The Annunciation of our Lord Jesus Christ to Mary
Written By Blake Plympton
The Annunciation by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God… 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. – Luke 1:26-30, 38
As I was looking up images for this feast day, my mind constantly shifted around to everything pictured in this event. For example, in the painting I chose for this feast day, I noticed that there is a robust wooden nightstand, covered with a green tablecloth with a printed bible on it, lilies in a glass vase, white linens in a wicker basket, and nicely laid tile floor that the angel and Mary are kneeling on. There are so many depictions of this scene for us to ponder and reflect on. However, no matter how hard I try, I cannot seem to get away from the modernization of the depictions and the oddities in them. The more I look at them, the more that I can see the desires of the mind of minds being put onto the page.
First, let’s think about the Bible. There definitely was not a printed, personal bible for Mary to have or own in her private quarters. The Bible was not even completed yet, so how could she have one? This probably stems from our desire to see Mary as a woman dedicated to scripture. One who was worthy because of her devotion to the Word and God’s commands. To some degree, this is probably true. It would be uncharacteristic of God that He would have chosen a non-Jewish, pagan woman to bring about salvation to the Jews and eventually to the whole world. But nowhere in the Old Testament do we see any sort of prophecy for the woman who is to bear the Christ to know the scriptures by heart from beginning to end.
Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci
Let’s take a look at another depiction of this event through the eyes of Leonardo da Vinci. The first thing that stands out to me immediately is the stand that the Bible is on (notice again that a Bible is present in this painting as well). Putting aside the perfectly made stone building and the almost modern-looking bed barely pictured in the background, there would be no way Mary could have that piece of furniture. Not only would the craftsman probably not be able to make it since that stone would not have been available in the middle east, but Mary, most likely, would also not have been able to afford something so elegant. However, we want Mary to have some sort of status. Why else would she be picked? God would not have picked someone that was poor or low status, would he?
Now, I still have to admit that even I am not 100% certain about what exactly the event looked like, and I am not really all that interested in getting to that 100%. But I do think that it is important that we strip some of these assumptions away so we can get to the heart of what is happening. God is calling her to take part in the story of redemption to which she, as a faithful servant, is saying yes.
Sometimes, I think we want Mary to be those things: to be a woman of scripture who knew it back and forth, to be a woman who comes from great means, to be a woman from a royal line worthy of having that level of honor of birthing a king. But after recognizing and removing the historical imprints put on these paintings, we are left with stripped down painting of a woman who comes from limited means. A woman who had no other significant lineage of her own to boast from, but rather was married into a line that had major significance. Mary, laying or sitting that night, was just an obedient servant.
Over the years, a theology around Mary (Mariology) has been developed with this passage. There is a lot to Mariology and I admittedly do not understand or know all of it. Some of it, I simply do not believe, while parts of it I can greatly respect and others that I cannot even explain. At the end of the day, I simply want to be like Mary in her willingness to follow God’s will. I want to hear God clearly call me in everyday life to be a light to the world. I want to show Jesus to my neighbors, coworkers, strangers around me, and my family. As he calls me to greater works, I want to be ready to say “yes”.
Collect for The Annunciation (BCP 2019, p.627)
Pour your grace into our hearts, O Lord, that we who have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ, announced by an angel to the Virgin Mary, may by his Cross and passion be brought to the glory of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Questions for Reflection
When you think about this story, what normally comes to mind?
Look at several different paintings of this event. What are some of the “oddities” that you noticed about the paintings?
What questions come to your mind about Mary and her significance in the church? How would you answer those?
How would you describe your unique calling to someone?
What do you think it means to be called?
Do you think you have a unique call?
How would you describe the unique impact this moment has on the story of scripture?