The
Annunciation of Our Lord
March
25, 2026
Text: Luke 1:26-38
Luther
imagined Mary must have been meditating on our Old Testament reading (Is.
7:10-14) when the angel appeared to her.
In particular, the words, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear
a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (v. 14; ESV). That is a good assumption. Because God’s Word does what it says. And if, indeed, she is meditating on these Words
of Holy Scripture, immersed in the Word of God, and this Promise, specifically…
how profound that it is in her reception of that Word, that the Word becomes embodied. In her womb.
“And the word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
What
happened? There sat Mary…
undoubtedly a very young woman (most women were married in their teenage years)…
a virgin, betrothed to a man named Joseph… of the House of David (ah, the royal
line!)… in Nazareth of Galilee, a place of immense significance to the prophets
(for example, Matthew, quoting the Prophet Isaiah: “The land of Zebulun and
the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the
Gentiles—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those
dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned” [Matt.
4:15-16])… There she sat, and whatever
she was doing, you can imagine how startled and troubled she was, when, all at
once, there is a holy angel of God, Gabriel, appearing in majestic glory.
And
he speaks: “Greetings, O favored one”… favored, not because she is sinless
or intrinsically holy by her own merit (this it the “Hail Mary” of Roman fame… don’t
be afraid of it, Lutherans! It’s in the
Bible. But also, dear Romans, don’t pray
it to the blessed Virgin as if she were a divine mediatrix!)… the word for favor
is actually one upon whom grace has been bestowed (by God!), or,
yes, “full of grace!” “Greetings, O
favored one, the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28). Oh, He’s with her, alright, in this moment,
in a way she can’t possibly begin to imagine!
And, because the angel knows he’s scared her half to death, “Do not
be afraid, Mary”… angels always have to add that to their sermons… Why? Why does she not have to be
afraid? Because he isn’t here to kill
her (that is a very real worry for a sinner). Rather, “you have found favor,” grace,
“with God” (v. 30). And, as a
result, what? You’re going to
give birth to God’s Son! Henceforth,
you will be… Theotokos in Greek (that is the theological term)… “the
mother of God.” “(B)ehold, you
will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus”
(v. 31). “He will be great… the Son of
the Most High,” the Father… “And the Lord God will give to him the
throne of his father David,” a King!
THE King! The Promised Son of
David who will reign forever… “and of his kingdom there will be no end”
(vv. 32-33).
Now,
naturally, Mary wonders, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (v.
34). She knows about the birds and the
bees. She is, after all, a young
bride-to-be, contemplating a family of her own with Joseph. But this conception will be different
than any other. Apart from any union
with a man, God will do this. “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” (v.
35). Note that this is a Trinitarian
act: The Spirit comes upon her.
He is the Power of the Most High, the Most High being the
Father. And, what? The Son… God, the Son… becomes Mary’s
Son, flesh of her flesh, dwelling, now, in her womb.
And as
Mary hears those Words… God’s own Words… preached by the angel, so it
happens. The Word enters her ear,
and takes up residence in her womb. Because
God’s Word does what it says. “Let
there be,” and there is (Gen. 1:3).
“Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well” (Luke
17:19). “Go; your son will live”
(John 4:50). “(T)he demon has left
your daughter” (Mark 7:29). “(Y)our
sins are forgiven” (Matt. 9:2). “(T)his
is my body” (Matt. 26:26), “this is my blood” (v. 27). Unlike our words, which we may or may
not do, God’s Word does… creates… accomplishes… makes
it so.
That
is how it happens with us, too.
Mary is the pattern. The Word of
God is preached into our ears, and takes up residence… not in our wombs,
but in our hearts… our minds, our bodies, our souls. That is, the Father sends His Power (His
Spirit) upon us, by the Word (“faith comes from hearing, and hearing through
the word of Christ” [Rom. 10:17]), so that God’s Son, Jesus, comes into us,
and possesses us.
So,
now the Lord is with Mary tangibly, concretely, incarnate (in the
flesh), as an embryo in her womb. From
the moment of conception! Growing,
as the cells divide and multiply. No mere
clump of cells. God. That is what those cells are. And Human Life, Mary’s Son. And this is such unimaginably-good news,
because, what our Lord becomes, He redeems. He becomes our flesh, to redeem our
flesh. He has a human soul, to redeem
our souls. And here He is, a tiny
Blastocyst… (a Blastocyst who holds the universe together!)… a tiny Blastocyst
to redeem our blastocysts. A Zygote, to
redeem our zygotes. And Embryo, to
redeem our embryos. A Fetus… a word
which simply means “baby,” so let’s stop with the ridiculous attempts to use
words that sound less human, so we can advance a cultural narrative… a Fetus,
to redeem our fetuses. Think what
comfort this is for any of you who have suffered a miscarriage, or a stillbirth…
who didn’t get to meet your precious child outside the womb. Jesus became what your child was, to redeem
your child. And then He is born, and
so, a Newborn to redeem newborns, a Child for children, a Teenager for teens,
an Adult for adults. Every stage of
life, included in His work of redemption.
He
took on this body, became a Man, why?
To be the Sacrifice of Atonement for our sins. What is impossible for the blood of bulls and
goats to accomplish, He comes to accomplish in our flesh. “Sacrifices and offerings you have not
desired, but a body you have prepared for me… Behold, I have come to do your
will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book” (Heb. 10:5,
7). As God planned all along. As all the Scriptures testify. His will is to hang that body on the cross
for the sins of the world. Our
sins. Thus reconciling sinners… us…
to Himself. To be both just in
punishing our sins, and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Christ
Jesus, releasing us from our punishment (Rom. 3:26).
And
then, that God might raise that body, and glorify that body at His own right
hand. Why? That we, likewise, be raised, bodily, from
the dead, and glorified, bodily, to live in eternal Communion with Him. What He became, now, we become. Beloved, we are baptized into that body. The body conceived by the Holy Spirit of the
Virgin Mary, when the Power of the Most High overshadowed her. The body crucified, dead and buried. The body raised to new and eternal life. The body that sits at God’s right hand. The body that will come again to judge the
living and the dead. We’re immersed
in that body at the font. And that is
the body we eat in the Holy Supper, so that He enters not only by the ear (the
Word proclaimed), but the mouth (because we are what we eat). To possess us whole.
Well,
the angel could say to us, too, could he not?... “Greetings, O favored one”…
O filled-up-with-God’s-grace one… because “the Lord is with you.” In a way that, apart from the Holy Spirit,
you couldn’t even begin to imagine. That
is, in the flesh. Embodied. In His Word and Sacraments. It is happening again, here and now, the Word
doing what He says. Here is
Jesus, for you. How could that be? Beloved, “nothing will be impossible with
God” (Luke 1:37)
And what
do we say to that? The same thing
Mary says. Okay! Yes!
That is faith receiving what the Lord gives. Himself! “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to
me according to your word” (v. 38).
Indeed. And so it is. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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