This Reflection is taken from the Sunday Devotion written by this blogger for Christ Episcopal Church, Yankton, SD on December 20, 2020
The Song of Zechariah
Benedictus Dominus Deus
Luke 1:68-79
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old, that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham,
to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
The Book of Common Prayer, 1979
THE SONG OF MARY
Magnificat
My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.
For he hath regarded
The lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold from henceforth
All generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me,
And holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him
Throughout all generations.
He hath showed strength with his arm;
He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat,
And hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy hath helped his servant Israel,
As he promised to our forefather,
Abraham and his seed for ever.
The Book of Common Prayer, 1979
Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, [a word absent in the original Greek text] you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 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. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The 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. 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. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then 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.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
To gain a fuller appreciation of Luke’s conceptualization of the birth of Jesus, readers might read the entire first chapter of Luke.
REFLECTION
+ O come, thou Wisdom from on high, who orders all things mightily+
Luke begins his Gospel with the story of two unexpected pregnancies framed by two questions and two songs of praise. The unexpected pregnancies are that of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptizer and Mary the mother of Jesus. Their story is told within the context of their ancestral relationships to the Aaronic priesthood, which brings to mind Israel’s wilderness period in which the Tabernacle was constructed as a meeting place to worship God and house the Ark of the Covenant, where the Shekinah, the presence of God dwelt.
Luke’s Gospel presents the birth of John and the birth of Jesus as a complimentary set of events. Elizabeth’s pregnancy is no less a mystery than Mary’s. Each of their sons is given a role to play in God’s liberating and redeeming work. John is likened to the voice crying in the wilderness that prepares the way of the Lord (Jesus) as prophesied in Isaiah.
Both Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah were descendants of the priestly line of Aaron, Moses’ brother. It is while Zechariah is serving as a priest in the Temple at Jerusalem that the angel Gabriel appears to him in its sanctuary and announces that his “barren” wife Elizabeth would give birth to a son. Garbreil instructs Zechariah to call him John. Frightened, confounded, and feeling somewhat beyond the hope of such a miracle, Zechariah asks, “How can I be sure?”
Since Zechariah has his doubts, Gabriel, in a reversal of the role Aaron played as the spokesperson for Moses, informs Zechariah that he will be rendered speechless until the day of John’s birth. When the speechless Zechariah returns home after his tour of Temple duty, Elizabeth becomes pregnant.
Gabriel then appears to Mary, a young girl, living in the Galilean village of Nazareth engaged to Joseph, a descendent of King David. When Gabriel greets her, Mary’s reaction is also one of fear and confusion. Gabriel tells Mary she will conceive a son and instructs her to call his name Jesus. Like Zechariah, Mary has a question, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?’ [literal Greek translation].
The difference between Zechariah’s question and Mary’s is that Zechariah’s question does not proceed from faith, but from a desire for certitude, to know for sure. Mary’s question proceeds from the wonderment of faith; that this impossibility could be possible. It is not a question that is looking for a birds and bees answer, but rather a personal enquiry into the joyous mystery of being gifted with a son who “will be called the Son of the Most High,”
Staying with the Aaronic connection, Gabriel explains this wondrous birth in terms of Mary becoming a human tabernacle in which the presence of God descends and overshadows her, with the child she will bear becoming like the Ark of a new Covenant where God’s presence resides, as suggested in Gabriel’s declaration, “the child to be born will be holy”.
Gabriel informs Mary that her older relative Elizabeth is also pregnant to affirm for Mary that “nothing will be impossible with God.” Mary opens herself to the will of God saying, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” As a blood relative of Elizabeth, we learn that Mary is also a descendent of the priestly line of Aaron.
Luke makes sure that we don’t overlook the importance of Joseph. Joseph being a direct descendent of King David is an important part of Luke’s story. Luke implies that Joseph’s role is that of Jesus’ biological father, since royal lineage is passed through the father’s genes. While the conception of Jesus as the Christ Child in whom the fulness of God resides does not depend on a human biological explanation, Jesus being the son (a descendent) of King David does.
When Mary and Elizabeth meet later in Chapter 1of Luke, the yet unborn John gives Elizabeth a joyful kick. Elizabeth then blesses Mary and “the fruit” of her womb, Jesus, after which Mary burst into praise and wonderment at being chosen by God with the words of the Magnificat.
The first chapter of Luke’s Gospel ends with the birth of John the Baptizer. On the day that John was to be circumcised, the gathered relatives of Elizabeth and Zechariah ask what they will name him, thinking he would be named after Zechariah. Elizabeth, speaking for the still speechless Zechariah, says he will be named John. When the relatives complained that none of their relations have such a name, they approach the speechless Zechariah and ask him. He motions his agreement that the baby will be called John and immediately his speech is restored, and he too bursts into praising God with the words of our first canticle, the Benedictus Dominus Deus.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Mary is called the Theotokos, which means God-bearer. From this term comes the Western concept of Mary being the Mother of God. That Mary holds an exalted place in the Church is not surprising. Having born in her womb the one whose image we bear, Mary is understood by many to be our Mother. Mary serves as the model for all who ponder the mystery of faith and hold the Christ Child, the Ark of the New Covenant, in their hearts. Amen
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Until next time, stay faithful.
Norm
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