Thursday of the Third Week of Advent

Lectionary 9

Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God;
let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!

King Ahaz, in an uncharacteristic and ill-timed moment of piety, swore he would not ask the Lord or his prophet Isaiah for a sign. More likely, he intended only to brush off the prophet. But the Lord gave him a sign anyway, one which we shall always treasure.

The Virgin Birth of Jesus fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy; it is indeed as deep as the nether world and as high as the sky. It is a mystery whose meaning and weight are beyond our comprehension. 

Even before disbelieving skeptics consider the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, they trip upon the stumbling stone and are scandalized by the absurdity of the Virgin Birth of Jesus.

Literal-minded Christian fundamentalists and secular scientists often interpret the sign as a point of faith. They might say, “You must believe this or you are no Christian.” Even Catholic tradition has sometimes been distracted by the challenge of Mary’s virginity, explaining it with graphic biological detail that is not fit for the pulpit.

Our better traditions understand Mary as the “flower of her race.” Almost two millennia before she was born the Lord chose Abraham and Sarah as her ancestors. Their covenant with God passed from one generation to the next, through a tortured, complicated history. At times the people acted as if they had forgotten entirely the God who chose them. Their rituals were insincere; their morals, tainted; and their fidelity, as reliable as quicksand. 

But at times it seemed God had given up on them. When Jerusalem was overwhelmed, the temple looted, people murdered and survivors enslaved, how could they not suppose that God had abandoned his Chosen?

But neither party could forget the covenant. The people still remembered God and kept to his ways. They honored the traditions, worshipped in their homes and taught their children the stories and prayers. And the Lord continued to shower them with blessings. Finally, at a time when the nation was “filled with expectation,” Mary was born, the Immaculate Conception. No one knew her by that name, of course. If anyone noticed her holiness, it was left to the Angel Gabriel and Saint Luke to make it public.

She was the virgin who conceived a baby, 

not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

The Lord “overshadowed” her as the Cloud of Glory (Shekina) had overshadowed Zion, Jerusalem and the Temple for hundreds of years. But this astonishing mystery, deep as the nether world, (and) high as the sky is hidden from the wise and the clever and revealed only to little ones. 

Only the faithful comprehend what happened to her. In the blessings God showered upon Mary, we see our virginity restored. She is the holy city, the sanctuary and temple; the highest mountain raised above the hills. She is the virgin daughter of my people.

And yet, even this marvelous sign is not God’s final blessing. It is simply the Dawn before the Daystar of Christmas.

Mary the dawn, Christ the Perfect Day;Mary the gate, Christ the Heavenly Way!Mary the root, Christ the Mystic Vine;Mary the grape, Christ the Sacred Wine!Mary the wheat, Christ the Living Bread;Mary the stem, Christ the Rose blood-red!Mary the font, Christ the Cleansing Flood;Mary the cup, Christ the Saving Blood!Mary the temple, Christ the temple's Lord;Mary the shrine, Christ the God adored!Mary the beacon, Christ the Haven's Rest;Mary the mirror, Christ the Vision Blest!Mary the mother, Christ the mother's SonBy all things blest while endless ages run. Amen.