1. Stoffregen quotes one of my favorite Bible scholars, the late Raymond Brown, in his enormous book, The Birth of the Messiah. Like other commentators we've already looked at this week, Brown compares and contrasts the "annunciation stories" in Luke's Gospel: the announcement of John the Baptizer's impending birth to his father, Zechariah, and the announcement of Jesus' impending birth to his mother, Mary.
By comparing them, one sees that, at every turn, Jesus is portrayed as the greater of the two children to be born. John's birth to a post-menopausal woman is miraculous in its way, of course. But, Brown points out: "The birth of Jesus was like the miracle of creation--out of nothing, God created life." Creation out of nothing (to which some apply the Latin phrase, ex nihilo) exactly describes the birth of a child to a virgin!
2. Regarding Mary's favored status, Stoffregen quotes Eduard Schweizer, from the latter's book, The Good News According to Luke:
At the end Mary is indeed highly favored...If the virgin birth originally expressed the uniqueness of the Son of God, for the first narrator of our story it served far more to express the grace and favor of the word of God, which calls forth life out of nothing.3. Mary's "finding" of God's grace or favor isn't the result of her searching. It's simply a matter of her receiving a gift that is offered.
As I personally reflect on this, this is exactly how God's grace always works. We do nothing to earn God's blessings, most especially the blessing of new life offered to all with faith in Christ. God offers it. Mary, I suppose, could have spurned God's favor, just as we can. But having found that favor, Mary was loathe to reject it!
4. Mary, says Stoffregen, is "a model believer." I agree! She responds to the angel's announcement by fashioning herself as "the Lord's slave." This contrasts with Zechariah's response to Gabriel's announcement of John the Baptizer's birth; Zechariah didn't believe.
5. The biggest scandal of Jesus' birth has nothing to do with the virgin birth, but that a peasant is portrayed as king in David's lineage and that He's referenced as the "Son of the Most High," designating Him as enfleshing God Himself.
6. Finally, I like Stoffregen's citation of Cullpepper's commentary on Luke:
The ultimate scandal [in the Lucan narrative of Jesus' birth] is that God would enter human life with all its depravity, violence, and corruption. Therefore, the annunciation ultimately is an announcement of hope for humankind. God has not abandoned us to the consequences of our own sinfulness. Rather, God has sent Jesus as our deliverer. There is another way, a commonwealth under Jesus' Lordship that is without end.Amen!
[The first two passes at this week's Bible lesson are here and here.]
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