Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
It is in this context that we must read Isaiah's prophecy today: Ahaz refuses to listen to God and ask for God's sign, but Isaiah proclaims the sign anyway. There will be a virgin who will bear a son named Immanuel, God with Us. Jews reading this text interpret the virgin who bears a son to be the mother of the next king, Hezekiah. Hezekiah was good king who cleaned out the temple and who did listen to God. Note by contrast that God was actually with Ahaz, and exhorted him to hear, but Ahaz refuses to listen or see the world's possibilities; he refuses to do God's will. Christians read this scripture further, however. They see that this sign God sends "deep as the netherworld" and "high as the sky" goes far beyond a simple regime change for the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Today's gospel (Luke 1:26-38) gives us the familiar story of the angel Gabriel visiting Mary and telling her, "You are full of grace." "You will conceive and this child will be the Son of God." Unlike Ahaz, Mary listens to God: "Be it done to me according to your will." And so the world has its savior, God himself, "who emptied himself, taking the form of a slave" (Philippians 2) so that we might be redeemed. Today's second reading (Hebrews 10:4-10) emphasizes this point: religion, including the false religious things Ahaz brought, mean nothing to God. We must also do God's will and our exemplar in this is Jesus Christ, God with Us. It struck me, when I was reading, that King Ahaz' time might have seemed very much like our own in some ways: God seems absent. Where are the miracles, where is the salvation? My students ask me these questions all the time: why doesn't God act now like he did then? But of course, the secret here is exactly the one that Mary and Jesus both show us: being able to see the miracles and know the salvation depends precisely on being able to listen to God's word and say yes to it. Today's feast day is therefore both a celebration of the "announcement" that God is with us, but also the continued cry God has made to his people throughout the ages to listen and do his will. - Jana M. Bennett
King Ahaz, mentioned in today's first reading (Isaiah 7:10-14, 8:10), was considered to be a wicked king. He reigned a couple hundred years after King David, and in that time, the Jewish people had become split into two: there was a southern kingdom called Judah under King Ahaz, and a northern kingdom called Israel. According to scripture, King Ahaz introduced many idolatrous things into the temple, consulted mediums to ask the dead (rather than God) for advice on what to do, and even sacrificed his son because of his spiritual sensibilities. During his reign, the northern kingdom of Israel was crushed by the Assyrians (an enemy of both kingdoms) and so the Jewish people were torn apart even further than they had been before.