Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Luke 1:26-37

MIRACULOUS CHILDREN
It is wonderful to me that in this utterly unique and transformative moment in the history of salvation, as Gabriel first speaks the good news of Christ’s arrival, he ends his message with a word about Elizabeth, Mary’s relative. As God is revealing the utterly new work he is about to accomplish, he again tells us the long familiar story: the woman who was barren will give birth.

In the life of Israel, God had established his character as one who makes fruitful that which was barren, and the children that he gave were always children of promise. Samson was born chosen and set apart to be a sign of the Lord’s strength and holiness, and in the end sacrificed his life in submission to God in order to destroy the enemies of Israel. Samuel grew “both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man” and heard the voice of the Lord. He became the prophet of Israel, and finally established the throne of David. Isaac had barely been given when God asked Abraham to sacrifice him back again, but when the heavy-hearted father took his son and gave him back to God, God provided a substitution and returned Isaac to his father in joy, and made Abraham the father of Israel. Joseph endured his brothers’ violence only to deliver them from death in a barren land, and bring them into a land of abundance.

This is the lineage of miraculous children that God had given, making fruitful what was barren. And now John would come, baptizing and calling the people to repent, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Like those other sons of promise, he would bear a striking resemblance to the man in whose pattern he had been born. For, of course, each of these miraculous children was a type and foretelling of the singularly miraculous child who had been promised at the very outset, the offspring of Eve who would crush the heel of the serpent. As their births were miraculous gifts of God, his birth would be the greater miracle. As their lives were filled with faithfulness, sacrifice, salvation and redemption, so they would each turn out to be a shadowy foretelling of Christ, the one whom they had been patterned after.  In the mere mention of Elizabeth, Gabriel was revealing even more fully who this child was who had been foretold. He would be set apart, would hear the voice of the Lord, would be offered up to violence by his brothers, but would give up his life in self-sacrifice only to be returned again as a great deliverer of his people.

Christ is not only the pattern after which all the children of promise were molded, he is also after the pattern of his own Father. He, too, makes fruitful what is barren, both in the grand scale of the atonement and in the personal and hidden matters of those who, like Mary, embrace the promise that has been given.

As we encounter the image of the rose, which appears both in Michael Schrauzer’s The Annunciation and René Clausen’s carol, we may be familiar with this symbol only as it relates to Mary. However, just as the virgin birth was not an isolated symbol, but rather a culmination or completion of all the types which had gone before, so too the rose is a symbol not only of Mary, but of other holy women, the martyrs, the church and indeed in Dante’s comedy of the cosmos itself. Here, rather than serving as a culmination, Mary serves as a type which we all follow, seeking with humility and reverence to become a place where Christ may dwell.
Janelle Aijian, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Torrey Honors Institute

MOST HIGH GOD, for you nothing is impossible. Through a poor young woman in a small town you gave birth to your realm of endless glory. By your Holy Spirit, fill us with new life and hope and overshadow us with your power and grace so that we, like Mary, might be your servants, bearing witness to the promise of your Word; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen