Fourth Sunday in Advent
Fourth Sunday in
Advent (B)
December 21, 2014
Text: Luke 1:26-38
“For nothing will be impossible with God”
(Luke 1:37; ESV). We love that verse,
because it is true, of course. It means
the sky is the limit for God. He is
Almighty. He is all powerful. He can do whatever He pleases. But this is not the best translation. The Greek is so much richer. A better translation would be, “For no Word
from God will be impossible.” The
emphasis is on the Word! By the Word
Mary’s relative Elizabeth in her old age has conceived a son, St. John the
Baptist. By the Word this shall come to pass that the angel declares to Mary, what
Isaiah prophesied: “Behold, the virgin
shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Is.
7:14). It is by His Word that God accomplishes His mighty deeds. He spoke the world and the universe into
existence. “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of
God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible”
(Heb. 11:3). “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his
mouth all their host” (Ps. 33:4).
The Word of the LORD is creative.
He speaks into existence. The
Word of the LORD is performative. He
speaks and it is done. The Word of the
LORD is “living and active, sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints
and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”
(Heb. 4:12). God promises that His Word
shall not return to Him empty, “but it
shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which
I sent it” (Is. 55:11). The Word is
powerful. “No Word from God will be
impossible.” When God speaks, it is.
So it
is that the angel speaks the Word of God to the Virgin Mary: “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” (Luke 1:35).
He speaks, and in that moment it is done. The Holy Spirit does indeed come upon her, through the Word. The power of the Most High does indeed
overshadow her, through the Word. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is conceived in Mary’s ear, and takes up
residence in her womb.
This
moment of conception is when God takes on human flesh and blood. At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of
Christ as His incarnation, His enfleshment.
This is certainly appropriate.
But His incarnation actually occurs nine months before His birth. Here is a mystery beyond our
comprehension. As the angel speaks this
Word to Mary, God is an embryo. The universe is held together by this little
forming Baby. And already at this stage
He is doing the work of your redemption.
He is fully human, fully one with your flesh. As surely as you were an embryo, He was an
embryo for you. What He is, He redeems:
An embryo for embryos, a fetus for fetuses, a newborn for newborns, a toddler,
a child, a teenager, and adult, for you.
And yet, He is no less God in every stage of His development. Fully Man, fully God, for you. And so He is in the fullest sense of the
word, “Immanuel,” God with us, for He is with us in the flesh. In our Old Testament reading, King David
wanted to build God a Temple, a place for God to dwell with His people. God responds that David is not to build a
house for Him, rather, God will build a House for David. That House will be where God dwells with His
people. And that House is the flesh of
Jesus of Nazareth. The Body of Jesus is
the true Temple. The Body of Jesus is
where God dwells with us in the flesh, tangibly, concretely. The apostles saw Him, heard His voice,
touched Him. You see Him by faith, hear
His voice in His Word, and touch Him as His very Body is given to you in the
Supper.
This
Body is conceived as the Word is preached by the angel and heard by Mary. Think about what this means also for the
sanctity of human life from the moment of conception. The Word conceived in Mary’s ear and taking
up residence in her womb, this tiny little clump of cells, is God. Christians ought never speak of an unborn
child as “potential life,” or as part of a woman’s body, or as anything other
than a precious baby with a human soul.
Whatever our Lord Jesus is, He redeems.
The worth of the unborn consists chiefly in this, that Jesus lived in
the womb of His mother for them. And He
was conceived into a set of circumstances that today would very possibly have
led to His murder in an abortion mill.
Unplanned pregnancy. Unwed,
teenage mother. Scandal in a small
town. Poverty. Why would He come into such a messed up set
of circumstances? To redeem those in
those very circumstances. There is very
good news here for women (and men) who have made mistakes, who have not
remained chaste (now, Mary did remain chaste, but it was assumed she didn’t),
who have found themselves pregnant in a bad set of circumstances, who have
considered an abortion, and even for women who have had an abortion. Jesus was conceived into their circumstances
to redeem them. To redeem you.
This
same Word conceived in the ear of the Virgin and implanted in her womb, is
spoken to you. He enters your ear and
implants Himself, not in your womb, but in your heart and mind, in your very
soul. He takes possession of you. And what is conceived in you is faith. It is faith in this little embryo God who was
born to grow up and die on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. It is faith in this little embryo God who
died, but who is risen, and lives, and reigns, in the flesh, at the right hand
of God the Father, for you. It is faith
that this little embryo God gives you eternal life. And it is faith that says with St. Mary, no
matter how unbelievable the promises of God, no matter how incomprehensible to
human reason His Word may be, “Behold, I
am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (v.
38). This is not simply the assent of
Mary’s will to this crazy plan of giving birth to God. It is a confession that Mary’s place before
God is under His Word. She is what the
Lord says of her. She is a highly
favored lady, for the Lord is with her (v. 28).
Her sins are forgiven. She is to
be the mother of God.
“Let it be to me according to Your Word.” That is your prayer. That is your confession. For you are what the Lord says of you. You are a sinner whose sins have been taken
away by the Lamb of God. You are holy
and spotless, washed clean by the blood of Christ. You are a saint, righteous, because God has
spoken it so, and it is to you according to His Word. You are God’s child, because He has spoken
His Name over you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and says to you, “you are mine” (Is. 43:1). Faith that speaks these words with St. Mary
acknowledges that your place before God is under His Word, which absolves you. And you have no need to doubt whether your
sins can be forgiven, not even those blackest, secret sins you’ve buried so
deeply within your heart. “For no Word from God will be impossible.” “I forgive you all your sins,” He says. And they are forgiven. All of them.
“Take, eat, this is my Body, which is given for you… Take, drink, this is my Blood, which is
shed for you, for the forgiveness of all of your sins.” And it is.
The Body of Christ placed on your tongue. The Blood of Christ poured down your gullet. Sins gone forever. Christ in you and you in Christ. “Let
it be to me according to Your Word.”
God has spoken. It is done. You are forgiven. You are loved. You are free.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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