1 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,400 Hi everyone. Welcome back to logical Bible 2 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:15,700 study. Today we're looking at a really 3 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,100 famous reading. This is one that most Catholics 4 00:00:18,100 --> 00:00:22,900 know and love and it's read many times in the liturgical year and 5 00:00:22,900 --> 00:00:25,800 it's quite a beautiful reading in many ways, it teaches us 6 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,300 about the richness of various things. 7 00:00:28,300 --> 00:00:31,000 There's some information We learn from this about the 8 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,700 Trinity, a whole lot of stuff about Mary about angels, and the 9 00:00:34,700 --> 00:00:36,900 way it weaves in the Old Testament, that it's really 10 00:00:36,900 --> 00:00:39,900 quite beautiful and there's a whole lot of different 11 00:00:39,900 --> 00:00:42,000 directions. You can take this reading in and 12 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,800 so obviously we can't cover everything but we want to give 13 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,100 you a glimpse at various things that Scholars have pointed out 14 00:00:48,100 --> 00:00:51,600 about this famous text. So we're looking at Luke chapter 15 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:56,000 1 verses 26 to 38. Here's the reading for today. 16 00:00:57,700 --> 00:01:01,700 The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called 17 00:01:01,700 --> 00:01:06,700 Nazareth to a virgin betrothed, to a man named Joseph of the 18 00:01:06,700 --> 00:01:10,600 House of David. And the virgin's name was Mary 19 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,900 He went in and said to her Rejoice, so highly favored. 20 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:20,300 The Lord is with you. She was deeply disturbed by 21 00:01:20,300 --> 00:01:23,900 these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean. 22 00:01:24,500 --> 00:01:28,600 But the angel said to her Mary, do not be afraid. 23 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:33,200 You have one God's favor. Listen, you are to conceive and 24 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:38,000 bear a son, and you must name him Jesus, he will be great, and 25 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,100 will be called, son of the most high. 26 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,800 The Lord God will give him the Throne of his ancestor David, he 27 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:48,400 will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his reign will 28 00:01:48,700 --> 00:01:53,300 Have no end. Mary said to the angel but how 29 00:01:53,300 --> 00:01:55,900 can this come about since I am a virgin? 30 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,900 The holy spirit will come upon you, the angel answered and the 31 00:02:00,900 --> 00:02:03,700 power of the most high will cover you with its shadow. 32 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,699 And so, the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. 33 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:14,300 No, this to your kinswoman Elizabeth has in her old age 34 00:02:14,500 --> 00:02:18,800 herself, conceived a son and she whom people called Barren, she 35 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:23,100 is now in her sixth month for nothing is impossible to God. 36 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,200 Mary said, I am the handmaid of the Lord. 37 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,800 Let what you have said, be done to me and the angel left her. 38 00:02:33,700 --> 00:02:36,400 So I'm sure many of you have heard this reading before and 39 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:39,400 you probably already know quite a bit about the various facts 40 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:41,900 that play into what's going on in this text. 41 00:02:41,900 --> 00:02:45,100 But there's probably also some aspects of this that you may not 42 00:02:45,100 --> 00:02:47,400 be as aware of. So let's dive into it. 43 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:50,400 What's the context? So just before this we have the 44 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:52,600 story of Elizabeth and Zachariah. 45 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:54,800 So Elizabeth has just become pregnant. 46 00:02:54,900 --> 00:02:57,000 Don't even though Zechariah didn't believe that it could 47 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:58,600 happen. So if you want to hear what 48 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,700 happens just before this, you can hear that on December 19th 49 00:03:02,700 --> 00:03:05,400 every year. So the story of Zechariah and 50 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,100 Elizabeth and then it leads straight into today. 51 00:03:08,100 --> 00:03:12,100 And of course, what we have today is the famous Annunciation 52 00:03:12,100 --> 00:03:14,300 scene when the angel appears to marry. 53 00:03:15,100 --> 00:03:19,000 This is the key text at various times in the liturgical year. 54 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,100 So you'll hear this every year on the solemnity of the 55 00:03:22,100 --> 00:03:25,900 Annunciation and also on the solemnity Of the Immaculate 56 00:03:25,900 --> 00:03:28,100 Conception. So it's the same Gospel reading 57 00:03:28,100 --> 00:03:32,500 for those key feasts, and it's also on various other Marian 58 00:03:32,500 --> 00:03:35,600 feasts, which is celebrated in different parts of the world at 59 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:38,400 different times. So, let's start here at verse 60 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:40,400 26. Now, if you look at the Bible, 61 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,600 verse 26 actually has a phrase here that it's not in our 62 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,300 lectionary today. So it starts with in the sixth 63 00:03:46,300 --> 00:03:48,700 month. So that means we're talking 64 00:03:48,700 --> 00:03:52,700 about this happens in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy. 65 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:57,800 It says the angel L was sent by God to a town called Nazareth. 66 00:03:58,800 --> 00:03:59,800 So who's Gabriel? Well. 67 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:01,600 He's actually already appeared in this chapter. 68 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,900 If you look at the earlier story, he's already appeared to 69 00:04:04,900 --> 00:04:08,900 Zechariah so he's been busy in this time period. 70 00:04:08,900 --> 00:04:11,400 And in fact, he's already appeared in the Old Testament, 71 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:12,500 as well. If you look at the Book of 72 00:04:12,500 --> 00:04:17,000 Daniel Gabriel appears in the Book of Daniel to give various 73 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,000 prophecies to Daniel about the Messiah. 74 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:22,600 So, it seems that whenever Gabriel shows up in the Bible, 75 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,200 he always has information. In about the Messiah that he's 76 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:28,200 delivering to people, which is quite interesting. 77 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:32,400 Verse 27. So he sent by God to a town 78 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,200 called Nazareth. Now, we've all heard of Nazareth 79 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,500 before because, of course, we know that's where Jesus grew up. 80 00:04:38,900 --> 00:04:41,300 Now, in the time of Jesus, though, it's not a particularly 81 00:04:41,300 --> 00:04:44,100 special Town, there's probably only a few hundred people that 82 00:04:44,100 --> 00:04:46,100 live there. Scholars, think a population of 83 00:04:46,100 --> 00:04:49,700 about 300 is what you would have seen at that time, period. 84 00:04:49,900 --> 00:04:53,200 So it was kind of like a Backwater area of Galilee in the 85 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,000 north northern part of Israel. It was not a special town at 86 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,400 all. In fact, most people seem to 87 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,700 have quite a dismissive attitude towards the town of Nazareth. 88 00:05:01,700 --> 00:05:06,300 If you look at John chapter 1 verse 46, their Nathaniel says, 89 00:05:06,300 --> 00:05:08,000 can anything good come out of Nazareth? 90 00:05:08,500 --> 00:05:11,200 And this is a attitude. That's repeated several times in 91 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:13,800 the gospels. What's interesting about 92 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:18,000 Nazareth, though, is that it appears that it was populated 93 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,600 mostly by descendants of David? Not all the Jews at this time, 94 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:24,200 were descended from David, but some of them were, and 95 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:27,900 apparently, many of them chose as a group to stay in this town 96 00:05:27,900 --> 00:05:31,000 of Nazareth. Some scholars believe the root 97 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,700 word of the towns named Nazareth is Nestor and that word means 98 00:05:35,700 --> 00:05:39,100 Branch or shoot. If that's the case, it may have 99 00:05:39,100 --> 00:05:41,900 deliberately been called that by the people who settled there. 100 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,600 And it could be based on this Old Testament, passage Isaiah 101 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,900 11:1, which talks about the coming Messiah, and it uses this 102 00:05:49,900 --> 00:05:52,400 language of Branch or shoot. It says, one day, there'll be a 103 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,100 shoot of Jesse and that is a Prophecy of the Messiah. 104 00:05:56,100 --> 00:06:00,900 So, shoot or branch. Is probably a reference to the 105 00:06:00,900 --> 00:06:03,600 Messiah particularly, in terms of the way he is, descended from 106 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:05,500 David. So maybe the people who settled 107 00:06:05,500 --> 00:06:08,100 in this town deliberately named it because there were all 108 00:06:08,100 --> 00:06:11,100 descendants of David and they're expressing a Messianic, hope 109 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,200 that one day, the Messiah will show up. 110 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,600 So this is one explanation of what may have been going on a 111 00:06:16,608 --> 00:06:18,900 Nazareth at that time. It could have been populated by 112 00:06:18,900 --> 00:06:21,600 people who are descended from David and hoping that the 113 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,400 Messiah will come soon. If that's the case that gives us 114 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,800 a good explanation for why Jesus grows up in there. 115 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,100 Earth. Why did God choose for Jesus to 116 00:06:32,100 --> 00:06:33,900 grow up in Nazareth? He could have picked any other 117 00:06:33,900 --> 00:06:36,300 famous town for Jesus to grow up, and he could have grown up 118 00:06:36,300 --> 00:06:40,200 in Jerusalem for example, but instead he gets him, God gets 119 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:42,500 Jesus to grow up in this town Nazareth. 120 00:06:42,500 --> 00:06:45,900 And it may be, because of the Messianic hopes associated with 121 00:06:45,900 --> 00:06:48,200 the people that lived in Nazareth, at that time, even 122 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,200 though it was a very small town. In fact, Nazareth is not 123 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:55,200 mentioned at all, in the Old Testament and it says here that 124 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,100 Gabriel is sent into Nazareth to a virgin. 125 00:06:58,100 --> 00:07:02,200 Who is proved now to understand what betrothal is. 126 00:07:02,300 --> 00:07:05,100 We need to unpack this a bit. So in that culture, marriage, 127 00:07:05,100 --> 00:07:07,800 worked differently, they didn't have engagement and then 128 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:09,500 marriage, that's not how it worked. 129 00:07:09,700 --> 00:07:12,900 They had marriage in two stages and the first stage of marriage 130 00:07:12,900 --> 00:07:16,000 was called betrothal. As soon as your betrothed, 131 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,800 you're basically legally married, you are married. 132 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,600 It's just that you haven't had the marriage ceremony yet and 133 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:23,200 you haven't consummated the marriage. 134 00:07:23,500 --> 00:07:27,300 So, to get to this first stage, the betrothal stage, the groom 135 00:07:27,300 --> 00:07:30,500 would present a written of official document to the bride. 136 00:07:30,500 --> 00:07:33,700 So it was an official marriage from that point onwards, but she 137 00:07:33,700 --> 00:07:37,100 remained in the family home until about a year later. 138 00:07:37,100 --> 00:07:40,600 When the husband would come and collect her and they would have 139 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:44,300 the official marriage wedding ceremony in The Wedding Banquet, 140 00:07:44,300 --> 00:07:46,500 and then he would take her home to live with him. 141 00:07:46,700 --> 00:07:50,000 So it occurred in two stages but as soon as you are betrothed you 142 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:52,500 are legally married. We need to keep that in mind as 143 00:07:52,500 --> 00:07:56,300 we as we read this text. In order to break off a 144 00:07:56,300 --> 00:07:59,500 betrothal, you needed a divorce and that explains why in The 145 00:07:59,500 --> 00:08:03,200 Gospel of Matthew, it says that Joseph was thinking about 146 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,100 divorcing Mary, because, although they haven't 147 00:08:05,100 --> 00:08:08,600 consummated the marriage they were in fact, betrothed and to 148 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,500 break that you need a divorce. How old is Mary? 149 00:08:11,500 --> 00:08:14,600 This is a question that Scholars often debate, we don't know. 150 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,400 There is simply no way of knowing how much how old Mary 151 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,800 is. But if we go by how old women 152 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,400 typically were in that time period when they got betrothed, 153 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:27,100 she's probably about 14 years old, so she's very young. 154 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:28,600 That would be typical at that time. 155 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:33,500 And she is betrothed to a man named Joseph of the House of 156 00:08:33,500 --> 00:08:36,500 David. So, Luke here is highlighting to 157 00:08:36,500 --> 00:08:39,200 his readers. That Joseph is a descendant of 158 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:41,200 David. He specifically says, Joseph is 159 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,600 from the House of David, so he probably lives in Nazareth to, 160 00:08:45,300 --> 00:08:47,900 and he's a descendant of David, so it makes sense for him to 161 00:08:47,900 --> 00:08:51,000 live in Nazareth. This is important because the 162 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:53,700 Messiah had to be a descendant of David. 163 00:08:53,700 --> 00:08:55,400 The Old Testament makes that clear. 164 00:08:55,700 --> 00:08:59,800 So, Luke goes out of his way to say that Jesus, legal father. 165 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,600 But Joseph is a descendant of David now, that's important 166 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:07,200 because when Joseph is Jesus legal father and in that 167 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,800 culture, legal fatherhood is equivalent to biological 168 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,100 fatherhood in terms of inheritance. 169 00:09:13,500 --> 00:09:16,800 So if you were legally adopted, you would get all the legal 170 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:18,600 inheritance rights of that family. 171 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:22,200 Even if you're not biologically related to the father so Joseph 172 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:26,600 is able to confer the Privileges of being a diabetic descendant 173 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:28,300 to Jesus. That's important. 174 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,400 Jesus is fully. A descendant of David even 175 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,500 though he's not biologically from Joseph. 176 00:09:35,500 --> 00:09:37,800 How old is Joseph? This is a question which is also 177 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:39,600 debated. And again, there's no way of 178 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:41,800 knowing there's actually two Traditions here. 179 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:44,700 One tradition is that? Joseph was an older man who 180 00:09:44,700 --> 00:09:48,000 already had a previous marriage but his wife had died and that 181 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:51,300 would give us an explanation of why he doesn't necessarily need 182 00:09:51,300 --> 00:09:53,600 more children. So that's one tradition. 183 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:55,700 But there is another tradition which says that he's actually 184 00:09:55,700 --> 00:09:59,200 quite a young man and you can take either of you as a 185 00:09:59,208 --> 00:10:02,300 Catholic. It appears that both Mary and 186 00:10:02,300 --> 00:10:05,000 Joseph, a descendant of David, if you track their genealogies, 187 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:08,300 through their both descendants of David, it would seem. 188 00:10:08,300 --> 00:10:12,500 So Jesus is a descendant of David, both biologically from 189 00:10:12,500 --> 00:10:16,700 Mary and illegally from Joseph. He's a full descendant of David 190 00:10:16,700 --> 00:10:20,600 in every respect. And Luke, he tells us the 191 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:24,100 virgin's name was Mary now, Mary was a very common name in that 192 00:10:24,100 --> 00:10:26,000 culture. The name appears a lot in the 193 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,000 New Testament. In fact, it be can be quite 194 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:31,200 difficult to try and work out, which Mary is being talked about 195 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:33,600 at the foot of the cross. It appears that there are four 196 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,800 different Mary's there. It's actually a variation of the 197 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,800 name Miriam. Remember Aaron and Moses had a 198 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:43,400 sister called Miriam and that's exercise 6:20. 199 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:46,300 So based on that, many Jewish families. 200 00:10:46,300 --> 00:10:49,000 When they had a daughter, they would call her Miriam or Mary. 201 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,400 Verse 28 that angel appears. And we don't know what Mary is 202 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,500 doing at this time. She's probably inside doing 203 00:10:56,500 --> 00:10:58,300 something and then Angel just shows up. 204 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,900 And the angel Gabriel says to her hail or more literally 205 00:11:01,900 --> 00:11:04,200 Rejoice. That's what hail means. 206 00:11:05,700 --> 00:11:08,100 Let's unpack this a bit. Well, there's various Old 207 00:11:08,100 --> 00:11:12,000 Testament passages which address Zion or Jerusalem and they tell 208 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,900 Jerusalem to rejoice. And the reason that Jerusalem is 209 00:11:15,900 --> 00:11:19,400 told to rejoice in the Old Testament is because Jerusalem's 210 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:22,200 faithful children will experience God's blessings one 211 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:24,900 day. When God dwells in her midst, 212 00:11:24,900 --> 00:11:28,100 the Old Testament is very explicit whenever it says for 213 00:11:28,100 --> 00:11:31,200 Jerusalem to Rejoice it's typically because of a prophecy 214 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:33,700 that one day God will dwell in your midst. 215 00:11:33,900 --> 00:11:37,700 If you look at Joel, Chapter 2 and Zephaniah chapter 3 and 216 00:11:37,700 --> 00:11:41,500 Zechariah 9:9. They all have this language of 217 00:11:41,500 --> 00:11:44,800 hail or Rejoice for Jerusalem here. 218 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,300 We can see that Luke is apparently portraying Mary as 219 00:11:47,300 --> 00:11:51,300 the New Jerusalem and the time of the Fulfillment has arrived, 220 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,200 the all that Messianic hopes have been looking for. 221 00:11:54,500 --> 00:11:57,900 Have finally arrived. Gabriel has come to bring good 222 00:11:57,900 --> 00:12:00,700 news to marry and then he says this to her. 223 00:12:00,700 --> 00:12:05,200 Hey y'all so highly favored. Now this phrase is given various 224 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:09,000 different translations you. So highly favored can become a 225 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,100 full of grace. Of course, we're familiar with 226 00:12:11,100 --> 00:12:15,100 that from the Hail Mary prayer or it can be translated one who 227 00:12:15,100 --> 00:12:18,400 has been graced. First thing to say here is 228 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,800 notice, he doesn't say that angel doesn't say to Mary Hail 229 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:23,700 Mary, he doesn't actually call her Mary. 230 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,700 Interestingly, now when we say the Hail Mary prayer as 231 00:12:26,700 --> 00:12:31,100 Catholics, we say hail Mary but that's not actually there in the 232 00:12:31,100 --> 00:12:34,000 original and that's actually really Important. 233 00:12:34,900 --> 00:12:39,500 This is really significant wine. Hail full of grace or hail one 234 00:12:39,500 --> 00:12:42,200 who has been graced in that culture. 235 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:46,300 If you said hail it, typically, what should come after that is 236 00:12:46,300 --> 00:12:49,600 the person's name. But that's not what the angel 237 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:54,300 does here, the angel identifies, the woman not as Mary but as so 238 00:12:54,300 --> 00:12:56,800 highly favored, that's what he calls her hail. 239 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,600 So highly favored. So Mary's this is a title for 240 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:05,100 Mary full of grace or so highly. But it's a title that Gabriel 241 00:13:05,100 --> 00:13:07,300 calls. Mary, remember Gabriel has 242 00:13:07,300 --> 00:13:10,700 Supernatural knowledge, so he gives her a title that must be 243 00:13:10,700 --> 00:13:14,000 truthful and appropriate. It's quite a specific one. 244 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,500 So highly favored. It's actually the only place in 245 00:13:17,500 --> 00:13:21,200 the Bible where an angel address is someone by a title rather 246 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:23,600 than a name and we should see that is significant. 247 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:27,300 There must be a reason why the angel focuses on this title. 248 00:13:28,300 --> 00:13:30,200 What is this phrase mean full of grace? 249 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,400 Or one who has been graced? The Greek here. 250 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:36,700 We're used to, of course, full of grace, but the Greek here, 251 00:13:36,900 --> 00:13:40,300 almost certainly should not be translated full of grace. 252 00:13:41,900 --> 00:13:45,600 Luke uses a different Greek expression for the English 253 00:13:45,700 --> 00:13:48,400 version of Full of Grace. If you go to Acts chapter 6, 254 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:52,700 verse 8, there it talks about Stephen, the Martyr and Luke. 255 00:13:52,700 --> 00:13:56,500 They're actually cool, Stephen Full of Grace Scholars, agree 256 00:13:56,500 --> 00:14:00,100 that the best translation of this Greek phrase that that Luke 257 00:14:00,100 --> 00:14:02,800 uses there for Stephen. It really is full of Rice. 258 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:05,800 That's a good translation of it. But it's actually a very 259 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,200 different set of Greek words that are used here in Luke 260 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:11,800 chapter 1. So if we know that in Acts 261 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,300 chapter 6, a different set of Greek, words means, full of 262 00:14:14,300 --> 00:14:16,500 grace, it probably means that it shouldn't be translated. 263 00:14:16,500 --> 00:14:19,500 Full of grace here, the Greek word that we see here in Luke 264 00:14:19,500 --> 00:14:24,400 chapter, 1 is kakarrot. 'Man a and other more literal 265 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:28,900 translations render. It as one who is perfectly full 266 00:14:28,900 --> 00:14:32,000 of God's grace, something like that or there's different ways 267 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,100 of He's lighting it but it's certainly more than just full of 268 00:14:35,100 --> 00:14:38,800 grace when this word could carry two men. 269 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:42,900 A it apparently seems to imply an action which was completed in 270 00:14:42,900 --> 00:14:46,800 the past but has present effects when we put all this together. 271 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:51,100 Scholars say that this title that Gabriel gives Mary actually 272 00:14:51,100 --> 00:14:52,900 suggests that she is without sin. 273 00:14:52,900 --> 00:14:56,000 She is literally full of grace. God has made her full of grace 274 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,900 in the past and that carries into the present. 275 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:02,500 It apparently means that she's without sin, and of course, this 276 00:15:02,500 --> 00:15:05,200 has strongly implications for the Catholic teaching on the 277 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:09,100 Immaculate Conception. Gordon down Mary with an 278 00:15:09,100 --> 00:15:11,400 abundance of Grace. That's what the Greek word says. 279 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,300 She's has an abundance of Grace. Why does God give her that? 280 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:17,700 He's preparing her for the vocation of divine motherhood 281 00:15:17,700 --> 00:15:19,300 that he knows that she's going to have. 282 00:15:19,500 --> 00:15:22,700 He wants to make her an example of Christian Holiness. 283 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:27,800 And as a result, God chooses to preserve Mary entirely from sin 284 00:15:28,100 --> 00:15:32,500 and its inclinations. Now, this Doctrine, which we 285 00:15:32,500 --> 00:15:35,400 know is the Immaculate Conception, this was believed 286 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:37,500 all throughout Christian history, but it was not Not 287 00:15:37,500 --> 00:15:43,200 formally defined infallible e until 1854 when Pope Pius the 288 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,900 ninth in his encyclical in a fabulous Tales. 289 00:15:47,300 --> 00:15:50,000 When he goes through all the texts about Mary including this 290 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,700 one and he proclaims the doctrine of the Immaculate 291 00:15:53,700 --> 00:15:57,000 Conception. So it's largely based on what we 292 00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,000 see here in Luke chapter one. It's one of the most 293 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,400 controversial Catholic teachings as you know, but when you 294 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,300 unpack, the Greek here at does seem to point in that direction. 295 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:06,800 And then the angel Gabriel goes on. 296 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,000 He says to me. The Lord is with you. 297 00:16:09,700 --> 00:16:12,600 These same words actually given to Gideon when he's called by 298 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:14,500 God. If you look at Judges chapter 6, 299 00:16:14,500 --> 00:16:18,300 verses 11 to 24 Gideon, there is called by God. 300 00:16:18,300 --> 00:16:20,400 And those same words are directed to him. 301 00:16:20,700 --> 00:16:23,800 The Lord is with you. Basically, it means something 302 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,400 like the Lord is in your midst. And that matches well with what 303 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:29,800 the angel Gabriel has just said about hail, if you go to 304 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:34,700 Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 15, there says hail to Jerusalem and 305 00:16:34,700 --> 00:16:36,800 then straight away. It says the Lord is with you. 306 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:40,600 So the angel Gabriel is using words here that have already 307 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:42,200 been spoken in the Old Testament. 308 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,700 So these Old Testament phrases are waived all throughout these 309 00:16:45,700 --> 00:16:48,100 early chapters of Luke. It's really quite amazing. 310 00:16:49,100 --> 00:16:52,300 So, so far, we have the first couple of lines here of the Hail 311 00:16:52,300 --> 00:16:55,700 Mary. So, Hail Mary full of grace, the 312 00:16:55,700 --> 00:16:58,000 Lord is with you. That all comes here from what 313 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:01,000 we've seen in Luke chapter 1. Now, the following phrases come 314 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:03,400 from elsewhere. In Luke chapter 1, they come 315 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,800 from later in the chapter, let's move on to verse 29. 316 00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:11,599 Luke says, she was deeply disturbed by these words or 317 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:12,900 more. Literally, she was greatly 318 00:17:12,900 --> 00:17:16,300 troubled at the saying. So Mary is genuinely shocked at 319 00:17:16,300 --> 00:17:19,300 what has just come out of Gabriel's mouth, and then Luke 320 00:17:19,300 --> 00:17:22,400 gets more specific. He says, and she asked herself 321 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:25,599 what this greeting could mean, so what's Mary troubled about? 322 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:28,800 It's not apparently not the fact that the angel has just showed 323 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:30,700 up, that's not what shocks her what? 324 00:17:30,700 --> 00:17:35,100 Shocks her is, the greeting, the words that the angel uses, she's 325 00:17:35,100 --> 00:17:38,700 shocked that the angel calls Is her full of grace? 326 00:17:38,700 --> 00:17:44,000 As you would be verse. 30 Gabriel, says Mary, do not be 327 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,100 afraid. So now, he uses her name, Mary 328 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,900 all throughout the Bible, whenever an angel appears to 329 00:17:49,900 --> 00:17:52,000 someone, it is a very scary experience. 330 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:54,700 There's something quite fearful about angels apparently. 331 00:17:54,700 --> 00:17:57,700 So here, the angel says, do not be afraid. 332 00:17:57,700 --> 00:18:01,600 You have one God's favor. That's quite a beautiful phrase, 333 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:03,800 isn't it? You have one God's favor that 334 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:07,300 suggests that God has chosen her specifically for this time. 335 00:18:07,500 --> 00:18:10,900 Ask in fact, the word for favor is actually similar to the word 336 00:18:10,900 --> 00:18:13,500 for Grace. So when we say that Mary is full 337 00:18:13,500 --> 00:18:16,300 of grace, you can really say. She's full of fave. 338 00:18:16,300 --> 00:18:19,000 Oh, she's full of God's favor. Verse 31. 339 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,800 The angel says you will conceive and bear a son. 340 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:25,800 Now, notice the passage doesn't tell us that she will conceive. 341 00:18:25,900 --> 00:18:28,000 Immediately. Some people take it that way, 342 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,600 but it doesn't say that all it says, is that you will conceive. 343 00:18:32,100 --> 00:18:34,000 There's another reference to the Old Testament here. 344 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,600 Remember Isaac and how his mother is Bauer Owen. 345 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:41,500 Well, when Isaac is miraculously conceived, and then born in 346 00:18:41,500 --> 00:18:46,300 Genesis 17:19, very similar language is used you will 347 00:18:46,300 --> 00:18:49,000 conceive and bear a son. That's a promise that is given 348 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:52,500 to Isaac's mother. And here Gabriel goes on to say 349 00:18:52,500 --> 00:18:54,500 You must call his name. Jesus. 350 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:57,200 This is a command. It's not I recommend you call 351 00:18:57,200 --> 00:18:59,100 him Jesus. It's you must call him. 352 00:18:59,100 --> 00:19:02,100 Jesus. Jesus name is quite significant. 353 00:19:02,100 --> 00:19:06,000 Jesus means God Saves. It was a reasonably common name 354 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,200 in that culture but the Angel says it is an appropriate name 355 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:13,200 for the Messiah, God Saves the significance of Jesus name and 356 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,400 how he comes to have that name. It's actually unpacked more in 357 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:21,300 Matthew chapter 1 verse 32, he will be great, and will be 358 00:19:21,300 --> 00:19:25,300 called son of the most high. So, here the angel is going to 359 00:19:25,300 --> 00:19:28,700 say all these titles that Jesus will end up being called, he 360 00:19:28,700 --> 00:19:33,000 will be called son of the most high in that culture, a son was 361 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:36,400 considered to be the best representation of a father. 362 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:39,100 And that actually helps Soooo set some context here. 363 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:43,300 In fact, the sun was almost considered to be in the image of 364 00:19:43,300 --> 00:19:45,700 the father. So, when we see these phrases, 365 00:19:45,700 --> 00:19:49,500 Son of God, there's very strong trinitarian theology here. 366 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,700 The Son of God, Jesus is the best representation of the 367 00:19:53,700 --> 00:19:56,900 father, and that comes out in some of the Parables later on, 368 00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,900 where is John. The Baptist is listed as the 369 00:19:59,900 --> 00:20:02,300 prophet of the most high. That's what was said earlier. 370 00:20:02,300 --> 00:20:06,600 In the chapter to Zechariah, Jesus is the son of the most 371 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,000 high. That's really specific title 372 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,900 Gabriel goes on, the Lord, God will give him the Throne of his 373 00:20:12,900 --> 00:20:15,500 ancestor. David, what's this? 374 00:20:15,500 --> 00:20:18,600 Throne of the ancestor David? Well, the Old Testament 375 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:22,100 prophesied that the Throne of Which had been temporarily lost. 376 00:20:22,100 --> 00:20:25,100 By the time of the Old Testament, it would one day be 377 00:20:25,100 --> 00:20:28,900 taken up again, by the Messiah. So at the time, David became 378 00:20:28,900 --> 00:20:32,200 king, God promised to David your house and your kingdom. 379 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:36,300 Our firm forever before me. Your throne shall be established 380 00:20:36,500 --> 00:20:38,600 forever. So that's what God Said, 381 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:40,900 directly to David in second. Samuel 7. 382 00:20:41,900 --> 00:20:43,300 Now, in the Old Testament, though. 383 00:20:43,300 --> 00:20:45,500 The davidic line is eventually lost. 384 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,600 There Are No More Kings after a certain time period, because the 385 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:52,600 Israelites are Going into Exile. But still the prophets 386 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:56,200 continually reminded the Jews of this promised that God had given 387 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:58,600 David. They continually announced that 388 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:02,100 one day there will be a future reunions of Israel under a 389 00:21:02,108 --> 00:21:04,900 davidic messiah. One day there will be a davidic 390 00:21:04,900 --> 00:21:07,400 king sitting on David's Throne again and that will be the 391 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,600 Messiah. So if you look at Isaiah 11, a 392 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:15,900 zekiel 37 Hosea, one Amos 9, all of these prophets are repeating 393 00:21:15,900 --> 00:21:18,700 the same message. There will be a messiah that 394 00:21:18,700 --> 00:21:21,400 sits on David's Throne again. So the Jews were looking forward 395 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:23,800 to this. One of Luke's key themes in his 396 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:26,500 gospel, is the regathering of God's people. 397 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:29,600 And of course, we know that Jesus has come to bring all of 398 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,400 God's people together into God's glorious Kingdom. 399 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,200 So, there's so much you could say about this, but we'll keep 400 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:39,200 moving verse 33. The angel says, he will reign 401 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:43,000 over the house of Jacob forever. As in, he's going to be the king 402 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,700 of Israel permanently. He will reign over it forever. 403 00:21:46,900 --> 00:21:48,700 Already hear the gospels are hinting. 404 00:21:48,700 --> 00:21:52,400 The part of Jesus mission is to be the king of the Jews. 405 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:56,200 He's going to be various titles, but one of them will be king of 406 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,300 the Jews. So, remembered his crucifixion. 407 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:02,300 One of the accusations about Jesus that's made is that he is 408 00:22:02,300 --> 00:22:04,400 King of the Jews. Well, that's actually basically, 409 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,600 right. That's what Angel Gabriel says 410 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,100 to Mary, he will be king of the Jews. 411 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,700 And his reign will have no end or you can translate that 412 00:22:13,700 --> 00:22:16,000 Kingdom of his kingdom. There will be no end. 413 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:18,400 Jesus has a kingdom. He is a king. 414 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:23,000 So, Jesus is going to be the king of the Jews, but probably 415 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,200 what, not many Jews realize at the time about the Messiah was 416 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:29,900 at the kingdom, is going to be much more vast, and deep than 417 00:22:29,900 --> 00:22:33,700 just, allowing Jewish people. In the Kingdom of the Messiah, 418 00:22:33,700 --> 00:22:36,100 would be the kingdom of God. It's going to be open to 419 00:22:36,100 --> 00:22:38,300 everyone and it's going to be Eternal. 420 00:22:38,700 --> 00:22:41,600 So they did understand that the I would be a king. 421 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,800 But here, the angel tells Mary and this is unpacked further in 422 00:22:44,808 --> 00:22:47,900 the gospels that he's going to have a much deeper and more 423 00:22:47,900 --> 00:22:52,100 profound Kingdom than they could have expected verse 34. 424 00:22:52,100 --> 00:22:56,100 Mary now, speaks, how can this be since I am a virgin. 425 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,700 Now, more literally, this phrase actually reads since I know, 426 00:23:00,700 --> 00:23:04,300 not, man. Now, Mary is not disbelieving 427 00:23:04,300 --> 00:23:06,900 here, like Zechariah did remember when Gabriel told 428 00:23:06,900 --> 00:23:10,200 Zechariah that his wife was going to have a child Zechariah? 429 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:14,300 L, can't believe it here when Mary says, how can this be? 430 00:23:14,300 --> 00:23:16,700 She's inquiring as to how that's going to take place. 431 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:20,000 So, whereas Zechariah Zechariah wants proof. 432 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:23,100 Mary wants instructions. There's a difference here. 433 00:23:23,900 --> 00:23:26,400 Now Scholars point out that Mary's response here is a little 434 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:28,500 strange. Gabriel has said to her you're 435 00:23:28,500 --> 00:23:32,200 going to have a son and Mary's response is, how can this be 436 00:23:32,300 --> 00:23:34,000 since I know not. Man. 437 00:23:35,300 --> 00:23:40,500 Now she's betrothed. So if she was expecting that, 438 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:42,800 That she was going to have normal relations in her 439 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:44,300 marriage. Then it shouldn't be. 440 00:23:44,300 --> 00:23:46,300 That surprising. That an angel would appear to 441 00:23:46,308 --> 00:23:48,100 her and say, you're going to have a child. 442 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,200 So she shouldn't be that shocked by the news and yet, apparently 443 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,800 she is she says how can this be? Since I know not man. 444 00:23:55,300 --> 00:23:58,100 So some scholars believe here that when she says, I know, not 445 00:23:58,100 --> 00:24:03,100 man, maybe it means something like I have taken a vow not to 446 00:24:03,100 --> 00:24:06,700 know any man. Which is an interesting way of 447 00:24:06,700 --> 00:24:08,700 looking at it. So and this is a genuine view 448 00:24:08,700 --> 00:24:12,100 that's out there because there are some other texts, which are 449 00:24:12,100 --> 00:24:14,300 outside the Bible but apparently, written around this 450 00:24:14,300 --> 00:24:17,200 time period which tell us a little bit more about Mary. 451 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:20,100 Now we're not sure because they're not in scripture, so 452 00:24:20,100 --> 00:24:23,700 they're not infallible, but perhaps they have some reliable 453 00:24:23,700 --> 00:24:26,400 historical information and one of these documents is the 454 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:32,600 protoevangelium of James and that document suggests that Mary 455 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,500 had, in fact taken a vow of virginity Earlier in her life. 456 00:24:36,500 --> 00:24:40,400 So she had planned to never have relationshi had planned to stay 457 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,500 a virgin. So when she says here, how can 458 00:24:43,500 --> 00:24:46,100 this be since I know not man, what she's actually saying is 459 00:24:46,500 --> 00:24:49,300 I'm planning not to know him and say how can I have a child. 460 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,500 So this is a legitimate interpretation it. 461 00:24:52,500 --> 00:24:55,100 We're not 100% sure if that's correct. 462 00:24:55,100 --> 00:24:58,900 But some Scholars think the statement here does imply that 463 00:24:59,500 --> 00:25:01,900 there have been some famous people in history who have 464 00:25:01,900 --> 00:25:04,500 believed this interpretation to so st. 465 00:25:04,500 --> 00:25:07,400 Gregory Of Nyssa. Believe that that's true about 466 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,300 marry. That marry did literally take a 467 00:25:09,300 --> 00:25:13,200 vow of virginity and also Saint Augustine believe that Mary had 468 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:16,600 taken a vow of virginity that's not Catholic teaching. 469 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:20,900 But it is a widely held Catholic view that Mary planned to never 470 00:25:20,900 --> 00:25:23,500 have relations in her life. So that's why she's surprised. 471 00:25:23,500 --> 00:25:26,300 You Gabriel answers our question. 472 00:25:26,300 --> 00:25:29,500 He says the holy spirit will come upon you, the angel 473 00:25:29,500 --> 00:25:31,800 answered. So the Angels answer is 474 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:35,600 basically no man will be involved because God Do all the 475 00:25:35,608 --> 00:25:40,300 work, that's the answer. The the angel gives this is 476 00:25:40,300 --> 00:25:44,400 truly a miraculous pregnancy. The holy spirit will come upon 477 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,700 you to bring about the birth. Now it's not an entirely clear 478 00:25:47,700 --> 00:25:51,100 biologically how this pregnancy happened, what was the genetic 479 00:25:51,100 --> 00:25:52,600 set up? That makes this happen, we're 480 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:56,100 not sure some Scholars have suggested that maybe Mary 481 00:25:56,100 --> 00:25:59,800 contributed her egg, whereas the Holy Spirit made a completely 482 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,600 new sperm or something like that, but really, we have no 483 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:04,100 idea. It could, it could have been 484 00:26:04,100 --> 00:26:07,100 done in a way that It can't even be putting two scientific 485 00:26:07,100 --> 00:26:11,800 language either way, though we have here a virgin birth of 486 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:14,900 urging that's conceiving, which is a fulfillment of Isaiah's 487 00:26:14,900 --> 00:26:18,200 prophecy. Remember, Isaiah 7:14 says, 488 00:26:18,500 --> 00:26:22,500 Behold a virgin shall conceive and you shall name him Emmanuel. 489 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:26,000 Now that prophecy actually was fulfilled in a sense in the time 490 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:28,700 of Isaiah. But here it has a deeper and 491 00:26:28,700 --> 00:26:31,700 greater fulfillment. Now, there's some interesting 492 00:26:31,700 --> 00:26:34,600 links here in terms of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. 493 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:39,100 So when Mary becomes pregnant, there's no male genetic input 494 00:26:39,100 --> 00:26:43,000 from Joseph because Joseph does not have relations with her. 495 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,500 So from this, we know that the sin nature is not passed on to 496 00:26:46,500 --> 00:26:50,800 Jesus from a father. So here, the Catholic, teaching 497 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,000 on the Immaculate Conception can be helpful. 498 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:55,700 Mary herself was born without sin. 499 00:26:55,700 --> 00:26:58,800 This is a Catholic teaching, so she didn't really have a sin 500 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,100 nature to pass on to Jesus. This is one way of looking at 501 00:27:02,100 --> 00:27:05,300 it. So Jesus did not receive the sin 502 00:27:05,300 --> 00:27:07,700 nature from his Earthly father, because he doesn't have an 503 00:27:07,700 --> 00:27:11,500 Earthly biological father, and Mary did not have a sin nature 504 00:27:11,500 --> 00:27:14,000 to pass on to him. So Jesus did not inherit a sin 505 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:15,800 nature from either, Earthly parent. 506 00:27:16,700 --> 00:27:19,600 So this is one interesting aspect of the Ocular conception, 507 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:21,900 it's not the strongest argument for the Immaculate Conception, 508 00:27:21,900 --> 00:27:24,900 but it's interesting to think about God didn't have to do it 509 00:27:24,900 --> 00:27:27,600 this way. This is, he could have prevented 510 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:28,900 the sin nature from being passed. 511 00:27:28,900 --> 00:27:33,600 The Jesus, even if Mary did have a sin nature, but it appears 512 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,600 that he chose to do it this way. It's a fitting thing that God 513 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:39,200 chose to do it this way, even though it wasn't strictly 514 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,100 necessary. So that's getting into some 515 00:27:41,100 --> 00:27:43,700 quite complex theology there, but hopefully, you find that way 516 00:27:43,700 --> 00:27:47,700 of thinking about it. Somewhat helpful, Angel Gabriel 517 00:27:47,700 --> 00:27:51,300 here, says the Over the most high will cover you with its 518 00:27:51,300 --> 00:27:53,800 shadow or you can translate this. 519 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:56,500 The power of the most high will overshadow you. 520 00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,900 Basically this means that God will protect Mary during the 521 00:27:59,900 --> 00:28:02,800 pregnancy. Interestingly, the word here for 522 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,500 overshadow, it's only found in a couple of other places in the 523 00:28:05,500 --> 00:28:06,800 Bible. It's found that the 524 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:10,400 Transfiguration to describe the cloud that overshadows them on 525 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,000 the mountain. And also, it's in the Old 526 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:16,600 Testament to describe how the cloud of God's glory 527 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:18,300 overshadowed the tent of meeting. 528 00:28:18,300 --> 00:28:21,700 If you look at it, Exodus 40 verse 35, The Cloud of God's 529 00:28:21,700 --> 00:28:25,400 glory, which represents God himself, settles and overshadows 530 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,200 the tent. So some Scholars say, this is 531 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:32,600 evidence that Luke intended his audience to understand that Mary 532 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,600 is the new tent of meeting or the new ark of the covenant, 533 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:39,100 because God overshadows her just like the Ark in the old 534 00:28:39,100 --> 00:28:42,500 Covenant, he is the Arc of the New Covenant, she is filled with 535 00:28:42,500 --> 00:28:46,000 God's holy presence, just as the Ark in the old Covenant was, 536 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:47,600 which is quite a fascinating connection. 537 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:51,400 We'll talk about this. As more as we get to when Mary 538 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,200 visits Elizabeth. There's some really interesting 539 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:57,300 things that are said, they're all three persons of the Trinity 540 00:28:57,300 --> 00:29:00,500 are mentioned here by Gabriel. We have here, God, the most high 541 00:29:00,500 --> 00:29:04,400 doing the work, we have, Jesus, the son of God being conceived 542 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:08,700 and Gabriel, says that she'll be overshadowed, the most high and 543 00:29:08,700 --> 00:29:10,300 the Holy Spirit will come upon her. 544 00:29:10,300 --> 00:29:11,800 So, all three are mentioned here. 545 00:29:13,100 --> 00:29:16,800 Gabriel says, and so the child will be wholly, another word for 546 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:20,000 Holy Sanctified. So this means Jesus will be set 547 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,600 apart for the service of God even from within the womb, 548 00:29:22,900 --> 00:29:25,900 because of his miraculous conception, it makes sense that 549 00:29:25,900 --> 00:29:28,200 Jesus is. Holy God has set him apart for a 550 00:29:28,208 --> 00:29:30,200 certain purpose, which is to be the Messiah. 551 00:29:30,900 --> 00:29:34,600 And then the angel Gabriel says specifically, he will be the Son 552 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:36,800 of God. That's the term that the angel 553 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:40,000 Gabriel says to Mary. Jesus would literally be the Son 554 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:44,100 of God according to Gabriel. Now, some would say that one of 555 00:29:44,100 --> 00:29:47,200 the answers to the question of, why was the Virgin birth needed? 556 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,100 And there's various answers you can give to this. 557 00:29:50,300 --> 00:29:52,800 One of the answers is that to ensure that Jesus could be 558 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:56,200 considered the Son of God, literally in his Earthly form, 559 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,300 not just in his Heavenly form. We know as the second person of 560 00:29:59,300 --> 00:30:03,000 the Trinity, he's the son of God even before the world began. 561 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,000 But maybe one of the reasons that God chose for it to be a 562 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,600 virgin birth with, so that it could be obvious to people that 563 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:12,200 he's also literally the Son of God in a biological respect as 564 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:13,400 well. It doesn't have an Earthly. 565 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:19,900 Father, God is his father. Verse 36 Gabriel says, no this 566 00:30:19,900 --> 00:30:23,600 to or a better translation. There is behold your kinswoman. 567 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:27,500 Elizabeth has in her old age herself conceived a son. 568 00:30:28,500 --> 00:30:31,500 Now, the full story of this is narrated just before this in 569 00:30:31,500 --> 00:30:34,300 chapter 1. At this point, Mary's not aware 570 00:30:34,300 --> 00:30:36,700 of that Elizabeth is pregnant because they didn't have 571 00:30:36,700 --> 00:30:39,100 internet mail wasn't particularly fast at that time. 572 00:30:39,100 --> 00:30:43,300 So Mary doesn't know that Elizabeth is pregnant Gabriel 573 00:30:43,300 --> 00:30:45,800 now tells her that Elizabeth is pregnant. 574 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,800 He gives this too Ooh, her as a sign that God will indeed 575 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,900 fulfill the words of Gabriel here as well. 576 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:55,600 He basically says God is already made Elizabeth your relative 577 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:58,100 pregnant and now he's going to do that for you too. 578 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,000 And she whom people called Barren is now in her sixth 579 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:04,100 month. Now from this some people have 580 00:31:04,100 --> 00:31:05,800 said that means that Jesus and John. 581 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:09,600 The Baptist are six months apart because in the sixth month of 582 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,000 Elizabeth's pregnancy, the angel Gabriel appears to marry and 583 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:15,800 says that she's going to be pregnant that could be right. 584 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:20,700 However, we don't know If Mary can saves straightaway, we do 585 00:31:20,700 --> 00:31:24,200 know that by the time she gets to visit Elizabeth in the Hill 586 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:26,000 Country, Mary is pregnant by then. 587 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,700 So, there isn't a particularly long time before Mary gets 588 00:31:29,700 --> 00:31:32,000 pregnant here, but we're not sure if she gets pregnant on 589 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:37,400 this day, specifically verse 37, Gabriel says for nothing is 590 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:40,800 impossible to God. Or another translation is full 591 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:42,900 with God. Nothing will be impossible. 592 00:31:43,500 --> 00:31:46,800 So God can overcome the infertility of Elizabeth and the 593 00:31:46,900 --> 00:31:49,300 Unity of Mary. Nothing is impossible for him. 594 00:31:49,700 --> 00:31:52,400 This language is taken straight from the Old Testament as well. 595 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:57,200 If you look at Genesis 18, verse 14 and Jeremiah 32 verse 17. 596 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:01,200 It's very similar. And Mary says here, to finish, I 597 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,800 am the handmaid of the Lord. This same expression is used 598 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,300 sometimes in the Old Testament and basically, it means I am the 599 00:32:08,300 --> 00:32:12,100 female servant of God. And then she says, let what you 600 00:32:12,100 --> 00:32:13,700 have said. Be done to me. 601 00:32:14,500 --> 00:32:18,000 So, Mary freely and actively Embraces God's invitation to 602 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,800 Bear the Messiah. In fact, the Greek here is more 603 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,400 than just passive. She doesn't just passively say 604 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:27,500 yes, the Greek e implies that she actively desires to fulfill 605 00:32:27,500 --> 00:32:32,300 God's will she wants to do this? now theoretically Mary could 606 00:32:32,300 --> 00:32:35,800 have said, no That's part of her free will. 607 00:32:35,900 --> 00:32:39,700 But she chooses to say, yes, and that's important and in that 608 00:32:39,700 --> 00:32:41,900 sense, she's a model for all Christians. 609 00:32:42,700 --> 00:32:46,400 And then the angel left her So that's the end of the text. 610 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:49,200 It's a longer text and it's quite a beautiful one, and we've 611 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:50,700 really only scratched the surface. 612 00:32:50,700 --> 00:32:53,300 There's so much you could say about this and it's a text 613 00:32:53,300 --> 00:32:56,500 that's well worth meditating on now, the next event that occurs 614 00:32:56,500 --> 00:32:59,200 here in Luke chapter 1 is the visitation, its when Mary goes 615 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:02,400 to visit Elizabeth and if you want to chase this one down, you 616 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:04,900 can hear this. Next section of Luke on December 617 00:33:04,900 --> 00:33:09,900 21st every year and also on the solemnity of the Assumption of 618 00:33:09,900 --> 00:33:12,200 the Blessed Virgin Mary, so you might like to go through the 619 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:15,100 podcast archives, to find that next section if you would Like 620 00:33:15,100 --> 00:33:19,400 to, let's turn to the catechism and as you'd expect, there's so 621 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:23,700 many places where the catechism references this event, this is a 622 00:33:23,700 --> 00:33:25,900 central event in the mystery of Salvation. 623 00:33:25,900 --> 00:33:28,900 And so there's sections in here about Mary. 624 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,000 So, parts of the catechism about Mary mentioned this. 625 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,900 A lot parts of the catechism about Jesus mentioned this event 626 00:33:33,900 --> 00:33:37,300 a lot about angels about the Trinity, it's spread all 627 00:33:37,300 --> 00:33:40,300 throughout the catechism. So there's about 20 different 628 00:33:40,300 --> 00:33:42,900 paragraphs. In fact, maybe even more I'll 629 00:33:42,900 --> 00:33:46,400 include as many of these as I can, in the Notes and we'll just 630 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:49,000 read out a few of them now, but there are so many of them. 631 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:51,600 So let's just pick a few highlights of how the catechism 632 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:56,400 understands this particular event paragraph. 148 says, the 633 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,900 Virgin Mary most perfectly embodies The Obedience of Faith 634 00:34:00,300 --> 00:34:03,500 by faith, Mary welcomes, the tidings and promise brought by 635 00:34:03,500 --> 00:34:06,500 the angel Gabriel believing that with God. 636 00:34:06,500 --> 00:34:10,600 Nothing will be impossible. And so giving her a cent behold, 637 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,400 I am the handmaid of the Lord let it be done to me according 638 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:18,000 to your word. Paragraph 269, this is in the 639 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,400 section, about God, doing whatever he pleases. 640 00:34:21,199 --> 00:34:24,900 Nothing is impossible with God, who disposes his Works according 641 00:34:24,900 --> 00:34:27,199 to his will. So that's an interesting link 642 00:34:27,199 --> 00:34:29,600 here. Paragraph 33 to this is about 643 00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:33,900 Christ's relationship with the angels angels have been present 644 00:34:33,900 --> 00:34:36,800 since creation and throughout the history of Salvation. 645 00:34:36,900 --> 00:34:40,500 Announcing this salvation from afar or near and serving the 646 00:34:40,500 --> 00:34:44,600 accomplishment of the divine plan, they closed the Earthly 647 00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:47,000 Paradise protected lat Saved Hagar. 648 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,900 And her child stayed, Abraham's hand, communicated the law by 649 00:34:50,900 --> 00:34:53,800 their Ministry. Led the people of God announced 650 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:57,700 births and callings and assisted the profits just to cite a few 651 00:34:57,700 --> 00:35:00,500 examples. Finally, the angel Gabriel 652 00:35:00,500 --> 00:35:03,700 announced the birth of the precursor and that of Jesus 653 00:35:03,700 --> 00:35:08,800 himself paragraph or 30. This is about the word, Jesus. 654 00:35:09,300 --> 00:35:14,300 Jesus means in Hebrew God Saves at the Annunciation that angel 655 00:35:14,300 --> 00:35:16,000 Gabriel, gave him the name Jesus. 656 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:19,600 Has as his proper name, which expresses both his identity and 657 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:22,900 his mission, since God Alone can forgive sins. 658 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:27,300 It is God who in Jesus? His eternal son, made man will 659 00:35:27,300 --> 00:35:30,500 save his people from their sins in Jesus. 660 00:35:30,500 --> 00:35:34,200 God recapitulates all of his history of Salvation on behalf 661 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:39,600 of men. Paragraph. 486 the father's only 662 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:42,000 son conceived as man in the womb of the Virgin. 663 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:45,100 Mary is Christ. That is to say anointed by the 664 00:35:45,100 --> 00:35:48,300 Holy Spirit from the beginning of his human existence. 665 00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:51,200 So that one's a really interesting link there because 666 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:55,200 it mentions how when the Holy Spirit comes upon Mary that is 667 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:57,400 in a sense, an anointing of Jesus. 668 00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:01,300 When the Holy Spirit comes upon Mary paragraph, 48, a to this is 669 00:36:01,308 --> 00:36:05,500 about Mary's, predestination God sent forth his son but to 670 00:36:05,500 --> 00:36:08,900 prepare a Ready for him. He wanted the free cooperation 671 00:36:08,900 --> 00:36:12,400 of a creature for this from all eternity. 672 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:15,600 God shows for the mother of his son or daughter of Israel. 673 00:36:15,900 --> 00:36:20,000 A young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, a virgin betrothed 674 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:23,900 to a man, whose name was Joseph of the House of David and the 675 00:36:23,900 --> 00:36:27,800 virgin's name was Mary. The father of mercies willed 676 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:31,700 that the Incarnation should be preceded by a cent on the part 677 00:36:31,700 --> 00:36:34,900 of the predestined mother so that just as a woman, had a 678 00:36:34,900 --> 00:36:38,600 share in the coming of Death, so also should a woman contribute 679 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:42,900 to the coming of life. Paragraph 4 90. 680 00:36:43,100 --> 00:36:46,500 This is about the Immaculate Conception to become the mother 681 00:36:46,500 --> 00:36:49,300 of the Savior. Mary was enriched by God, with 682 00:36:49,300 --> 00:36:53,500 gifts appropriate to such a role that angel Gabriel at the moment 683 00:36:53,500 --> 00:36:56,400 of the Annunciation salutes her as full of grace. 684 00:36:56,900 --> 00:37:00,100 In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free Ascent of 685 00:37:00,100 --> 00:37:03,100 her faith to the announcement of her vocation. 686 00:37:03,500 --> 00:37:06,800 It was necessary that she be wholly, born by God's grace 687 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:10,000 through the centuries. The church has become ever more 688 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:14,000 aware that Mary full of grace through God was redeemed from 689 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:17,400 the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the 690 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:21,200 Immaculate Conception confesses as Pope Pius and 9th proclaimed 691 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:25,300 in 1854. The Most Blessed Virgin Mary was 692 00:37:25,300 --> 00:37:28,500 from the moment of her conception, by a singular, 693 00:37:28,500 --> 00:37:30,800 Grace, and privilege of almighty God. 694 00:37:31,100 --> 00:37:34,400 And by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, savior of the 695 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:38,600 human race preserved immune from all, stain of original sin, 696 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:43,800 Paragraph 4 94. This is in the same section 697 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:46,400 about Mary says at the announcement that she will give 698 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:50,000 birth to the son of the most high without knowing Man by the 699 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:53,700 power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with The Obedience of 700 00:37:53,700 --> 00:37:57,200 Faith certain that with God. Nothing will be impossible. 701 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:00,900 Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord let it be done to me 702 00:38:00,900 --> 00:38:04,500 according to your word, thus giving her consent to God's 703 00:38:04,500 --> 00:38:07,400 word, Mary becomes the mother of Jesus. 704 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:09,800 Espousing the Divine will for sale. 705 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:13,800 Ovation wholeheartedly without a single sin to restrain her. 706 00:38:14,100 --> 00:38:17,200 She gave herself entirely to the person and to the work of her 707 00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:18,800 son. She did. 708 00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:21,900 So in order to serve the mystery of redemption with him and 709 00:38:21,900 --> 00:38:26,900 dependent on him by God's grace. As Saint irenaeus says, being 710 00:38:26,900 --> 00:38:28,600 obedient. She became the cause of 711 00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:32,000 salvation for herself, and for the whole human race. 712 00:38:33,100 --> 00:38:35,200 Hence not a few of the early fathers. 713 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:40,100 Gladly assert that the not of Eve's Disobedience was untied by 714 00:38:40,100 --> 00:38:43,700 Mary's obedience. What the Virgin Eve bound 715 00:38:43,700 --> 00:38:46,700 through her disbelief Mary loosened by her faith. 716 00:38:47,700 --> 00:38:50,300 Comparing her with Eve. They call Mary the mother of the 717 00:38:50,308 --> 00:38:55,200 living and frequently claimed death through Eve, life through 718 00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:58,200 Mary. So that's quite amazing Marian 719 00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:00,500 theology, which is coming through here in the catechism. 720 00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:04,100 Last paragraph will look at, as I said, there's so many of them, 721 00:39:04,100 --> 00:39:07,500 but we'll just finish with this one because this tells us how we 722 00:39:07,500 --> 00:39:11,900 can relate to marry today. So paragraph 2677 because she 723 00:39:11,900 --> 00:39:15,400 gives us Jesus. Her son, Mary is Mother of God. 724 00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:19,600 And our mother, we can entrust Just all our cares and petitions 725 00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:22,700 to her. She prays for us as she prayed 726 00:39:22,700 --> 00:39:26,800 for herself, let it be to me, according to your word by 727 00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:28,900 entrusting ourselves to her prayer. 728 00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:33,200 We abandon ourselves to the will of God together with her thy 729 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:36,700 will be done. So, that's a nice place to 730 00:39:36,700 --> 00:39:38,300 finish. It's been a longer episode 731 00:39:38,300 --> 00:39:40,500 today, but I hope you've learned something new. 732 00:39:40,900 --> 00:39:43,700 If you have, please tell other people about this ministry and 733 00:39:43,700 --> 00:39:46,500 share this podcast with them, and will continue to look at the 734 00:39:46,500 --> 00:39:36,700 gospels in the coming days. So, that's a nice place to 735 00:39:36,700 --> 00:39:38,300 finish. It's been a longer episode 736 00:39:38,300 --> 00:39:40,500 today, but I hope you've learned something new. 737 00:39:40,900 --> 00:39:43,700 If you have, please tell other people about this ministry and 738 00:39:43,700 --> 00:39:46,500 share this podcast with them, and will continue to look at the 739 00:39:46,500 --> 00:39:47,900 gospels in the coming days.