revelation second-temple

The Annunciation

c. 5-6 BCE (approximate)

The angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would conceive and bear Jesus, the Son of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit. This pivotal moment marks the beginning of the Incarnation—God becoming human—and Mary’s acceptance with “Let it be to me according to your word” sets in motion salvation history’s climax.

The Biblical Account (Luke 1:26-38)

The Setting

Time: Sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy Place: Nazareth, a small Galilean village Person: Mary, a virgin betrothed to Joseph

Betrothal in Jewish Culture:

  • Legally binding, like marriage
  • Couple not yet living together
  • Pregnancy during betrothal considered adultery
  • Could be punished by death (though rarely enforced)

Gabriel’s Appearance

The Greeting (Luke 1:28):

  • “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
  • Mary “greatly troubled” by the words
  • Wondered what this greeting meant

The Announcement (Luke 1:30-33):

  • “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God”
  • “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son”
  • “You shall call his name Jesus”
  • “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High”
  • “The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David”
  • “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever”
  • “Of his kingdom there will be no end”

Mary’s Question

“How will this be?” (Luke 1:34):

  • Not doubt, but inquiry
  • “Since I am a virgin?” (literal: “I do not know a man”)
  • Practical question about means

Contrast with Zechariah:

  • Elizabeth’s husband doubted Gabriel (Luke 1:18)
  • Struck mute for unbelief
  • Mary asks “how?” not “if?”
  • Faith seeking understanding

The Explanation

Gabriel’s Answer (Luke 1:35):

  • “The Holy Spirit will come upon you”
  • “The power of the Most High will overshadow you”
  • “Therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God”

The Sign (Luke 1:36-37):

  • Elizabeth, her relative, conceived in old age
  • “Nothing will be impossible with God”
  • Confirmation of divine power

The Fiat (Luke 1:38):

  • “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord”
  • “Let it be to me according to your word”
  • Latin: Fiat (“let it be done”)
  • Voluntary cooperation with God’s plan
  • The moment the Incarnation begins

Theological Significance

The Incarnation Begins

God Becomes Human:

  • The eternal Word enters time
  • Creator enters creation
  • Infinite becomes finite
  • Divine takes on human nature

Mary’s Role:

  • Provides humanity for God
  • Jesus receives flesh, blood, DNA from Mary
  • True mother of God’s Son
  • Cooperates freely in redemption

The Virgin Birth

Prophetic Fulfillment:

  • Isaiah 7:14: “The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”
  • Matthew quotes this prophecy (Matt 1:23)
  • Sign of divine intervention

Theological Necessity:

  • Jesus conceived without human father
  • Holy Spirit the agent
  • Born without original sin
  • Fully human yet sinless
  • Son of God and son of Mary

Mary’s Faith

Model of Discipleship:

  • Hears God’s word
  • Accepts by faith
  • Obeys despite cost
  • First and greatest disciple

Contrast with Eve:

  • Eve doubted God, disobeyed, brought death
  • Mary believed God, obeyed, brought life
  • “New Eve” in Christian theology
  • Reversal of the Fall

Divine Initiative, Human Response

God’s Grace:

  • Mary “favored” (graced)
  • Not earned but given
  • God initiates salvation

Human Freedom:

  • Mary could have refused
  • Free will respected
  • Grace invites, doesn’t coerce
  • “Let it be” - active consent

Christian Observance

Feast of the Annunciation

Date: March 25 (exactly 9 months before Christmas) Liturgical Significance:

  • One of principal feasts of Mary
  • Celebrates Incarnation, not just announcement
  • Sometimes falls during Lent
  • Observed by Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran churches

Alternative Name:

  • “Lady Day” (traditional English)
  • Quarter day in medieval calendar
  • Civil New Year in some cultures until 18th century

Artistic Depictions

Common Elements:

  • Mary reading (often Psalms or Isaiah)
  • Gabriel with lily (purity)
  • Dove (Holy Spirit)
  • Beam of light
  • Mary’s humble posture
  • Open book

Famous Artworks:

  • Fra Angelico’s Annunciation
  • Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation
  • Simone Martini’s Annunciation
  • Countless icons and paintings

Iconographic Development:

  • Early: Mary standing, strong
  • Medieval: Mary kneeling, submissive
  • Renaissance: Mary reading, contemplative
  • Modern: Variety of interpretations

The Angelus Prayer

Traditional Devotion:

  • Prayed three times daily (morning, noon, evening)
  • Church bells ring to mark times
  • Commemorates Annunciation
  • “The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary…”

Islamic Perspective

Quranic Account (Surah 3:42-47, 19:16-21):

Mary withdrawn in prayer, angel appeared:

  • “O Mary, indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you”
  • “O Mary, indeed Allah gives you good tidings of a word from Him”
  • “His name will be the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary”
  • Mary: “How can I have a son when no man has touched me?”
  • Angel: “Allah creates what He wills. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is”

Islamic Emphasis:

  • Virgin birth affirmed strongly
  • Mary’s purity and choseness
  • Jesus created by divine word
  • Miracle, but Jesus not divine
  • Mary greatly honored (entire Surah 19 named for her)

Differences from Christianity:

  • Jesus is prophet, not God’s Son
  • No Incarnation doctrine
  • Holy Spirit not mentioned in same role
  • Mary’s acceptance emphasized, but different theological framework

Mary’s Response in Context

The Risk She Faced

Social Consequences:

  • Pregnant before marriage - shame
  • Could be divorced by Joseph
  • Community ostracism
  • Possible death penalty (rarely enforced)
  • Lifelong stigma

Her Courage:

  • Accepted despite not knowing how Joseph would react
  • Trusted God with her reputation
  • Risked everything
  • “Let it be” - cost-counting faith

The Magnificat

Mary’s Song (Luke 1:46-55):

  • Immediately after visiting Elizabeth
  • Echoes Hannah’s prayer (1 Samuel 2)
  • Celebrates God’s reversal of fortunes
  • “He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly”
  • Revolutionary implications
  • Theological reflection on God’s ways

Historical Questions

Luke’s Source:

  • Only Luke records Annunciation
  • Matthew has Joseph’s perspective
  • Luke claims careful research (Luke 1:1-4)
  • Tradition: Mary as source for infancy narrative

Dating:

  • About 9 months before Jesus’s birth
  • c. 5-6 BCE
  • Herod the Great still alive
  • Elizabeth six months pregnant with John

Significance

The Annunciation is the hinge moment—when eternity invaded time, when divinity embraced humanity, when God said “yes” to becoming one of us, and a young woman said “yes” to bearing God. In that exchange between angel and virgin, heaven and earth kissed, the Incarnation began, and nothing would ever be the same.

Mary’s fiat—“let it be”—echoes Jesus’s prayer in Gethsemane: “Not my will but yours be done.” Mother and Son both surrendered to God’s plan, both accepted suffering, both brought salvation. Her “yes” opened the way for his “yes,” her obedience enabled his obedience, her womb became the first tabernacle of God-with-us.

The Word became flesh not by force but by invitation. God knocked, and Mary opened the door. Grace came seeking permission, and a teenage girl gave it. The Creator asked permission to be created, and creation’s crown—a human being made in God’s image—said yes.

In Nazareth’s obscurity, in ordinary time, to an ordinary girl, the extraordinary occurred. The Annunciation reminds us: God still speaks, still enters our world, still awaits our “let it be.” The Incarnation that began in Mary continues wherever humans consent to bear Christ to the world.