The Annunciation of the Theotokos Fish, Wine, & Oil
Friday, March 25, 2005
1st Vespers Annunciation: Genesis 28:10-17 LXX Epistle: Hebrews 2:11-18 Gospel: St. Luke 1:24-38
STRONG> St. Luke 1:24-38, especially vs. 34: "Then Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I do not
know a man?'" God the Word, the Lord of the Universe, joined Himself eternally and completely to mankind in the
Incarnation. He performed this union in concert with the Theotokos, entering her womb. While using elements of the
natural procreative process, He also overshadowed both nature and history in becoming man (Lk. 1:35).
But let Christians realize that what occurred in "Mary's case" is revealed now as God's goal for everyone. In the Baptismal
Mystery, the Faithful receive the Holy Spirit Who empowers us to discard, if we will, what is fallen, and to grow in God's
grace and the sonship He gives. As St. Maximos the Confessor states: "By this power, Christ is always born mysteriously
and willingly, becoming incarnate through those who are saved. He causes the soul which begets Him to be a virgin-mother." Let us understand the Annunciation as the model of what God wills to achieve in each of us. The Annunciation
is from God for us: "Turn ye to Me, and ye shall be saved...I Am God, and there is none other" (Is. 45:22 LXX).
With precision, the Evangelist enumerates the specifics of the Virgin's time, place, person, social status, and lineage (Lk.
1:26,27). Life for the Theotokos was about specifics. We also live in a certain town, at a specific address, at what the
Postal Service calls a "point of delivery," which regularly is embossed on our letters as a 62 bar code. We are alive on a
specific date, in this century, bound to what we call "now." We are married, single, engaged, widowed, or divorced -
"check one only." In truth, God's saving acts in Christ are for all men, yet salvation is bestowed one by one, so that each of
us may cry, "Thou art my God" (Ps. 117:28 LXX).
Notice what Gabriel said: "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you" (Lk. 1:28). To have God active in the
specifics of one's life is an occasion of great joy, a cause for true rejoicing. How glorious to know that our souls, our
ordinary human psyches, contain the potential both to have Christ conceived within us and to be fully formed in every
aspect of our being (Gal. 4:19)! While most of us are still far from having Christ fully formed in us, yet He Himself prays
that He may be in us and we in Him (Jn. 17:23). O Savior, save us!
We are told that Mary "...was troubled at [Gabriel's] saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was" (Lk. 1:29).
It is unsettling to have God act in our lives. His presence within disrupts our logic, pushes our assumptions toward new
patterns, stretches and calls us to change, repent, accept, and respond. Appropriately, the Archangel sealed the Virgin off
from agitation and fear: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God" ( vs. 30).
Our decision to undertake mystical conception and incarnation need not be made from fear. Rather, let us receive the great
lovingkindness of God Himself. As Christians, we have found favor with God. His love has been manifested that we
might live in Him (1 Jn. 4:9).
The angel Gabriel answered the Virgin's perplexity and ours: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Highest will overshadow you..." (Lk. 1:35). It is beyond mortal understanding that God wishes to be conceived in us
mystically and that He may be. However, the Son of God became the Son of Man, and His conception has been repeated
countless times in specific persons. God does what He will, "for with God nothing will be impossible" (vs. 37).
Last of all, notice: mystical conception requires our assent. God does not force. Love is born from freedom's womb.
Christ has a Divine and a human will, and so, let us say, "Thy will be done." Let us assent with the Theotokos: "Let it be
unto me according to Thy word" (vs. 38).
From day to day, show forth Thy salvation in us, O God, as we sing unto Thee, Alleluia.