This coming Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Advent. In the previous post, after hearing the announcement from the angle Mary asks a question reminiscent of Zechariah’s query, “How can this be?” 35 And the angel said to her in reply, “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 called holy, the Son of God. 

On the one hand, her question plays a vital theological role, for it accents the fact that she is still a virgin. The point of her question is rhetorical, inviting further information from the angel. The first two clauses of Gabriel’s response parallel one another and prepare for the third:

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and

the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

consequently, the child to be born will be called holy the Son of God.

These parallel affirmations do not suggest sexual activity, but do indicate divine agency. The Holy Spirit is identified with God’s power in a way that anticipates Acts 1:8. The verb “to come upon” also anticipates Acts 1:8, and, then, the Pentecost event. The text may call to mind Isa 32:15, which anticipates the Spirit’s being poured out upon God’s people as a mark of the age of peace. The second phrase has connections with the transfiguration scene in 9:34, and more broadly with scriptural accounts of manifestations of the glory of God (e.g., Exod 40:35; Num 9:18, 22).

The report of the consequence of this divine agency focuses on its christological repercussions. God’s intervention will result in the special nature of the child. Here Gabriel’s words recall his earlier announcement:

(v.32ab):              He will be great, and

will be called                   the Son of the Most High

(v.35d):                [He] will be called holy,    the Son of God.

Mission Complete. Gabriel’s parting words ring with reassurance: “Nothing will be impossible with God.” They echo the wonder of Sarah: “Is anything too marvelous for the LORD to do?” (Gen 18:14) and Jesus’ later declaration, “What is impossible for human beings is possible for God” (18:27). A barren woman can bear a child. A virgin can conceive. The Lord can enter into human history as a child. From a tomb can come resurrection, and the Holy Spirit can empower the church for its worldwide mission. It is a promise in the future tense: With God nothing will be impossible. With faith in such power, Mary responds “May it be done to me according to your word,” (v.38) – a response that contrasts sharply with that of Zechariah, with the result that she, surprisingly in scenes of this type, has the last word. She unreservedly embraces the purpose of God, without regard to its cost to her personally. Her response is exemplary, demonstrating how all Israel ought to respond to God’s favor.

In describing herself as the Lord’s servant (cf. 1:48), she acknowledges her submission to God’s purpose, but also her role in assisting that purpose. Moreover, she claims a place in God’s household, so to speak; indeed, in this socio-historical context, her words relativize and actually place in jeopardy her status in Joseph’s household. For her, partnership in the purpose of God transcends the claims of family. In antiquity, the status of a slave was determined by the status of the householder. In his characterization of Mary as “slave of the Lord,” Luke has begun to undercut the competitive maneuvering for positions of status prevalent in the first-century Mediterranean world. Mary, who seemed to measure low in any ranking—age, family heritage, gender, and so on—turns out to be the one favored by God, the one who finds her status and identity in her obedience to God and participation in his salvific will.

Gabriel has completed his mission successfully. The annunciation would not have been complete without Mary’s trusting, obedient response. Mary had been chosen, “favored,” to have an important part in God’s plan to bring salvation to God’s people, but it is unthinkable that God would have forced Mary to have the child against her will. Mary is an important example, therefore, of one who is obedient to God even at great risk to self.

Image credit: The Annunciation, Leonardo da Vinci, Uffizi Gallery Florence | PD