Midweek Advent 2

Intro

This was no ordinary word.  Of course, words from God never are.  

Such an extraordinary Word was spoken through the Angel Gabriel into the Virgin’s ear.  He said, “Don’t be afraid, Mary.  For you have found favor with God.  You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name Him, ‘Jesus’” (Luke 1:30-31).  

Main Body

This was no ordinary word.  For the power of God’s Word does what it says.  The Word in creation brought the world into being.  But now the spoken Word through the Angel Gabriel brings the Word, the Word Jesus, into being in the womb of Mary.  It is as we sang, “Not by human flesh and blood, by the Spirit of our God, was the Word of God made flesh–woman’s offspring, pure and fresh (LSB 332:2).

Indeed, not by human flesh and blood.  Yet Jesus, the eternal Word, is flesh and blood.  The One who will do the extraordinary looks to be ordinary.  All the while, He veils His divinity under human flesh.  Indeed, the divine and human being of Jesus is a deep mystery–a mystery at the heart of our faith.

At the center of it, we find the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of our Lord, the mother of the Son of God.  She gives birth to the One who is begotten of His Father before all worlds.  The One to whom she gave birth is God of God, Light of Light, and true God of true God. 

But now, Jesus is also fully human.  For us and our salvation, He “came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary.”  As He is of one divine nature with God the Father from all eternity, so He is now of the same human nature as me and you.  Jesus took on human flesh and was born of this woman, this daughter of Adam and Eve.

The advent of our Lord and the season of Advent hinges on this truth.  If you remove Mary of Nazareth, you no longer have the life-giving Gospel.  We know God could have done it some other way.  He’s God.  He can do that.  He could have chosen some other young virgin from the house and lineage of David to become pregnant and bear His one-and-only Son in the flesh.  However, nothing about our salvation is a “might have been.”  There is only that which the Lord has said and done.

Now, we must remember that Mary deserved none of this divine favor.  She, like me, like you, was, by nature, sinful and unclean.  She, like me, like you, had sinned against God in thought, word, and deed.  She, like me, like you, had sinned against God by what she had done and by what she had left undone.

Like me, like you, Mary had received the mercy of God.  It is especially in that way, as someone who received God’s mercy and grace in Christ Jesus, that Mary teaches us so beautifully the meaning of faith.

Mary did nothing to earn such favor with God.  She did nothing to deserve it.  Yet, the Lord was with her, as He is with you, here in His Church, in His Gospel.  He favors her with His grace.  Although with Mary, such favor and blessing was uniquely given.

Yet, the Lord also favors you and blesses you within your own vocations and stations in life.  Through the Angel Gabriel, the Lord spoke His Word to Mary.  He gave to her His own dear Son.  Yet, the Lord does not stop there.  He also speaks His Word to you.  And through that Word, He gives to you the same Son who was born of the Virgin Mary.

Oh, the power and mystery of God’s Word!  That holy and all-powerful Word was in the beginning with God.  Through that Word, all creation came into being.  That Word, which became flesh and came to live among us, is full of grace and truth!  Even more, that Word of Life is Spirit and Truth.  That Word speaks, “Let there be,” and then “it is so,” and “it is very good!”  Oh, the power and mystery of God’s Word!

This flesh-and-blood Jesus has won your salvation.  His sinless flesh becomes sin for you.  His spotless flesh, without blemish, was raised up on the fallen wood of the cross for you.  The One who spoke creation into existence cried out to the Father.  The One who is Life and Light was brought low in the darkness of death.  Hell and the devil did their worst to Him.

The coldness of death could not hold His immortal flesh.  He died to kill death.  He rose to bring life and immortality to light.  He lives that we might have life in Him.  “By Your mighty pow’r make whole all our ills of flesh and soul” (LSB 332:6).

Conclusion

God speaks to you, O sinner, and He declares that He is with you.  God has favored you with His gracious Word of forgiveness.  God has blessed you with His Holy Spirit.

In Holy Baptism, God has given you His holy name!  He has anointed you with His Holy Spirit.  That’s the same Holy Spirit who overshadowed the Virgin Mary and conceived the Son of God in her womb.  That’s the same Holy Spirit who spoke through the Angel Gabriel.  So you are also a child of the Father in heaven.

The Word proclaims your sins forgiven.  The Word invites: “Take, eat; this is My body.  Take, drink; this is My blood.”  The Word of Life makes it so.  The Word of God does what is says.

This is the Word spoken to you.  It is no less certain than the Word that was spoken to Mary.  Yes, the Holy Spirit through this Word creates faith within you and keeps in you in the one, true faith.  Amen.