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The gospel reading from Luke today presents us with evidence that nothing is impossible for God. In order to better grasp the meaning of this significant evidence, we need to look at the scripture preceding today’s reading. Beginning with verse twenty-six from the same chapter, we are told the story of Mary’s encounter with the Angel Gabriel, which is also known as the Annunciation. In this story, Gabriel tells Mary that God has chosen her to be the Mother of God’s Son.
When Mary protests that she cannot have a child, because she is a virgin, Gabriel encourages Mary. First, Gabriel tells Mary that it will be by the Holy Spirit that Mary will become pregnant. Then Gabriel shares with Mary, Elizabeth’s good news. Elizabeth, who is one of Mary’s relatives, has become pregnant in her old age. She is now in her sixth month. Indeed, Elizabeth’s pregnancy is nothing short of a miracle.
Encouraged by these words of the Angel Gabriel, Mary responds with these words, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” After saying “Yes” to God’s request, Gabriel leaves Mary supposedly to return to the throne of God with Mary’s positive response.
It is at this point that our gospel reading for today begins. Mary leaves the home of her parents to go and stay with Elizabeth, who lives in a Judean town in the hill country. We are not told by Luke at the time of Mary’s departure whether or not she is yet pregnant. It is upon her arrival at Elizabeth’s home that we are informed that Mary is now with child. Yet, we are confronted with the very strong possibility that Mary probably knew that she was pregnant before she left her parents’ home. It is very possible that Mary’s pregnancy triggered her desire to go and see Elizabeth.
This would seem quite natural since both of them share personal evidence that there is nothing impossible for God. God has made an elderly, barren woman pregnant and now has caused a virgin to conceive. In both of these circumstances the power of God is shown.
Now there are some who do not believe that Mary’s virginity is important. However, the very fact that the scriptures speak of Mary as being a virgin depicts its importance. Not only does Luke tell of Mary’s virginity, but also the gospel of Matthew. In Matthew chapter 1, verses 18 through 25, we read these words:
“Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in ad dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
‘Look, the virgin shall conceive
and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,’
which means, ‘God is with us’. When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had born a son; and he named him Jesus.”
Mary’s virginal state was the fulfillment of prophecy. If Mary had conceived her child by human endeavors, then Mary’s child could not be the Messiah. According to Jewish text, the Messiah had to born of a virgin. This would be the first sign to the world that Mary’s baby was different from other babies. Beginning with the conception of the Son of God, God Himself chose to be the Father. Mary’s baby had within Him the divine essence of the Creator of the Universe. To proclaim that Mary was not a virgin opens the door to declaring that God is not Jesus’ Father other than in the sense that we are all spiritually God’s children.
The confirmation of this miraculous conception is first proclaimed through John the Baptist, who was still inside Elizabeth’s womb. I say that it is the first confirmation, because up until this time, Mary’s word of faith of her baby’s conception was all there was. Upon the arrival of Mary to Elizabeth’s home, the scripture in Luke reads as follows:
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I hear the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.”
These words hold within them both the first confirmation from John the Baptist, then the second confirmation of the identity of the child within the womb of the Virgin Mary from Mary’s relative Elizabeth. So now we have two confirmations other than Mary’s that she is carrying the Messiah within her womb. Why are two confirmations so important?
According to Jewish law, there must be two witnesses to confirm the validity of evidence. God in His wisdom chose an unborn child, the prophet John the Baptist and the prophet’s mother, Elizabeth to bear witness to the miracle of God entering into the world by taking on human form. These two confirmations release Mary from any fears concerning God’s covenant with her. Because she is carrying the Son of God, Mary is comforted in knowing that the Lord God Almighty will protect both her and her child from any harm that would keep the Son of God from fulfilling His Father’s will. This means that Mary’s child will live and not die.
In Mary’s time, an unwed mother could be stoned to death for becoming pregnant outside the bonds of matrimony. The fact that the Father of Mary’s child is not Joseph, who is her fiance’, would give the elders of the village the right to sentence Mary to death. Elizabeth’s confirmation of both her and her soon to be born son, John the Baptist, that the child within Mary is the Son of God, releases Mary from her fears.
The release of Mary’s fears is evidenced within the words of praise that Mary proclaims in the Magnificat. In this beautiful canticle, Mary expresses her love to the Lord. It is a love poem of Mary’s soul to the Lord for choosing her to bear the Son of God. Within Mary’s words, we too can find solace from our fears.
Through the power of the Son of God, whom Mary carries within her womb, even the lowliest of those in human society are granted favor. Mary’s baby has been sent into the world to save all peoples. Jesus is the Savior of all, whether rich or poor, low or mighty. No one is left out, because God’s love is for all of humanity. In God’s eyes humans are all on the same level. We all stand equally before our Maker. It is true that we cannot take our earthly riches with us after we die, but it is also true that we do not take our poverty with us when we die.
Yet, in order for all to understand the abundance of God’s love for all peoples; God chose a poor Jewish girl in Judea, during the oppression of the Roman Empire, to give birth to His only Begotten Son. Jesus Christ is the evidence in whom God has made His love present to all. No one can now say that God does not care, because God Almighty has given evidence of His love for all through Jesus the Christ. This evidence was confirmed by two witnesses even before the Son of God was born. Therefore, according to Jewish law, Jesus is the Messiah.
The Anointed One who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin will return to this earth on which He walked in human flesh. Of His reign, the prophet Micah has proclaimed, “he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.” In this knowledge, may we rejoice with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, and praise His name forever.
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