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THE ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH

PART III
THE ANNUNCIATION

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It was fitting then, that just as death entered the world through the pride of our first parents, the entry of Life should be manifested by the humility of Mary.
St. Bede, The Gospel of Luke

Click here for a picture of the Church of the Annunciation: The church is built over the Grotto of the Holy Family; the site believed to be Joseph's home and workshop.

Click here for a picture of the Grotto of the Holy Family: In the 4^th -5^th centuries, Christian pilgrims carved Mary's name in Greek on the column.

+ + +

Please read Luke 1:26-38: The Annunciation

Luke 1:26-27: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 
It was the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy when the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a virgin named Mary (in Hebrew Miriam).  Notice how St. Luke's Gospel links the priestly family of St. John the Baptist to the family of Mary of Nazareth.

Question: How are the families related?  See Luke 1:5, 36.
Answer: Zechariah's wife is a kinswoman of Mary.  Both Zechariah and Elizabeth are descendants of the first High Priest, Aaron, the brother of Moses (Exodus 28:1; Luke 1:5).  Therefore, as well as being a descendant of King David (Luke 1:32), Mary also came from a priestly bloodline.

Question: Compare the birth narrative of John in Luke 1:1-25, 57-80 to the birth narrative of Jesus in Luke 1:26-56.  How many similarities do you see between the birth narratives of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospel of St. Luke?
Answer:

Luke 1:26-27: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

St. Luke makes a clear statement of Mary's virginity, using the Greek word parthenos, "virgin," twice in this passage.  It is the same Greek word for "virgin" that is used in the prophecy of the Old Testament Greek translation of Isaiah 7:14.

Mary was "betrothed" to a man named Joseph.  A betrothal was the first stage of an arranged marriage and lasted a year (Mishnah: Ketubot, 5:2).  The betrothal involved a ketuba, a formal contract in the presence of witnesses, in addition to the payment of the mohar, the "bride price" (see Malachi 2:14).  The second stage was when the bridegroom came to take the bride to his house.  At that time there was a seven-day marriage feast with the consummation of the union at the end of the first day (Genesis 29:27; Judges 14:18; Tobit 8:20; 27).  The betrothal gave the groom legal rights over the girl and the contract could only be broken by him through a rite of divorce.⁽¹⁾   Mary and Josephus were in the first stage of the marriage arrangements at the time of the Annunciation.

Question: What was significant about the Hebrew name of Mary's betrothed? See Genesis 30:22-23; 37:5-11; 40:5-23; 41:14-32; Matthew 1:19-21; 2:13, 19-20.
Answer: In Hebrew his name is Yosep, which means "let him add" (increase).  He was probably named for the beloved son of Jacob/Israel and his wife Rachel (Genesis 30:24ff).

Question: How were the Old Testament Joseph and the New Testament Joseph alike?
Answer:  They were alike in that they were both descendants of Jacob/Israel, and they both received prophetic messages associated with dreams.

Once again the angel Gabriel was the messenger.  The Greek word angelos means "messenger."  It is the same word that is used in the New Testament to identify both spiritual messengers (for example in Matthew 1:20, 24; 2:13, 19; Luke 1:11-38; Acts 5:19; Revelation 1:1), and human messengers (for example see Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27; 2 Corinthians 12:7).  The Greek word archangelos means "chief messenger," and is usually translated as "archangel."  The Church identifies Gabriel as one of the seven Archangels.

Question:  Where is the word "archangel" found is Scripture? What Bible passage supports the Church's identification of Gabriel as an Archangel? In addition to Gabriel, how many spiritual messengers are named in the Bible? See Tobit 12:15; Daniel 10:13; Luke 1:11, 19; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Jude verse 9; Revelation 8:2-4.
Answer: The word archangelos is only found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Jude verse 9.  There are only three angels (spiritual messengers) who are named in the Bible:

1. Gabriel (Hebrew = "God is my warrior"): Daniel 8:16; 9:21; Luke 1:19, 26.
2. Michael (Hebrew = "who is like God?" The only angel identified by name as an archangelos in Scripture): Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude verse 9 (named as the Archangel Michael); Revelation 12:7.
3. Raphael: (Hebrew = "God heals"): Tobit 12:15.

Gabriel and Raphael are also believed to be archangelos.  Gabriel is not called an archangelos in the Bible, but he is one of the seven Archangels (together with Michael and Raphael) identified in the apocryphal Book of Enoch, 20:1-7; 71:3.⁽²⁾  His position on the right side of the Altar of Incense (Luke 1:11) as well as his declaration: I am Gabriel who stand in God's presence (Luke 1:19) indicates that he is one of the seven "chief angels" who are privileged to stand to the right of the heavenly Incense Altar in the heavenly Sanctuary before the throne of God; see Revelation 8:2-4 and the prayer to St. Michael in the liturgy of the Tridentine Solemn High Mass of the Latin Rite which mentions St. Michael standing to the right in the heavenly Sanctuary. ⁽³⁾  One of the archangelos will have the honor of announcing the Parousia (the Second "Coming") of the Lord Jesus (2 Thessalonians 4:16; CCC#s 671-674; 1038; 1040).

Question: How many months after Gabriel's announcement to Zechariah did the same angel appear to a Jewish girl named Miriam (Mary)?  Where does Mary live?  See Luke 1:36-37.
Answer: Six months later the Angel Gabriel announced the Incarnation of the Messiah to a Jewish girl named Miriam (Mary) in the Galilean village of Nazareth.

The etymology of the Hebrew name "Miriam" is disputed, but there are scholars who believe it is related to the Egyptian word mrjt, meaning "beloved" (Fr. McKenzie, Dictionary of the Bible, page 580).  It was the name of Moses' older sister, who was born in Egypt.  It was Moses' sister, Miriam, who watched over and protected her baby brother as he floated down the Nile and into the arms of an Egyptian princess in Exodus 2:1-10. Miriam was recognized as Israel's first cantor and first prophetess.  At the time of the Incarnation, Miriam, the sister of Moses, was one of the most important women in the history of Israel (Exodus 2:4-9; 15:20-21; Numbers 12:1-10; 20:1).

Question: How can Miriam's relationship with Moses be compared to Mary's relationship with Jesus?
Answer: Miriam loved and supported God's prophet from the time of his birth.  She supported him in his ministry and shared in his sufferings'hers was a mission that would be similar to Miriam/Mary of Nazareth in her support of God's supreme prophet.  Mary would love and support Jesus from His birth to His Cross.  As prophesied by Simeon in Luke 2:34, Mary suffered with her son.

Question: Consult a map of the Holy Land in the New Testament era.  What do you notice about the village of Nazareth and the region of the Galilee?  What role did the Galilee play in Old Testament history? See Joshua 19:10-32; and 2 Kings 15:29; Isaiah 8:32; 9:1-6/7; and Matthew 4:13-16.
Answer: The Galilee is the region in the north of Israel which surrounds a large lake known in the 1^st century as the Sea of Galilee or by the Roman name, the Sea of Tiberias.  Nazareth is located in the lower Galilee, just north of the valley of Jezreel.  The village is 15 miles west of the Sea of Galilee and 20 miles from the Mediterranean Sea.  Located on one of the major trade routes, the Galilee became a crossroads connecting Egypt to Asia, giving the region a mixed population of Israelites and Gentiles.  Its diverse population earned the Galilee the biblical title gelil haggoyim, "the region of the nations" (Isaiah 8:32).  In the division of the Promised Land among the twelve tribes of Israel, the tribes of Zebulun, Naphtali, Asher, and Issachar were allotted portions of the Galilee (Joshua 19:10-39).  It was the first territory within Israel to be attacked, conquered, and depopulated by the Assyrians in the 8^th century BC (2 Kings 15:29).  The Prophet Isaiah prophesied the Galilee would be the first region where the Messiah would begin the promised restoration of the covenant people (Isaiah 9:1-6/7; quoted in Matthew 4:13-16).

Question: How does the suggested etymology of the place name Nazareth [Nazaret] as netzer, "shoot" or "branch," relate to Jesus' mission as the Messiah?  See Isaiah 11:1-2a.
Answer:  Isaiah used the Hebrew word netzer, "branch," as a reference to the promised Messiah who would come from the line of Jesse, the father of King David: A shoot [geza] will spring from the stock of Jesse, a new shoot [netzer] will grow from his roots.  On him will rest the spirit of Yahweh...

Note: The connection to the Hebrew word netzer as a Messianic title may be what St. Matthew was referring to when he wrote in Matthew 2:23 that prophecy was fulfilled when Joseph decided to settle in Nazareth after the holy family's return from Egypt: There he settled in a town called Nazareth.  In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled: 'He will be called a Nazarene.'  There is no prophecy in Scripture in which this phrase is found, but it could be a reference to Isaiah's prophecy of "the branch."

Luke 1:28: He went in and said to her, 'Rejoice, you who enjoy God's favor!  The Lord is with you.'

The angel's first words to Mary were not the same first words he spoke to Zechariah (compare Luke 1:13 to Luke 1:28).  When an angel greets a mortal human, his first greeting is usually one of assurance: "Don't be afraid" (see Genesis 21:17; Judges 6:23; Daniel 10:12; Luke 1:12; 2:10; Revelation 1:18), but the archangel was himself overcome to be in the presence of this mortal woman who had been chosen to bear in her womb God Incarnate.

Question: What was Gabriel's enthusiastic greeting to Mary?
Answer: The poor English translation in the New Jerusalem is: Rejoice, you who enjoy God's favor!  The New American Catholic Bible isn't much better with: Hail! Favored one!

In Luke 1:28 the announcement in the literal Greek is: Chare, kecharitomene [kah-ray kay-kah-ree-toe-may-nay].  Gabriel's greeting began with a salutation which can be translated as: Chare = "Hail."  This was a greeting, in an era when the identification of one's social status was paramount, which was commonly given to one of equal rank but more often a greeting to one who was superior in rank.  This word might be better translated as "Awesome one."  Notice that Gabriel did not greet Zechariah with the same degree of respect and status. The angel continued by addressing Mary by a title that was a past perfect participle of the Greek noun charis, meaning "grace": kecharitomene = "has been graced" (Fitzmyer, Gospel of Luke, page 345).

Gabriel addressed Mary by a title that identified her condition as having always been in a state of grace. A past perfect participle indicates a condition that existed in the past and continues in the present.   A better translation of the entire greeting might be "Awesome one who has been perfected in and continues in grace."  The most common rendering of this phrase is "Full of grace."  It is a transliteration of the Latin Vulgate translation of the text; however, "full of grace" is not what was being expressed in the Greek past perfect kecharitomene. "Full of grace" in the Greek would be pleres chariots, as it is used for Christ in John 1:14 and for St. Stephen in Acts 6:8.  Mary's title, kecharitomene, indicates a state which is beyond filled.  In addressing Mary with this title, the angel is signifying that she possesses, and has always possessed, a plentitude of divine grace (Keating, Catholicism and Fundamentalism, page268-69). That Mary was deeply disturbed by the angel's greeting (Luke 1:29) is evidence that someone of her humble station had received a greeting that was highly unusual.⁽⁵⁾

Note: English translations which render this phrase "Oh, favored one," are not an accurate reflection of the intension of the Greek text.

Question: How did Gabriel's greeting validate the Church's doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary?
Answer: The past perfect participle, kecharitomene, is proof that Mary always existed in a state of grace, even at the moment of her human conception.  God had "saved" her in advance of her birth, as a prefigurement of the new birth that New Covenant believers would experience in the Sacrament of Baptism, where original sin is forgiven.  See CCC# 404-405.

 The fathers and doctors of the Church taught what Pope Pius IX expressed in the encyclical Ineffabilis Deus: ... this singular, solemn and unheard-of greeting showed that all the divine graces reposed in the Mother of God and that she was adorned with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  This singular condition meant that Mary was never subject to the curse of original sin and that she was preserved from all sin.  The theologically explosive words of the Archangel Gabriel constitute one of the important text sources which reveal the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception (Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus; and Paul VI, Creed of the People of God).

• CCC# 490: To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role."  The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace."  In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.
• CCC# 491: Through the centuries the Church has become even more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception.  That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: "The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin." (quoting Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus).

Also see CCC # 492-493; 722.

Gabriel continued in his greeting by adding: The Lord is with you. 

Question: What is the significance of this part of the angel's greeting?
Answer: More than a greeting, these words are an affirmation of Mary's unique condition in her relationship with God.

St. Augustine explain the depth of Gabriel's words to convey that the angel was saying: He is more with you than he is with me: he is in your heart, he takes shape within you, he fills your soul, he is in your womb... (Sermon on the Nativity of God, 4).

At the end of this verse some early Greek texts include the words: Blessed are you among women! -- an exultation that St. Elizabeth would later make during Mary's visit in Luke 1:42.

Question: What are the implications of Mary's state of blessedness in the context of salvation history as expressed by the phrase "Blessed are you among women?"
Answer: That God has exalted Mary over all the women ever born.   She is more blessed than the mothers of the children of the covenant'women like Sarah, or Rebecca, or Rachel, or Hannah, because she has been chosen to be the Mother of God (Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, will call her "the mother of my Lord" in Luke 1:43).

Luke 1:29-33: She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, 'Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favor.  Look!  You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; and he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.'

After this initial greeting, Mary's fear prompted the angel to reassure her with the words, Mary, do not be afraid, you have won God's favor (Luke 1:30).  Mary's fear does not imply any imperfection in her but rather her fear is a reflection of her natural reaction to this encounter with the supernatural.  Her fear also is a reflection of her humility.

Question: In Luke 1:30-33 Gabriel told Mary that she had won God's favor and was to be the Mother of the Son of God.  What prophecy did these words fulfill?  The Jews of Mary's generation were looking for the fulfillment of these verses.  See Isaiah 7:14 and 9:1-6.
Answer: These significant verses are the prophecies of Isaiah in the 8th century BC.  The prophecy in 7:14 was the sign Isaiah gave to king Ahaz of the future deliverance of Israel when a virgin would give birth to a child who would be known as "God with us."  The prophecy in Isaiah 9:1-6 concerned the promised restoration of Israel in the future, after the Northern Kingdom was conquered and the ten tribes disbursed into the Gentile world by the Assyrians (prophecy fulfilled in 722BC).  The promised restoration was to begin in the Galilee.

In fact, in Matthew 1:20-24 when an angel appeared in a dream to Mary's betrothed, Joseph of Nazareth, to prepare him for the great honor of parenting the Son of God, the 7:14 passage from Isaiah is quoted:  Now all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "Look! The virgin is with child and will give birth to a son whom they will call Immanuel, a name which means 'God-is-with-us'" (Matthew 1:22).  St. Matthew would also quote the Isaiah 9:1-6 prophecy in Matthew 4:13-16.

In Luke 1:34, Mary asked Gabriel: How can this come about since I have no knowledge of a man?

Question: Why didn't Gabriel rebuke Mary as he had rebuked Zechariah?
Answer: Mary asked a very practical question in light of her virginity; she was not expressing a lack of faith or an unwillingness to cooperate in God's plan for her life.  God is not an impatient or overbearing Father who discourages questions from His children who are seeking to understand His will for them.

Luke 1:35: The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow.  And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God.

Question: What is the significance of the angel's reply?
Answer: He told her that the Spirit of God would "overshadow" her.  The "shadow" of God is symbolic of the presence of the Almighty.

Question: Can you think of events in the Old Testament when God presence was expressed as an "overshadowing" presence?
Answer: In the Exodus experience, when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai a cloud overshadowed the mountain (see Exodus 25:15-16), and when God took possession of the Ark of the Covenant in the dedication of the desert Tabernacle a cloud overshadowed the Sanctuary which contained the Ark of the Covenant (see Exodus 40:34-35).  The same phenomenon was witnessed when God took possession the Ark in the Holy of Holies during the dedication of the Temple of God in Jerusalem that King Solomon built in 1 Kings 8:7.

In the Septuagint Greek translation of the Old Testament Bible, in use in the 1st century AD, the Greek verb used to describe the divine "overshadowing" of the Sanctuary and the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus 40:34-35 is the same Greek word, episkiazein (from the verb episkiazo), used to describe the Holy Spirit's "overshadowing" of the Virgin Mary in Luke 1:35 (see Septuagint Old Testament translation; Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon, page 242).  The Greek word episkiazein is also used in the Transfiguration experience (Matthew 17:5; Luke 9:34) when the voice of God was heard coming from a cloud which cast its shadow over those assembled on the mountain, and it is used in Acts 5:15 when St. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, approached the sick and his shadow was cast over them and they were healed.  The shadow of God is the gentlest manifestation of His Divine Presence'how tenderly He overshadowed the Virgin Mary to change all of human history.

Question:  In Exodus 40:34 God overshadowed the Sanctuary that held the Ark of the Covenant when His presence came to dwell on it (Exodus 25:10, 21-22).  Is there a connection between the Virgin Mary and the Ark of the Covenant?  What were the three items that were later placed in the Ark of the Covenant when it resided in the Jerusalem Temple?  See Hebrews 9:4. Compare Mary's womb with the description of the contents of the Ark of the Covenant from Hebrews 9:4.
Answer:

*As you will recall, "Branch" is a prophetic title for the Messiah in the books of the prophets: Isaiah 4:2, 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15; Zechariah 3:8; 6:12.

The sacred box of the Ark of the Covenant, upon which God's presence rested, was last seen just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem when Jeremiah hid the Ark and the Tent of the desert Sanctuary in a cave on Mt. Nebo in 387/6BC (see 2 Maccabees 2:ff).  The Prophet Jeremiah foretold that the time would come when the box of the Ark would not be important to the covenant people (Jeremiah 3:16).

Question: But will the faithful remnant of Israel, who will become the New Covenant Church of the people of God, be deprived of a sacred vessel associated with the very presence of God?
Answer:  No! The Virgin Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant!

Question: What was the Holy Spirit's role in preparing Mary for the Incarnation of the Messiah, and what was the result?
Answer:

1. The Holy Spirit prepared Mary in advance for the Incarnation of the Son by infusing her with His grace at the moment of her conception: By the Holy Spirit's power and her faith, her virginity became uniquely fruitful (CCC # 723).
2. In preparing Mary, the Holy Spirit was fulfilling God the Father's promise for the salvation of humanity: I shall put enmity between you and the woman.... (Genesis 3:15)
3. In Mary the Holy Spirit manifested God the Son enfleshed who then became the Son of God within the womb of a human mother who is both fruitful mother and ever virgin'Mary became the "burning bush" of a definitive Theophany.  Filled with the Holy Spirit she made the Word visible in the humility of His flesh through her DNA.

The result was two fold:

1. Through the Virgin Mary, the Holy Spirit began to fulfill God's plan to bring humanity into communion with Christ.
2. The Holy Spirit made Mary the Ark of the New Covenant'bearing the presence of God in her womb: For Yahweh is creating something new on earth: the Woman shall compass a man (Jeremiah 31:22b).  This is the literal Hebrew translation from Jeremiah's prophecy concerning promise of the New Covenant (see Jeremiah 31:22-34).  The "something new" was a reversal of the old creation when the first virgin (Eve) came from the body of the first man (Adam).  In the beginning of the new creation, the second Adam (Jesus) came from the body of the second Eve (the Virgin Mary).  What made this event "new" is that this time the woman who held a man-child in her womb was a virgin, and the man-child was God enfleshed.

THE VIRGIN MARY AS THE ARK OF THE NEW COVENANT

"Mary, in whom the Lord himself has just made his dwelling, is the daughter of Zion in person, the Ark of the Covenant, the place where the glory of God dwells. She is 'the dwelling of God [...] with men.'" CCC#2676

In Luke 1:31-33 the angel Gabriel told Mary: you must name him Jesus. In the Greek text of the New Testament, his name is rendered Iesous, but this was not the name His family and friends called Him.  Jesus' Hebrew name was (in old Hebrew) Yah'shua; in Jesus' time His Hebrew name had evolved into Yehosua.

Question: What is the significance of the name "Yah'shua/Yehosua?"  What important person in the Old Testament had this same name? Hint: see Deuteronomy 31:1-8; Matthew 1:21.
Answer: Mary is told to the give the Messiah the Hebrew name Yah'shua [in proto-Hebrew] or Yehosua in the first century BC/AD.  An angel told Joseph the significance of the child's name in a dream: She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).  The angel's statement to Joseph is a word play on Jesus' Hebrew name. His name literally means "Yahweh saves" or "Yahweh is salvation", or even more literally, "I AM saves." It is the same Hebrew name as Moses' successor, Joshua (Numbers 13:16).⁽⁴⁾

Question: How does Jesus' Hebrew name, Yah'shua, announce both His destiny and His mission?
Answer: Since God alone can offer the gift of salvation and the forgiveness of sin, it is God the eternal Son whose mission and destiny is to save humanity, just as His name suggests: "I AM saves"/ "I AM is salvation".

Jesus' Hebrew name is a theophoric name, a name compound that includes the name of a deity as part of the name.  In this case the Yah is a prefix for Yahweh: "Yah" is a short form that represents the Tetragrammaton, YHWH, the name God revealed to Moses: the "I AM" of the burning bush in Exodus 3:13-15.  The name "I AM saves" or Yahweh saves" signifies the very name of God present in the person of the second person of the Most Holy Trinity made man for the redemption from sin of all of mankind: there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

Jesus is the promised son of David's line who will rule forever (Luke 1:32-33 and 2 Samuel 7:12-16).  He is the one greater than Moses promised in Deuteronomy 18:17-18, and He is God's anointed who will lead His people across the great "river" of physical death into the true Promised Land of Heaven, as prefigured by Joshua who led the children of Israel across the Jordan River into the Promised Land of Canaan (Joshua 3:1-17).

Question: Compare the promises the angel Gabriel made to Mary concerning Jesus' destiny in Luke 1:31-33 and the promises God made to King David in 2 Samuel 7:9-16
Answer:

Both Moses and Joshua are "types" of Christ.  These men played an important role in God's plan for man's salvation.  Their ministries prefigured the mission of the Messiah in leading His people in a "new Exodus" liberation out of sin and death and in opening the way into the Promised Land of Heaven.

Question: Typology is the method Christian students of the Bible use to understand the historical and theological relationships between people and events recorded in Sacred Scripture.  Typology guides the Bible student to look at each event and person in salvation history as that person or event may be linked to what preceded in the biblical record and linked to what will come after, uniting the reader to the divine mystery of the progression of God's plan for the salvation of mankind (CCC# 128-130).  Compare Moses to Jesus.  How was Moses a "type" of Christ?
Answer:

See CCC# 129-130

Question: Jesus will be both a new Moses and a new Joshua. How is Joshua a "type" of Jesus the Messiah?
Answer:

Luke 1:36-38: 'And I tell you this too: your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.'

The angel told Mary that her kinswoman Elizabeth was six months pregnant.  Most English translations use the word "cousin" when in fact the exact nature of the relationship is unknown. The Greek word is a general term which is more accurately translated as "kinswoman" (Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. I, page 260).

After revealing to Mary the miracle that was also working in the life of her kinswoman Elizabeth, the angel Gabriel summed up his announcement of the birth of the Messiah and at the same time answered Mary's question in Luke 1:34 by the statement: for nothing is impossible for God.

Question: Where is this same statement found in Old Testament Scripture and what are the circumstances associated with that declaration?  If Mary knew her Scriptures (and the numerous Scripture references in the Magnificat indicate that she did), she would have recognized this declaration and would have made the comparison between when it was used in Genesis and her knowledge of God's divine intervention in her life and the miracle in the lives of her elderly relatives Zechariah and Elizabeth.  See Genesis 18:1-15.
Answer: In Genesis chapter 18, three divine messengers visited Abraham and Sarah, revealing to them that Sarah was to give birth to a promised son (promised in Genesis 15:4 and 17:16-17).  Sarah expressed her amazement that, in her barren old age, she and her husband would conceive a child (at age 89 Sarah no longer had her monthly periods and Abraham was 99 years old).  In response, the angel told her: Nothing is impossible for Yahweh (Genesis 18:14).  A year later, when Sarah was 90 and Abraham 100, their miracle baby Isaac was born (Genesis 21:1-5).  The repetition of basically the same declaration made to the father and mother of her people by another divine messenger must have reassured Mary.  If God could make an old woman long past childbearing years fertile and give them a son, as He did with both Sarah and Elizabeth, He could give a virgin a child without the seed of a man.  God had worked great miracles in the past for her people and He was continuing to work out the salvation of man through other great acts of mercy.

Mary was now prepared to give her answer: 'You see before you the Lord's servant, let it happen to me [let it be done to me] as you have said.'  And the angel left her (Luke 1:38).

Question: How does Mary identify herself in the first part of her statement?  What Old Testament heroine identified her relationship to God in the same way?  See 1 Samuel 1:11.
Answer: Mary humbly identified herself as God's female slave/servant.  The Greek word is doule, the feminine of doulos = male slave/servant.  In the ancient world, all servants were slaves.  Mary identified her relationship to God with the same humility as Hannah, the mother of the Prophet Samuel when she petitioned God to give her a son.

Then Mary completely submitted herself to the Lord with the words: 'let it happen to me [let it be done to me] as you have said.'  It is at this moment in Mary's verbal ascent that the Incarnation took place as God the Holy Spirit "overshadowed" and enveloped the Virgin Mary.  This is the same Spirit of God who moved over the face of the water of Creation, bringing life (Genesis 1:2-31).  Now He came, bringing life to the Virgin's womb.  The fruit her womb was the work of God the Holy Spirit (CCC# 697).  This worthy Virgin, conceived herself without the stain of sin, became the new Tabernacle of God'the Ark of the New Covenant (see Revelation 11:19-12:1)!  This is the mystery Catholics reflect upon every time they pray the Angelus:

The angel of the Lord announced unto Mary.
And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,
blessed are you among women and
blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
Hail Mary, etc.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
Hail, Mary, etc.

Pour forth; we beseech Thee, O Lord,
Thy grace into our hearts;
that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son
was made known by the message of an Angel,
may, by His passion and cross,
be brought to the glory of His Resurrection;
through the same Christ our Lord. Amen

(from my great-grandmother's prayer book: Key of Heaven, 1906).

Once God's plan was revealed to her, Mary yielded herself in complete faithfulness and obedience, responding in perfectly humility to God's will for her life.  This is Mary's "fiat" = "let it be done."  In yielding herself to God in this moment, she became the first Christian and the model for all Christians of all generations throughout all the coming Ages of man (CCC# 967).

Commenting on this passage in his homily in Mexico City in January of 1979, Pope John Paul II noted that there are four dimensions to Mary's faithfulness:

• First was her faithfulness in what John Paul referred to as the "search" when she humbly sought to understand God's plan for her and for the world in her simple question: how can this be?
• The second dimension of her faithfulness was her "acceptance" when Mary's response was her simple fiat, "Let it be done."
• Pope John Paul II noted that the third dimension was Mary's faithfulness in "consistency" in that she adapted her life in faithful obedience to God's plan of salvation.  No matter what the cost to her personally, Mary faithfully submitted he life to God.
•  Pope John Paul II spoke of the fourth dimension of Mary's faithfulness as her "constancy," when he said: But all faithfulness must pass the most exacting text, that of duration.  Therefore, the fourth dimension of faithfulness is constancy. It is easy to be consistent for a day or two.  It is difficult and important to be consistent for one's whole life.  It is easy to be consistent in the hour of enthusiasm; it is difficult to be so in the hour of tribulation.  And only a consistency that lasts throughout the whole of life can be called faithfulness.  Mary's 'fiat' in the Annunciation finds its fullness in the silent 'fiat' that she repeats at the foot of the Cross (Homily in Mexico City Cathedral, 26 January 1979).

Take a moment to reflect on the typology between the events of the Incarnation and events in the Old Testament.  Take for example, the typological link between the Virgin Mary and the Church.  The Church has always viewed Mary as a spiritual symbol of the Church as the virgin Bride of Christ. Like the Virgin Mary the Church is "ever virgin" and yet a "fruitful mother" (CCC# 972).  The Fathers of the Church also saw Abraham's servant, who was sent to find a virgin bride for Abraham and Sarah's son Isaac, as a symbolic "type" of God the Holy Spirit.

Question: How is the Holy Spirit's role in the Incarnation similar to the role of Abraham's servant who was sent to secure a virgin bride for Isaac?  Who are the main characters in the story? See Genesis 24:1-67. Hint: Does the Holy Spirit have a name?
Answer: The Holy Spirit is the only person of the Holy Trinity who does not have a personal name.  In the story in Genesis 24, the main characters in the story are the just father, Abraham, the unnamed servant, the virgin Rebekah, and the beloved son, Isaac.  God the Holy Spirit is the unnamed servant who, sent by the Father, finds the faithful virgin bride, Mary of Nazareth for the beloved Son.

Question: The Church Fathers often referred to God the Holy Spirit as the "Unnamed Servant" in their writing.  They saw the mission of the Holy Spirit to the virgin bride Mary as similar to the mission of Abraham's unnamed servant in Genesis 24.  Compare the major players in the Genesis narrative with the Most Holy Trinity, with Mary and with the New Covenant Church.
Answer:

Question: What is the Holy Spirit's mission in the New Covenant?  How is His mission similar to the mission of Abraham's unnamed servant?
Answer: It is His mission to bring the "Bride"= the Church, to the Bridegroom = Christ:  However, when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth... (John 16:13; also see John 14:26; 15:26). The Church Fathers also saw Mary as a symbol of the Church (CCC# 773; 829; 972).

In the Bible, a bride is always courted at a well:

1. Rebekah was courted by the unnamed servant sent by Abraham to find a bride for Isaac at a well (Genesis 24:1-67)
2. Jacob met Rachel, his future bride, at a well (Genesis 29:1-18)
3. The Midianite maiden Zipporah was rescued at a well by Moses and was later married to him (Exodus 2:16-22).

It is an ancient tradition of Eastern Rite Christians that the angel Gabriel announced the birth of the Messiah to Mary at the village well in Nazareth.

Click here for a picture of Mary's well in Nazareth:  Mary's well is located next to the Church of St. Gabriel in Nazareth.

Endnotes:
1. Mishnah: Ketubot; Fr. Fitzmyer, The Anchor Bible: The Gospel According to Luke, page 343; J. Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus, page 368.
2. A non-canonical book written sometime between the 4^th century BC and the turn of the era; it seems to have been widely quoted in the 1^st century AD.  St. Michael is also identified as the leader of the Archangels in the non-canonical text, The Ascension of Isaiah, 3:16, and as the recording angel for the "Book of Life" in the same document, 9:19-23.
3. The Tridentine Mass is the Eucharistic liturgy according to the Roman Missal promulgated by the apostolic constitution Quo Primum of Pope Pius V on July 14, 1570. Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution, promulgating the Roman Missal revised the Tridentine (Etmy.  Latin from Tridentum, ancient form of "Trent, "referring to the Council of Trent) Mass by decree of Vatican II, April 3, 1969. 
4. Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon #2424 translate Iesous as "whose help is Yahweh." The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 3, page 773: Jesus Christ is a composite name made up of the personal name "Jesus" (from Gk Iesous, which transliterates Heb/Aram yesu(a), a late form of Hebrew Yehosua, the meaning of which is "YHWH is salvation" or YHWH saves/has saved")....
5. It is unlikely that the angel used the common Hebrew/Aramaic greeting, shalom.  The Greek word chaire, as a greeting is only found in the Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures four times.  In Zephaniah 3:14; Joel 2:21; and Zechariah 9:9, it is used in an address to the covenant people announcing a prophecy concerning the restoration of Israel.  The fourth time it is used is in Lamentations 4:21 as an ironic greeting announcing the judgment on Edom who will "drink God cup of wrath" in judgment.  `

Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2002 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.

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