The Annunciation is in one sense rather odd liturgically.
Calculated as it is nine months before Christmas, the Annunciation is normally observed on 25 March, that is, during Lent. If it falls during the first five weeks of Lent, the observance is on 25 March. If it falls during Holy Week, it is postponed until after Easter in the Roman Catholic tradition. While this is quite understandable, it does detract somewhat from the importance of the observance.
There is also a tendency in popular piety to conflate biblical accounts that are quite different and to “level” them into one story. For example, no one thinks it odd when the Magi of Matthew’s account meet the shepherds at the manger in the account of Luke, even though the actual biblical accounts render such an encounter virtually impossible.
It is very similar with the two very different biblical accounts of the Annunciation. The first — and probably earlier — is found in Matthew 1:18-25. The second is in Luke 1:26-38.
In Matthew’s account, Mary’s role is underwhelming. We are told Mary was, as translated directly from Greek, “found to be pregnant from [the] Holy Spirit.” The explanation or annunciation of this situation is made to Joseph (Mt 1:20-21), who is told the child is “of the Holy Spirit” and is to be named Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.
Matthew then adds an important theological underpinning in verse 23 by citing the Greek translation of Isaiah 7:14: “ ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means ‘God is with us.’ ”
Matthew’s preference for the Greek translation here, called the Septuagint, cannot be accidental and its significance cannot be overstated.
The Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, at the time of Matthew was available in Greek, as noted, and in Hebrew, the Masoretic Text. The two texts sometimes diverge. Matthew relies heavily on the Old Testament in his Gospel, and when the Hebrew and Greek diverge, Mathew almost always favors the Hebrew — except in this case of the Annunciation.
In citing Isaiah 7:14, Matthew finds the Hebrew states “a young woman (הָעַלְמָה, hāʽalmāh) will conceive.” The word “virgin” (παρθένος) does not translate “young woman.” Virgin in Hebrew is בְּתוּלָה, (btûlāh). There are several words for “woman,” “female,” “girl,” etc., in Greek.
The indication, therefore, is that at a very early date Christians believed the birth of Jesus was without a human father.
Luke’s account of the Annunciation is quite different from Matthew’s. Two women, Mary and her cousin Elizabeth, are focal to Luke’s account in which Gabriel announces not only the birth of Jesus but also that of John the Baptist. Although the Gospels are about Jesus and not Mary, Luke nonetheless gives Mary an active and important role in his introduction of Jesus in his Gospel, sometimes referred to as the “Gospel of Women and Prayer.” It is easy to see why when we compare Gospels.
In Matthew’s infancy narrative, Mary plays almost no role at all. In 1:18, we are told she is betrothed to Joseph and, in 2:11, she is mentioned as the mother of Jesus. Joseph, on the other hand, is mentioned eight times in the narrative.
However, in Luke’s Gospel, Mary is central to the narrative of the Annunciation and as an agent. She questions Gabriel and gives her consent to what is about to happen. She then goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Mary, we are told, got up and hurried to Elizabeth in Judea. Joseph plays no role in the journey. The narrative also mentions, Anna (2:36-38), a prophetess, who gives witness to whom the baby is.
Luke also has three prayers in his infancy narrative, where Matthew has none: Mary’s Magnificat (1:46-55), Zecharia’s Benedictus (1:67-79) and Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis (2:29-32).
Likewise, the narrative of the choice of the Twelve occurs in Mark 3:13-29, Matthew 10:1-4, and Luke 6:12-16. Only Luke mentions that Jesus “went onto the mountain to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God.” It is unlikely that Matthew would have dropped that from his narrative, so we may safely assume that Luke added it because of the emphasis he puts on prayer.
Several years ago, a prominent Greek Orthodox theologian gave some gentle yet very important advice to theologians in the Western church, whom he considered overly concerned with analysis of dogma. In speaking of the zeal of many Western theologians to analyze doctrines about Mary, Metropolitan Kallistos Ware warned: “There is a danger of trying to say too much about the Mother of God. St. Basil’s warning is not to be forgotten: ‘Let things ineffable be honored in silence.’ ” Somewhat oversimplified, he warned against a tendency to analyze too much and to contemplate — in silent awe — too little.
This might well apply to the feast of the Annunciation. The mystery of the Annunciation, to say nothing about the Incarnation, is not primarily about biology, but everything about soteriology, that is, salvation.
While Christians have always believed that Christ is truly divine and truly human, as affirmed in the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, the mystery of the Incarnation goes far beyond a mere natal conception, even if it were the most important conception in history. The Incarnation was not merely the introduction of a most extraordinary person to the “family tree of humanity.” In the Incarnation, the very relationship between corporality — the material world — and the divine was radically changed forever. The infinite chasm between the material and the divine, between humans and the Godhead, has been bridged. To be sure, God is still utterly transcendent, utterly other, and yet in the Incarnation, the Divine Word, the “Logos,” has become human like us in all things but sin.
St. Basil was right. Faced with this overwhelming impossibility, which we believe became a reality, constant talk and analysis can become nervous, self-conscious chatter. Wonder, awe and silent contemplation are the most appropriate response.