of the poor in a patriarchal society, and as a virgin she was further marginalized by her lack of valued offspring. But God raised her up by choosing her to be the one filled with grace, just as he lifted up the poor. By overshadowing Mary with the Holy Spirit, God showed that out of apparent powerlessness comes strength, for “nothing is impossible with God”.
Mary is also an individual person of faith. She is the servant of the Lord. Mary’s response to the angel, “Let it be done to me according to your word” demonstrates a response to God identical to that of Jesus. She is a model of the faithful acceptance of God’s will. When Elizabeth cries out, “Blessed is she who believed there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord” she affirms the faith of Mary.
Mary is the one who reflected on the Word of God, turning it over in her heart, one able to interpret the new experience of God through the symbols of God’s word in Torah.
Look again at the powerful outline of the words of God spoken by Mary:
My soul rejoices…my heart is full, even though I am a mere woman…God has shown mercy and favor to one who fears God. By the strength of his being, the proud are scattered in their desires, thoughts, because it is not the power of might, the power of office, or the power of money that lifts us, rather God comes and lifts up the lowly, the humble, the ones who hunger for justice for righteousness. These people, God fills with good things, such as peace, profound wisdom, the blessing of faith, and grace. God sends the rich away empty because they cannot find the blessedness of love, of faith, and hope in things they can purchase.
In Bangkok, on various street corners in the business district, many huge trees were adorned with Christmas lights and ornaments. Inserted into the tree was numerous credit cards. The message way clear – come and purchase things that make you happy. How much shopping have we done these past few weeks? When the gifts are distributed and the trash collected, will any of us be happier? Will the things we accumulate help us find the peace we long for? While gifts that symbolize our love for friends and family point to something much deeper than the item itself, we too long for the whole gift of God in our lives which is the only path to peace and joy. What we long for has come to us in the form of a small child, born of a lowly woman in a country under foreign occupation. Like Mary, we must learn to look up to God to have the wisdom to see God at work in our lives, not in the power of wealth and status but in the gift of a child, in the hug of a friend, in the gift of a family member, in the light shinning in a dark place.
Advent is pregnant with expectation, for the one who is coming brings God’s perfect love into human space and time. God with us is the joy of our lives, the peace that passes all understanding, and the source of all love. God so loved that God chose to come among us. Love that is patient, kind, ever-present, always reaching out to invite us to come into the embrace of the eternal trinity. Love comes into the world in order to set us free to love. If we know the truth of God we will rejoice with Mary at the joy and wonder of God’s eternal purpose and plan. Love hopes all things, endures all things, love never ends. This is the hope that is in us, born of the faith implanted in us by the Spirit of the living God, opening us to love that is free and overflowing. Thus we are thankful that God loves us. As this truth takes root deep within our hearts, minds, and souls we too become theotokos, God bearers to one another.