Distance glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen. Okay, we've been talking, as we know, about the Trinitarian love that we're invited into and how that's been revealed to us in the scripture. So we've looked at the creation of Adam and Eve. We've looked at the prophets. We've noted that the people of Israel, although it's a patriarchal society, tend to have a very feminine identity. That image, I think, is also picked up in the New Testament by Luke, by all four evangelists actually, but by Luke in a very unique way in the person of the Virgin Mary. Luke has a very interesting approach.

[01:00]

I don't know how much you've done in studying the Gospel of Luke, but he – you got to excuse me just a second. The Gospel of Luke has a tendency to present the whole understanding of the Church. Luke is interested in presenting not just the life of Christ, but how the Church is brought into being, and so he's got a two-volume work. The first aspect of that work is the Gospel, of course, in which he deals specifically with the life of Christ and his ministry, his mission, the saving actions. The second volume deals specifically with the inception and the mission of the Church. Both of these books in this two-volume work

[02:06]

treat of the, begin with, the role of the Holy Spirit. And in both of these works, the Holy Spirit brings forth the fruition. And so The whole scene, the whole scenario, is very interested in the role of the Holy Spirit, first in how the Holy Spirit works in the life of Christ and conducts Him, literally in certain places really conducts Him throughout His mission and His ministry, and then how the same Holy Spirit really conducts the life of the Church, which is participating in the mission of Christ. What's interesting is that the entire two-volume work begins with two chapters at the very onset of Luke's Gospel, and those two chapters focus on one protagonist, who isn't given much specific acclaim throughout the rest of the text,

[03:08]

and yet somehow she is present. Those two chapters deal specifically with the person and the role of the Virgin Mary. Now, we've got to understand first and foremost Luke, who is himself a Gentile and probably the only non-Jewish writer in the New Testament, and certainly the non-Jewish evangelist, understands himself as having been extended and brought into the faith of Israel. As we looked at the end of the book of the prophet Isaiah, there's a sense given in Isaiah of universal maternity of Zion. Luke sees himself as being gathered into that. He's of a pagan origin. He, in a very unique perspective, understands how those prophecies are realized, and when the prophets are speaking of daughter Zion being the mother of all the nations, he has a genuine perspective of appreciation from that.

[04:17]

So in the first two chapters, he wants to present us with an image, the Virgin Mary, who is at once a historical figure. Certainly, she is the mother of Jesus. She's got a specific mission. She's got all that going on. But she also represents the faith of Israel. So, whenever you see Mary in the New Testament, there's always, and also in our tradition, there's always that double effect. On the one hand, she is certainly the mother of Jesus Christ, who's given to the church as mother. She's also a representation of the church, a representation of the fulfillment of the faith of Israel. And Luke has that very clearly in mind. And we see that, I think, specifically in the Annunciation account. Luke sees the Virgin Mary first. You've got to see those first two chapters, too, in a perspective that Mary is surrounded by Old Testament figures.

[05:20]

Certainly, Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, Elizabeth, Zachariah the priestly tradition, Elizabeth, the sterile woman who's graced in her old age, Simeon and Anna, even Joseph himself, they all present an image of Old Testament faith. The prophecies, the patriarchs, everyone is somehow present there symbolically. In the midst of these persons is a young girl, and this young girl who, through the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John, we see an image of the perfection of the faith of Israel, daughter of Zion, virgin daughter of my people. we see this young girl who's referred to indirectly in the Gospel in a couple of places, but then appears again at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles when the Holy Spirit descends upon the Church. The same Holy Spirit which is going to hover over her will hover over this virginal Church.

[06:25]

So she's a weighty figure in this Gospel. And so Luke introduces her in a very Not with trumpets and great fanfare, but in a very magnificent and very spectacular manner. Zachariah has already received his annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist. Once he's received that enunciation and he has balked a little bit, his skepticism has left him mute, he's not completely open to the Word of God. And so, in a very real way, we see – we're not saying anything specific about Zacharias so much as we're seeing We're actually setting the stage for the real representative of the faith of Israel. Zechariah represents the priestly tradition. The priestly tradition can just go so far, because the covenant of sacrifice is just a sign of the true sacrifice that's going to be offered.

[07:37]

Like a diptych, the next annunciation account occurs with the birth of Jesus. The same angel comes to Mary. And as we're very familiar with the passage, but it's worth going through, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, hail, favored one, or hail, graced one. The Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. When the angel greets her, the term that he greets her with is kairei in the Greek, and it's a greeting, but it's a call to rejoice. And so literally he says, rejoice. That's his initiation. Rejoice. And then he doesn't call her by name.

[08:41]

He calls her by a title, which in Old Testament tradition, Luke by this point has become a real scholar of the Hebrew scriptures. It's a sign of a mission. Valiant warrior is given to Phineas and who else? Oh, I'm at a loss. But anyhow, it's a son. Gideon. I'm Gideon. I'm sorry, Gideon. Gideon is given value in warrior. But there's a clear parallel with Mary in that enunciation account. It's also enunciation of a dramatic birth, of a spectacular birth. And it seems that the two forms are being mixed because the other spectacular birth, the birth of Samson, the birth of the birth of Samson in particular, where an angel is announcing his birth, we see some parallels there.

[09:43]

But it seems that Mary's being given a mission because she's being greeted by a title, and then she goes through the standard, as does Moses, as does Gideon, as does most of the people who receive a a message of a mission in the Old Testament. She doesn't exactly balk, but she presents a problem, she presents consternation, and that problem's going to be resolved. But he says, Kyrie, rejoice, favored one, kekeretomene, favored or grace one. The title Kekeretobene is a very unique term. She's the only person in all of scripture that this title is specifically applied to. We do see this term listed in one other place, but this is the perfect past participle. It's you who are graced. In the only other place it appears in scripture, it's listed in this adjunctive, and that's

[10:47]

the first chapter of the Ephesians, verse 6, where Paul says, "...in love he destined us for the adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise and the glory of his grace that He granted to His Beloved. That grace, it's listed in the subjunctive there, this very unique phrase, the grace of the adoption of Jesus Christ. The next verse explains what that grace implies. In Him we have redemption by His blood, the forgiveness of sin. The grace that's uniquely referred to in that letter of the Ephesians, that we might receive it in the subjunctive, is actually applied to Mary in this title, in a past participle, in a perfect past, you who are graced. You who are graced. So he's not saying that you're receiving the grace of motherhood.

[11:49]

He's not saying something that's going to happen in the future. He's declaring a condition in which she exists. She's graced already. Now, that, the early Church Fathers have pondered over with quite a bit of consideration, and both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions maintain, when it happened, nobody's, you know, the Orthodox aren't necessarily, certainly as imaginative of a conception as we are, but that there is a very strong implication presented in the scripture here that Mary is sinless, that the statement that she's sinless at the conception of Christ. So, a hell-favored one, graced one, the Lord is with you. Again, that's like with Gideon and as with Moses, a sign to a mission. The Lord is with you. It's a consolation.

[12:50]

It's meant to strengthen them. But she's greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said, don't be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be called Great and will be called Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father. And he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end. But Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I have no relations with man? And the angel said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Jesus, of course, his birth being announced, but Mary presents another problem. in that first she's concerned over confusion over what the greeting would mean.

[13:50]

Again, that's emphasizing that the greeting seems to have a heavy significance. She who is, who by implication is sinless, is not self-focused, is kind of jarred. jarred actually to the depths of her being, that she has in any way some sort of special status or recognition, not understanding what that means. But then she presents the real problem here, I have no relations with a man. Now, that's interesting because Mary, of course, is in the first stage of a marriage contract. She's already been given to Joseph. She's living at home. It seems that the marriage custom of her period, of Palestine in the first century, she would have been given publicly to Joseph in a marriage. She would have returned home. And then, after a period of time, the bridegroom would come and claim her once he's made the house ready, once he's made his home ready.

[14:55]

It's up to the bridegroom when he claims her. You know not when the bridegroom comes. So, hence the Lord's parables make a lot more sense in that light. She doesn't know when he's going to claim her. For all he knows, he's going to come ten minutes after the angel leaves. They're going to have normal sexual relationships and she's going to conceive and bear a child. She's presenting some sort of objection I have no relationship with man." It could just be a statement of, I'm still a virgin, but it could also be a disposition of her heart, a disposition which would be very prominent in Luke's depiction of Mary, in which she already anticipates, this figure is always already presented in her very person as anticipating the perfection of discipleship which will be proclaimed in Christ. So, is she a sign of the bridal nature of the Church, a desire, a sign of the spouse of Christ who really has no heart other than for the Lord whom she loves?

[16:02]

Is she really, in the tradition, of course, that's what we maintain, a sign of bridal Israel and the bridal Church? already intuitively knowing in her heart that somehow she's destined to be completely dedicated in a bridal manner to the God whom she loves and whom she serves. The Holy Spirit, who is the fruit of the union of God, is replied, will come upon her. And so this fruitfulness, the child that she'll have, will be no, the angel goes on and clarifies, this will have nothing to do to rupture your virginity in any way, it'll be an act of God. The Holy Spirit, as we've already said, the Holy Spirit being the fruit of the union of the persons of God, all fruitfulness, a sign of His life and a participation in His life. This child to be born will happen, will be conceived and will be brought forth within the context of this overshadowing Spirit, the Spirit who is the eternal love between the Father and the Son.

[17:10]

The Father and the Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the hope most high will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. and behold, Elizabeth, your relative is also conceived in her old age, and this is the sixth month for who has been called barren, for nothing is impossible with God." The sign that's given to Mary, you know, Gideon is given a sign of a fleece first, a fleece that's dry when the ground around it is wet, and then the sign is that the fleece is wet when the ground around it is dry with the morning dew. Moses is given a couple of magic tricks, if you will, you know, put your hand in, you're a leper, when you take it out, put it back in, it's clean again, throw the stick down, you've got a snake. These are signs for Moses and for Gideon to really demonstrate that this is, in fact, coming from God. The sign given to Mary is fruitfulness in old age, the sterile woman of the Old Testament, you know?

[18:13]

Elizabeth is a sign of the fruitfulness in old age. Mary is being presented as a continuation. That's the sign that's given to her, a continuation of that line. A woman who really has no business being pregnant because she's a virgin. And yet, just as these faithful women were rewarded with children at their old age, by the power of God, by their reliance, their stance of availability to Him. So Mary is actually made a mother, though a virgin, and so all these connections are playing into place here. So Elizabeth has also conceived. Mary says, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, be you done unto me according to your will. Now, Mary's response to the angel has not been exactly dynamic till now. Her first response is being deeply troubled, profoundly troubled.

[19:22]

She doesn't understand what the greeting meant. It somehow counters her humility to think of herself as being special. Then she presents an objection, but I'm still a virgin. But with this, behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word. we say in the Latin fiat mihi, but in the Greek she actually says genoito. It's a joyful willingness to completely participate. The term itself denotes a joy, a willingness that's not just a resignation, but willingly and gladly done. In essence, The greeting of the angel at the beginning of the scene, Kairé, is now echoed by Mary in her fiat. She echoes the joy that opened the scene, and once she makes this statement, the angel leaves her and departs from the scene.

[20:26]

Luke seems to be presenting an image of the perfection of humanity, if you will. Eve presented as a figure who is meant to be completely receptive to the love of her husband in somehow focusing on her and seeing her. Adam understands his role. Eve's relationship, of course, is based upon the receptive availability of the second person of the Tempt Trinity, Christ, to the Father, who always proceeds from the Father, completely available, disposed to the Father. Eve breaks with the form in which she's been created, and nothing but trouble happens after that. The people of Israel are called, and they're called in a bridal relationship to Yahweh, when in any way they deviate from that. Disaster, catastrophe happens, but God is always calling to them. Mary is presented, and here we're presented with this profoundly feminine figure, not more than a girl, and her whole disposition seems to be one of grace, favor, and the disposition, the Genoito,

[21:41]

complete availability, a complete reliance upon the love of God, a disposition of availability to Him, and that's why in essence, in the tradition, why the sense that the objection to being the mother, since I don't know man, she doesn't say yet, since I don't know man, it seems to be presenting more of a problem, the disposition of her heart seems to be completely to Yahweh, to this God who loves her. Luke seems to be presenting to us first the perfection of the stance of Israel's faith as if all of the ages from the call of Abraham to now have finally culminated in this one person who on behalf of the human race can say yes in a pure and a sin-free manner.

[22:49]

who can say yes, because God has always been at the door knocking, and no human has been able to, no human till now has really been able to reply, as if the fullness of the history of Israel is finally culminated. But also the first moment of the Church, that this is the first yes to Christ, and that every yes of discipleship will somehow flow from this yes, in a very real way, because had she not said yes, we don't believe in our faith that he would have gone next door, the angel would have gone next door to Sarah Schwartz and said, so Sarah, do you want to be the mother of God? We believe that this was her unique role, that somehow she was chosen by God that she would have this special relationship to Christ, that in this capacity of her special relationship to Christ, she would be the one to say yes or no for all of us.

[23:51]

Just because she's a sinless virgin, just because she's sinless doesn't mean that she's a puppet. She has complete free will. The chapter 8 of Lumen Gentia makes it very clear. She's conceived free of sin, but she remains free of sin by her cooperation with grace, that her heart never veers. She always stays completely receptive to this love of God. She must have known temptation. She's a human being. God lets a snake in the garden, and Christ himself will know temptation. And yet, we don't have any record of that. And yet, being in this world, being in the midst of the human race, there must have been ways in which there could have been any sort of temptation to sin. Her heart would have never veered from that. Had she in any way deviated from a complete and selfless, receptive love of God, she would have never seen the angel.

[24:55]

What she is in anticipation is what we hope to be as a fruit of the cross. She herself can never be understood as the Savior, of course, only Christ can save. But her very being, her sinlessness, is an act of God in anticipation of the cross, even as our hopeful sinlessness is going to be a fruit of the cross. But it's the cross that causes the effect of sinlessness. Christ's coming redeems her, she who is redeemed in anticipation of His coming, and we are redeemed as a fruit of His coming. We all look to Him for redemption, only He is the Redeemer. And yet, Love demands free response. By its own nature, nothing can ever be forced on us in love. Mary freely cooperates with the divine will.

[26:01]

This is, I think, Luke, tries to bring this home a little bit more fully when he presents Mary's visit to Elizabeth. And again, we're seeing figures from the Old Testament and scenes of the Old Testament. Incidentally, what I just gave you, I don't know if you have it in your collection, but Ignace de la Poterie in his Mary and the Mystery of the Covenant gives a good exegesis of specifically this text. And Andre Fouillet in Jesus and His Mother, I think it's a St. Pete publication, did the English translation of that, looks at looks at this sense of the visitation. When Mary goes to Elizabeth and actually goes over the Judean hill country, she's actually traversing the same terrain that the Ark would have gone over when it's found in the plains of Urim.

[27:03]

And so going over the same countryside, the Judean hillside, when she comes to Elizabeth, And the child leaps in Elizabeth's womb when she hears the cry, when she hears Mary's greeting. Fouillé insists that that's a reflection of David's leap in the presence of the Ark. as it's also a sign that when Mary stays with Elizabeth for three months, the Ark will stay three months in an attendant's house before it's brought into Jerusalem, that Mary is being presented as the new Ark. Mary, again, the mother of Christ, but also a sign of the Church who bears Christ within her. that Mary is being presented as the new Ark, because God is dwelling within her. The Ark is the very sign of the container of God's presence for the faith of Israel.

[28:09]

Elizabeth calls Mary blessed three times. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. How does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me for the moment that the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy?" Then she says, blessed, and she makes a transition. Now she says, blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. This blessed she shifts, and for the first time in Luke's Gospel we see the term makarion used for denoting blessed. Makarion will appear again in the Beatitudes. the blessing of discipleship. But the earlier blessings of Elizabeth are not the Makarion. This, blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. in an indirect way, we see that again in Luke chapter 11, when a woman, we read this in the comment, when Mass in honor of the Virgin, it's one of the Gospel readings, the woman who calls out, blessed is the womb that carried you, the breasts that nursed you.

[29:23]

And Jesus replied, rather blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it. We can't read that passage in Luke's Gospel without realizing that the woman who did nurse him at her breast and did bear him in her womb first heard the word of God, first received him. It's a direct relationship to this earlier text. Mary is not blessed because she's the mother of God. She's the mother of God because she believes. The blessing isn't motherhood. Motherhood is the fruition of her belief. She represents radically the faith of the sense of receptive availability to God, the model of discipleship. And in that stance of absolute availability, she literally conceives Christ, the Holy Spirit that has been withheld from the human race, now hovers over her. And in the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, we'll hover over the church.

[30:25]

and a new fruitfulness will take place, because on that day 5,000 will be added to the membership of the Church. So Luke opens up the two-volume set with this Holy Spirit The sign of love, the fruition of love, the communion of the Father and the Son, which Adam and Eve are not really privy to in a full way by virtue of sin, which the faith of Israel is being prepared to receive, we see that Holy Spirit hovering over Mary, causing the conception of Christ leading Christ in his ministry. Luke's Gospel definitely shows Christ as being led by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like the rule of his life. And then that same spirit is directing and leading the church. We see it first in Peter and then specifically leading Paul in the Acts of the Apostles.

[31:30]

Luke is really the evangelist of the Holy Spirit. His two-volume work really presents the workings of the Holy Spirit. And Mary is a sign of the first member of our race who is perfectly receptive to the working of God. Again, she's not the savior, but she allows salvation by her cooperative heart, her completely receptive heart. She parallels Eve, but where Eve, in her choice, says no, Mary makes a joyful yes, and the act of God living within us is accomplished and achieved. Just in closing, it was always a pious Catholic custom to say the Angelus three times a day, and I kind of wish we didn't lose that, but I don't think almost no one knows it.

[32:33]

I mean, I'm sure you guys do, but if you speak to kids, you know, They don't know it. I try to teach it to seminarians, but it's a magnificent little prayer to recall three times a day that Mary said yes to an angel, and that yes has allowed me to say yes. Her reception of the body of Christ has allowed me to say amen, to receive the Eucharist, that I am receiving him no less fully, less perfectly, in the Eucharist than she did at the Annunciation. And that closing prayer is, I think, really extremely telling. Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Your Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may, by His Passion and Cross, be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. We, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Your Son, was made known by the message of an angel,

[33:33]

We are now identified with Mary. Mary's yes is the yes of the entire church, and we're all present there. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen. What is this? Real well, except I have an awful time with the regions. because everybody says it's not a sin. It was kind of an originating sin. So that Mary was sinless, I mean, I'm not going to start a new church right now, but it's a very difficult thing to see how I think somehow the terminology is wrong. It throws us off. I still haven't had an article on the first issue of Communio.

[34:37]

It doesn't show up in Hebrew. I'm going to say theology. Really, it shows up once in one of the wisdom books. And I think that is one thing that leads to that substitution notion of Christ, where most likely his role is a go-well, he's a kinsman, which makes a lot of sense, you know, that the kinsman was the one who was responsible in a sense for life of the brother who died, of the person who was killed or injured, of the people who were in trouble and so forth. And Christ is really a kinsman to us in a way that, at least for me, it makes it a whole lot more I don't know what's the end of that exactly, but powerful and helpful and close than whichever is at wrong, that's substitution. He's doing something that we don't have to do it.

[35:38]

He's trying to enable us to do it. But at any rate, original sin, which we all admit is not a sin in us, I just have an awful time seeing What is the problem? We're born into a sinful situation. And of course in one place it is, and my mother can see me, but the other canticle of Moses that we have every Saturday is about being born. conceived integral and we became worthless and so on and so forth. Did anybody quote that thing on Saturday? Moses, you know, my speech to Sennacherib and so forth, and then he speaks to the people and says, you know, how can you abandon the God that created you? You were made good and you became corrupt and abominable and so on and so forth.

[36:42]

I will fetch it from the soldier at some point. But anyway, the original sin is what cannabis sin is original sin. I think the sense of what we in the West will term as original sin, and that in the East as well, they won't say original sin, but certainly baptism somehow puts its right with Christ. That's for sure. Without Christ, you know, we've had it. But how do you bring the sin in? The notion of corporate personality and all of us being involved in what somebody did, That's helpful, and I can be aqueous in that. And there's more responsibility there for one another than you would ever think. And I would be willing to believe that as a representative, you know, humor is the way I sin, okay, then all my children are going to have the effects of that in some way. But how does that, and you know, we couldn't will, all that stuff makes sense in some way, but it's just that this is without some appreciation of corporate personality or corporate responsibility.

[37:55]

Okay, as far as I see it, the disposition of sin, that whatever happens, whatever the story of Genesis is really pertaining to that somehow the original human condition is a disposition of absolute availability, receptivity to the will of God. Somehow, at a very early point, that's corrupted, in a way in which the human character is partially turned away. So even the best of the prophets of Israel, as far as they can be turned, aren't fully receptive. That somehow, by an act of divine grace, and by virtue of the faith of Israel, a particular person comes forth, this child, this girl, who is radically directed towards God in a

[39:04]

an unhesitant way, and maintains that directedness by virtue of her desire, her will, to be cooperating with that same divine life, that there's something very unique there, that Christ, in the act of salvation, somehow depended upon and depends upon the cooperative receptivity of the human heart. Because love demands that much. Love demands that there is a reception. And no one until she comes. No one could ever really receive him in that way. She comes really at the fullness of time. So this is something that will affect our spirit or our soul in some way?

[40:19]

No, ours, ours, I mean the rest of us, and then she was preserved from that wound if you wanted. She's, she's, again, yeah, she's, but that hurt, yeah, that disposition of complete, absolute availability to Christ, we will, sharing by virtue of our relationship to Christ, and our relationship to Christ very much depended upon the fact that she said she was. The yes wasn't just uttered one afternoon in Nazareth. But it was somehow, somehow it was the very statement of her life. And once that yes, once that yes is made in a very definitive way, she's now associating with the Christ in a way that she isn't separated from him, unless she really willfully chooses to be pulled away. And so we see a merger of her with him in a bridal, and really in a nuptial fashion, in a nuptial imagery that so permeates both the Old and the New Testament.

[41:26]

Even the conjugal act itself doesn't quite represent how intrinsically we are filled with his very presence in the mystery of indwelling. Anyway, the whole thing about some weakening of the will, and this is the result of where this happened along in our history. That's how we are affected, and it's due to... We don't know what, but well, somehow are solidary, I guess. Well, I would, again, according to the story in scripture that somehow, and yeah, the catechism talks about our first parents, without maintaining that, you know, maybe there was an exact, maybe it's not telling history here, but there's something that happened early on that has affected the condition, the character of the human heart.

[42:30]

in a way that we aren't existing as we were intended to exist. And somehow that deformity, if you will, that spiritual deformity has been handed down just like a bad gene to everybody. and that bad gene will ultimately cause some form of death, cancer, who knows whatever's going to happen, until finally there's one creature who can say, who is radically turned when Christ comes, and I do maintain the act of substitution. It's a great time that he bore my sin, not depending on it. Not just sins in general, but every individual's sin, that he dies trillions of deaths. That's more than just a bad afternoon for a good man, but in fact, by his stripes we're healed. That our offense he bore, our infirmity he bore.

[43:34]

Yeah, but somehow that's to incorporate us into his life. It isn't to do something we don't have to do. It enables us to be united to him in a way, even our yes to admission of the sinner. Well, it unites us more, that he brings us life is a more wonderful thing, and he does something that, so I don't have to do it, he does it to enable me somewhat more inner, inner more fully into his life, it seems like. Yeah. And otherwise it's a kind of an external Lutheran, you know, uh, covering over, really. And we don't, we're not united to Christ as we would be if we were sharing his own life. Well, again, I think when Luke presents, when he presents Mary at the temple, you know, presenting the Christ child, and a sword shall pass your own heart, you know, you too will be pierced by a sword, so that the thoughts of many men be laid bare. That's a very mysterious, but the sense is, she's connected to his passion too. Now, somehow her suffering, he's saying, will help to reveal the thoughts of others.

[44:42]

And is it because the cooperation of the Church and the passion of Christ, staying faithful and true to him? Does that somehow reveal us to ourselves? Just as there was a corporate action of humanity that turned it on itself and became self-focused and created a new form of blindness, a new form of darkness called sin, So by the same token, by staying completely aligned to Christ and focused on Him, that by relationship, others by faith are also drawn into that new vision. That sin has that sin has some sort of reality to it, that Christ takes it upon himself.

[45:44]

I think that when John says, he's the man who takes away the sin of the world, of course he's referring to the scapegoat, but he's saying, he's taking this from you. Now, that doesn't mean that we're not, you know, the Lutheran notion of, you know, snow-blanketed piles of dung, that's to say that our, you know, I understand Luther, which is, to me, that's confusing for him and even for Calvin and Luther, but he does say that. But that's to say that our character was absolutely, has become dung. Divine intimacy, how the Lord calls us into his own divine life, and how in the Hebrew scriptures that's presented in a bridal relationship, and we looked yesterday at how the Gospel of Luke picks up on that relationship through the person of Mary.

[46:58]

The Gospel of John has a very similar, interesting, a little bit of a different approach, different take on that relationship. John's Gospel begins with a glance towards Genesis, as we know. He begins his Gospel with exactly the same phrase that Genesis begins, in the beginning. where Genesis says, in the beginning God created, John likes to go a step beyond and goes into the beginning as in eternity. In the beginning was the Word, and he puts us directly in the mindset of the relationship that Christ has with the Father, the Son has with the Father in eternity. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And as he continues in the prologue, the prologue, of course, is probably a hymn that's adopted from perhaps an Antiochian tradition, but already a Christian hymn applied to Christ. But John uses that to introduce his gospel.

[48:02]

And in order to introduce his Gospel, he presents a relationship of the persons of the Trinity, specifically the first two persons in the Trinity, and how we are called to share in that relationship. Those who did accept him, he gave power to become children of God, and he's already called the Son of God. To those who believe in his name, belief being critical in John's Gospel, who were born not by natural generation, nor by human choice, nor by man's decision, but of God. and the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we saw His glory, the glory of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth." So there's a familial relationship that's being presented, this divine intimacy, that we're called to share in. Of course, he comes to his own, his own don't accept him, but those who do believe in him somehow are brought into the context of this relationship.

[49:04]

So the door is open for the task of this Gospel. John's Gospel is unique in that it's got an extraordinarily high Christology compared to the other Gospels, but by the same token, there is far more of an intimate interpersonal relationship presented with Christ, particularly with the beloved disciple. The Gospel presents two great unnamed figures, and those unnamed figures are going to be highly significant. The one unnamed figure, the beloved disciple, the patriarch of the community, is of course a person who has a special relationship with Christ. This community that the Gospel is written for obviously sees this person as their patriarch, and being their patriarch, they also presume this very special relationship, but it's also spoken to the entire church. But the other unnamed figure, we don't really notice until we start looking at specific texts, the fact that the mother of Jesus is never named.

[50:07]

The name Mary is used throughout the Gospel, women are named, but her name is never given in the Gospel. She appears in two very critical cameo pericopes, you know, she has a little cameo appearance in the very beginning of the mission, in the very beginning of the Book of Signs, and then at the Hour of Glory. at the hour of glory at Calvary. She appears there again. Both times her role is presented, her identity is revealed by her relationship to Jesus. She's the mother. And there's a very special way in which John utilizes her. And we're going to look a little bit at that introductory scene. Because, once again, when we look at the figure, the person of Mary, yes, we're speaking about an historical person, that's a no-brainer, but we're also speaking about someone who's being presented to us as an image of the Church, the fulfillment of the bridal faith of Israel, the beginning, the first person, the first believer of the Church, and so this feminine entity.

[51:20]

And in a Gospel which begins with the term in the beginning. We are always, we're being told to be on alert, to always have a sort of a sideways glance towards Genesis as we're reading this Gospel. So when the beautiful prologue ends and we see John the Baptist and his business at the Jordan, there's an interesting confrontation that takes place. The prologue ends, we're introduced immediately to John the Baptist, and there's John the Baptist making straight the path for the Lord. And some Pharisees were sent. They asked him, why do you baptize if you are not the Messiah? or Elijah, or the prophet. John answered, I baptize you with water, but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.

[52:25]

This happened in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing. The next day, so that happens on one day, the next day Jesus, he saw Jesus coming toward him, and he said, Behold the Lamb of God, and said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, a man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me. So already we're being put in the mindset of the prologue, he existed before me. And John testified further, saying, I saw the Spirit coming down like a dove. Again, the Spirit is utilized a lot in John's Gospel. From the sky it remained upon him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, on whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God, the only Son coming from the Father.

[53:27]

The next day, so all these sequences of days, so one day John is denying that he's the apostle, he's the Messiah, the next day he recognizes Jesus, the next day he sends some of his disciples after Jesus, the next day Jesus was there again with two of his, John was there again with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, behold the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, what are you looking for? And they, we'll go on with the perigee, you know, it's a beautiful thing, but we'll get lost in that. So that's the next day. Then, after that sequence takes place, and they've acclaimed him as the Messiah. They said to him, Rabbi, and Andrew goes and gets his brother. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. He went and found his brother Simon and said, we found the Messiah.

[54:32]

And so all these messianic titles are being presented. The next day, so we have four days, He decided to go on to Galilee, found Philip, and Jesus said to him, follow me. Now, Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and told him, we found the one about whom Moses wrote the law. Another Messianic title, Jesus, son of Joseph from Nazareth. But Nathanael said, can anything good come from Nazareth? Nazareth gets a rap like New Jersey does, you know? Anything ever come good from there? So, come and see. Jesus then reveals himself, reveals Nathanael's own thoughts to himself and where he was. Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. So we see four days being presented, and in those four days, John denying that he's the Messiah, and on each of those days we see messianic titles, many of which are addressed specifically to Jesus, but Jesus doesn't respond.

[55:46]

He says, well, yes, indeed, I am the Lamb of God. Yes, indeed, I am the Messiah. He doesn't deny them, but he doesn't respond to them. Then, immediately, on the third day, there was a wedding feast at Cana. What is that third day related to? It's related to the last day. There's an inaugural week. There's one day in which John proclaims that he is not the Messiah, then he points to Jesus the next day, points to Jesus the next day, points to Jesus the next day. On the third day, there's a wedding feast in Cana, we have a week. In a text that begins with a glance towards Genesis, in the beginning, we have a week. There's a sign of a new creation, a sense of a new creation that we're being presented with here. Jesus has not commented on anything about who he is yet. He hasn't responded yet to any of these messianic titles that are given to him.

[56:48]

but he shows them, because this wedding feast in Cana is going to end with a very telling little phrase. After it's all done, he'll say, Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs, the beginning of the book of signs, in Cana in Galilee. So he revealed his glory, and his disciples came to believe in him. What does the prologue say about the glory of Jesus? And we saw His glory, the glory of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth. And His disciples came to believe in Him, but those who did accept Him, He gave the power to become the children of God, those who believe in His name. In John's Gospel, terms belief and glory and hour are critical. We see them again and again. They all relate to the person of Jesus, and all relate specifically to what's going to happen when he's raised up upon the cross, his glory is revealed.

[57:56]

But at this very beginning, when Jesus is really being introduced, his ministry is beginning, He's going to reveal his glory in a very specific sign. So the author is making it very key to us. Pay attention to what's going on here. This is how he's revealing himself. What does he do? He changes water into wine. But there's more than that going on. On the third day, there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee. And the unnamed figure, the mother of Jesus, was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. And Jesus said to her, woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come. That term, we'll look at that in a little bit, but that term could just as easily be translated, has not my hour come. But it didn't seem to make sense in the text, but it could.

[59:00]

And so, first off, we see a wedding. Of course, a wedding is a very happy event, but we've also noted that Israel is called the Bride of Yahweh, and the Church throughout the New Testament will be called the Bride of Christ. That bridal motif, that intimacy of divine love, the communion of the Father and the Son, when it's extended to humanity, is presented as being bridal in nature. What's very interesting is we're never told whose wedding this is. There are two figures that we're being presented with, a masculine and a feminine figure, the Lord and His Mother, and they become the focus of the attention. And is this, are we being presented with an incestuous relationship? That would be a very superficial reading, but people have made that comment. The key understanding is if Mary is being presented not just as the mother of Jesus historically, but as the sign of receptive faith,

[60:05]

faith that doesn't necessarily understand, but believes. She, a daughter of Israel, then she represents the faith of the Church. And that sort of receptive faith, which is really completely in line, resonates with that absolute receptivity of the Son in eternity. she is completely receptive to him, so united to him, a sign of the church being linked to Christ. And so we have the significance of what's going on here. So she's got a very human and a very mundane concern. She's a mother. She's a woman. She's a person of her culture. They're out of wine. I mean, is she specifically asking for a miracle? A lot of very devotional textual reads say that she knew exactly what she was asking. I suspect not, at least at first. I suspect that she's just concerned that this couple's going to be embarrassed. But the Lord takes it a step higher.

[61:08]

And this, you can also read very much of this in poetry if you're interested. Mary and the Mystery of the Covenant, I like his treatment of this too. Jesus has got this dynamic, he's presented with this dynamic in the Gospel of John. you say one thing and then he takes it a step higher. So it's always, whenever something is presented to him, he takes it beyond, he looks beyond the superficial or the material meaning and he's going to present us with the fuller meaning. How does this concern of yours affect me? Again, could he be saying, has not my hour come? Certainly to the Samaritan woman he says, an hour is coming and is already here. He's going to say just two more chapters. Has the hour begun?

[62:13]

The hour of Christ, throughout the Gospel of John, there's always the focus on the hour. The hour is the hour of glory, you know? When the Son of Man is raised up and draws all people to Himself. He's speaking specifically about the cross. That's the hour of glory. When He's crucified and held up and He will draw all people to Himself. It's the first mention of the hour in the Gospel, the first time Jesus mentions the hour, and so it's going to hone our attention. It's also interesting that Jesus does not call his mother, Mother. Poetry points out that nowhere in either secular or sacred literature of that period do we find, even outside of Jesus' culture, do we find any sort of a text where a son refers to his mother as woman.

[63:14]

It's not an irreverent title, but it's kind of distant. It's kind of objective. It's like, madam. Well, madam. You know, you wouldn't say that to your mother. It's a bit of a distance. But is it because the author wants to present very clearly to us that this figure personifies something more than just the historical character that she's presenting, just a historical person, but she's representative of this bridal faith? Mary, who is completely not put off by his response, seems to understand that more is at work here than she originally perceived. And so she says to the servants, do whatever he tells you. She could not have figured out his meaning based on his response. But she trusts.

[64:15]

But she trusts. Now, it's interesting, the Gospel of John uses two terms for servants. The first is douloise, and that's the standard reference to the household servants, you know, household slaves or servants, the kind of people who, you know, scrape ice off sidewalks and things like that, you know, do things with candles. But then the other is the diakonoi. And the diakonoi is specifically used in John's Gospel to refer to those who serve Christ. And Mary speaks here not to the douloirs, the household servants. Interestingly, she speaks to the diakonoi. Do whatever she tells you. The text says diakonoi. Do whatever he tells you. She's saying to the servants of Christ, it makes no difference if you don't understand him. Do whatever he tells you. Be receptive to him. That's her last words in this scripture.

[65:16]

Her last words. Do whatever he tells you. Be absolutely attentive and receptive to him. Good advice from a mother. Now, there are six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding 20 to 30 gallons. They're not going to run out. Well, they have six jars, each holding 20 to 30 gallons. They're not going to run out for a while if he fills these up with wine. Jesus says, fill the jars with water. So they filled them to the brim. And he said to them, draw some out and take it to the head waiter. So they took it. The head waiter tasted it, not knowing that the water had become wine. The taste of the water had become wine, not knowing where it had come from, although the servers who had drawn the water knew. And then he chastises the bridegroom, the man, his name is never given, but he chastises him, you know, why are you giving the good stuff now?

[66:20]

Jesus, of course, well Irenaeus, one of my favorites, he's looking at this text and remarking on the incredible superabundance of wine. There's no way that they would have gone through any one of those jars for the rest of that wedding feast. Or if they did, they would have not been driving home. But six of them, Irenaeus' comment is, well of course they didn't finish it, we're still drinking it. You know, that we're still participating in this event. It's the idea of the messianic superabundance of the text. Little notes here in my Bible refer to Amos chapter 9, Hosea chapter 14, and Jeremiah 31, all about the vast quantity, the superabundance that's going to be revealed in the last days.

[67:29]

It's astounding how much wine is prepared. The sense that I think John wants to present us with is that Jesus is not responding to any of the titles that are being hurled at him in the preceding chapter, the scene that completely precedes this event. He doesn't deny them, but they don't go far enough. They, in many ways, describe what he's about. But if there is going to be a characteristic sign associated with him, he's the bridegroom. He is the messianic bridegroom who's come to espouse his people, who's come to draw us into this divine relationship, to make us children of God by virtue of our belief in him, because as this event takes place, those who are with him and know him saw and believed

[68:35]

and those who believe are brought into this divine intimacy of his life with the Father. Mary, of course, a cameo appearance and fulfills a role, but we'll see later that it's more than a cameo. She seems to have a specific relationship for John's gospel because she'll be given to the beloved disciple and his mother. But that's for another conference. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Did the Eastern Church pick up more on this bridegroom image than we have? I think they really have. The Church Fathers certainly have picked up on the bridegroom image. Yeah, we, I think, yeah, I don't know why we haven't, well, actually, when we look at the prayers in our office, you see it really permeates, you know, those prayers are pretty traditional.

[69:45]

But for some reason, we haven't, we've, I think we focused more on Christ the High Priest, perhaps, which, of course, is related to the bridegroom image, but the bridegroom image is critical. and especially now when there's all these reconsiderations of Christ and his relationship with us and there's a real resistance to looking at the feminine character and quality of the church for a whole variety of reasons. It permeates the scripture, the sense of the bridal communion and Christ is the bridegroom and so that's my but are insisting that the sacramentality of marriage, and even associating it always with Cana, but it's not something your average Catholic, I think, makes a, you know, say, yeah, okay, he was a guest at a wedding feast, I mean, so what?

[70:47]

We don't stop and think about what this sign represents, you know? It's the beginning of his mission, and he's coming to espouse us. Is the precapsical of John or John the Baptist is the bright, everything love, rose. That's right, yeah, actually, I even have a note here, I almost referred to him, because John the Baptist, he says that in 329, I think it was 42, I don't know what happened, I couldn't read anymore without these cheap dime store glasses, you know. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. He says, John has been, no one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said that I am not the Messiah, but I was said before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The best man stands and listens for him, rejoices at the bridegroom's voice.

[71:50]

So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase, I must decrease." John's last words in the scripture, as he calls Christ specific, and so that's John's final testimony, specifically refers to Christ as the Bridegroom. Yeah, so again, it accentuates that whole notion. It's interesting, too, that Jesus reveals himself in the book earlier. because I have a fourth chapter where he reads Isaiah and all the prophecies and he says that this is fulfilled in your fury. I think it's Luke, the fourth chapter of the book, where Jesus is reading Isaiah. Yeah, that would be one of the reasons why they saw people wanting to adopt it. But that's so much the average person who is the authorities.

[72:54]

Yeah, who would have studied it. Well, no, I mean, like, you know, think of us if, you know, somebody made that statement in our midst, I mean, it would be hard to take, even if they came with a very good reputation, you know, it'd be hard to take, and then, you know, it would be very confusing. Yeah, but that he reveals himself as the bridegroom is pretty critically important. It's one of the interesting links, you know, we'll talk more about that later, but Revelation and John, two completely different writing styles, but there's imagery used in those two texts that exists nowhere else, you know. the focus on the Lamb, the specific way in which he uses bridal imagery. Paul, of course, refers to Christ as the Bridegroom of the Church throughout. And in the other Gospels, Jesus has references to the Kingdom of Heaven as being likened to a wedding feast in so many different ways and manners.

[73:59]

Again, that seems to be presenting the Messianic nuptials, but John seems to really want to hone in on Jesus as the Bridegroom. That makes Matt uncomfortable often too. At least in my community. Great. Something to think about for while you're scraping sidewalks and things. Doing. Catch you maybe tomorrow morning. I'm talking about it. There'll be two people here to take my place. It's either this morning or... Oh sure, yeah, you, whenever, whenever.

[75:01]

Just come by. Yeah, don't worry about it. Yeah, there's a store with snow on top of it. problems on this, but he is a man, he is not mixed, he is a person, and they tend to speak for him, but almost as if he was a living human being, waiting a very long time, and then that came out of him, and he said, maybe it's a true type of man, a true type of man, right, and I guess things make sense, you're 40, it's fine.

[75:35]

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