The Annunciation of Our Lord

 

 

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:31)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Merry Christmas! We are just a few days away from Palm Sunday and Holy Week. We are concluding the 40 days of Lent, and we hear those words that are far from our thoughts and lips. Merry Christmas! It is a strange greeting indeed to hear or read. It is, of course, March 25th. We are 9 months out from the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The words of the Christmas greeting do not roll off our tongue and lips with the same excitement as they will in 9 months. We have hesitation in those words as they are reminders of a season of joy. The end of the season of Lent tends not to be a joy-filled time. We are almost to the cross. Our reflection and meditation on our need for a savior began back at Ash Wednesday when the ashes of last year’s palm branches were placed on our heads. Now, on this day, we pause to reflect on the Annunciation of our Lord. The visitation of the Angel Gabriel with Mary, the mother of our Lord.

The visitation remembered during Lent is a stark reminder of why Jesus was conceived. The incarnation of our Lord is a profound teaching regarding God the Son becoming flesh. The incarnation is important enough that it is included in all of our creeds that we confess. In the Second Article, we confess, “He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Incarnation theology is one of the core components of our salvation. At that very moment, conception, He became man. He became human. The Son of Man and the Son of God now dwells in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary. The Holy, Holy, Holy God is human.

In His humanity, the perfect sacrifice comes into the world. True man and True God. It will be the sacrifice of human flesh for the redemption of human flesh. No other human could fulfill what was necessary for our salvation. Our deadness, our separation from God in sin, could only be restored through the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ (John 1:14). Incarnation language is foreign to the secular world this time of year. We as confessing Lutherans boldly speak of the incarnation, because in the incarnation is the final sacrifice for our sins.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O Lord, as we have known the incarnation of Your Son, Jesus Christ, by the message of the angel to the virgin Mary, so by the message of His cross and passion bring us to the glory of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for the Annunciation of our Lord)