Sermon Audio

He looks just like His mother...

There are three times during the year when we are taken back to Christmas. The first time, usually during Lent, in March 25th, when the Church observes the Annunciation of Our Lord. On that day is read the proclamation from the angel Gabriel to Mary that she will bear the Son and call His name Jesus. The second time, usually as Easter ends or Pentecost begins, is May 31st, when the Church celebrates Mary's visit with Elizabeth. On that day is read the account of Mary's visit and John's leaping for joy in the womb of Elizabeth—The Visitation. Sometimes, this day is observed on July 2nd. Finally, there is today, smack in the middle of the season of Pentecost, the day set aside for thanking God for being born of a lowly young maiden girl. Today, we heard the magnificent song this maiden girl sang as she visited with Elizabeth, the Magnificat—St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord.

And, like I mentioned half a month ago as we observed the feast of St. James the Major, today is not about Mary, but about Jesus. In that regard, we celebrate this day better than our Roman Catholic neighbors. Apart from our Confessions which proudly state that we celebrate the Mass better than they do, we recognize Christ at the center of the day. And especially today, we thank God for His incarnation; we thank God for Mary, simply because she was chosen to be the instrument by which God took on flesh and dwelled among us.

That is the crux of this day: Immanuel—God with us! How can this be? Let us back up to the reading for the Annunciation of Our Lord.

Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"
And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible." (Luke 1:30-37)

"[Y]ou will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son...The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be call the Son of God." The Holy Spirit will overshadow Mary and conceive in her womb a Son, and so God will take on flesh.

It's the fulfillment of the prophecy spoken through Isaiah: "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14) Immanuel...God with us, that is to say, God is in the flesh and with us, just as St. John the Evangelist wrote: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...." (John 1:14)

God taking on flesh is the reason for this day. It was the reason that God chose Mary to bear the Son. Not that there was anything special or holy about Mary; she simply found favor with God to be the bearer of the Christ—Christotokos in the theological tongue—to be the mother of God-in-the-flesh—Theotokos in the theological tongue.

And so, she is called blessed, not because of anything she has done, but because of the Baby developing in her as she sings her song—God is present with her...in her...full of grace and truth. Yet only a few cluster of cells, hardly recognizable as a walking, talking, breathing human being, this is the only true God in her womb. He, through whom all that was created came to be, and through whom all creation is held together, is taking on the form of a creature.

Christ Jesus,...being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:5b-7)

From the handmaiden of the Lord comes one like a bondservant who is the Lord!

And this, because of God's love for His creation, was necessary. It was necessary for God in Christ to be true man to take our place under the Law. It is man, not God, who is under God's Law. God gave His Law so that by keeping it, man could, in one place, honor God, show his love for God, and be holy according to God. However, man transgressed God's Law, making himself a god above the true God; now, the Law is given, in the second place, to show man how unlike God—how ungodly—he is—to show us our sin. Since the fall, man has been and ever will be unable to keep God's law; on the contrary, it is only God who is able to keep His Law.

For God to be under the Law, though, He had to become man. It was necessary for that to happen in order for God to be under the Law for us. And so, we have this verse from today's Epistle from St. Paul: "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:4-5) But that's not the only reason.

It was necessary for God to take on flesh also so that He could suffer and die. God is everlasting; since the fall, man is mortal. The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23) That is also to say there can be no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood—without a sacrifice. (Hebrews 9:22) Therefore, in order for our gracious and loving God to die in our place, to redeem us from sin, to erase the curse of the Law from us, not only did He have to take on flesh to be under the Law given to flesh, but He had to take on flesh so that in His flesh, He could spill His blood and die, and in that, be our ransom for sin. The letter to the Hebrews states: "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (Hebrews 2:14-15)

This is what it means to celebrate this day, to thank and praise God for His wondrous work through the Virgin Mary. God has come to man, taken on the same flesh as you have, to take your place under the Law (keeping it perfectly, as only God could do), and die for you. Of course, He doesn't stop there: Only the true God's fulfillment of the Law could be sufficient—for you and for all men. Only the true God's life and death could be a sufficient ransom for you and for all men. Only the true God could overcome death and the devil for you and for all men by rising again from the dead. Only true man, born of the Virgin Mary, and true God, begotten of the Father from eternity can do all of these things. That's how we confess it, too: Jesus Christ is true man, born of the Virgin Mary.

There is some fear and trepidation here, with good reason, too. We don't want to ascribe to Mary more honor than she is due. As mentioned, she is the instrument by which God took on human flesh in order to be our ransom. For this, all generations call her blessed. She also showed faith and trust in the promises of God when she replied to Gabriel, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38) May we learn from her example! For this should God be thanked and praised.

However, we also do not want to deny the great things done through her, or recognize her part in it, as the bearer of God-in-the-flesh. In doing so, we neglect, hold in low regard, or even deny the fact that God took on flesh to dwell among us and be our ransom. She is blessed, as the Word of God declares, because God has done to her great things; He has done those great things to her for her and for us. To deny that Mary is blessed is to deny the Word of God and the fleshiness of God in the person of His Son. And, to deny the fleshiness of God in Christ is to deny that only God could do that which He came to do in the flesh—be under the law for us and keep it perfectly, be a sufficient ransom for us by His suffering and death, and overcome death and the devil for us by his bodily resurrection. This reduces Jesus to little more than a great example: "What would Jesus do?" is the question often asked by those rubber bracelets.

No, we rightly recognize that through Mary, God has done great things, for her and for us. She does, too, not seeking any glory for herself, but recognizing that she has been chosen to bear the Savior of the world. That's why she sang as we had earlier:

My soul magnifies the Lord,

And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;

For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

For He who is mighty has done great things for me,

And holy is His name.

And His mercy is on those who fear Him

From generation to generation.

He has shown strength with His arm;

He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He has put down the mighty from their thrones,

And exalted the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

And the rich He has sent away empty.

He has helped His servant Israel,

In remembrance of His mercy,

As He spoke to our fathers,

To Abraham and to his seed forever.

All praise and thanks to God that through Mary He has taken on flesh to bear our sin and be our Savior. He looks just like His mother, but He has the will of His Father in Heaven, a will that says, "I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward," (Genesis 15:1) and you are forgiven for all of your sins.