Hail Mary

The scenes from Luke’s infancy narrative of the Annunciation of Jesus’ Birth to Mary (Lk 1:26-38) and the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Lk 1:39-56) give us one-half of the “Hail Mary” (or Ave Maria) prayer. From 1:28 we get the “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,” line and from 1:42 we get “Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.” These scenes interrupt the narrative of the announcement and birth of John the Baptist. But they also intersect with that story, as well. Gabriel’s appearance to Mary occurs in the sixth month” (v. 28, 36) of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and led Mary to travel from Galilee to Judea to visit her.

In one of the rare agreements in the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke, Lk 1:27 describes Mary as “betrothed” (same Greek word used in Mt 1:18) to Joseph, who is of the House of David. As described in my article on the annunciation to Joseph, they were considered married because they had exchanged consent, but they had not begun living together. Unlike Matthew, however, Luke states that Mary was a resident of Nazareth, whereas Matthew has Mary and Joseph living in Bethlehem and only taking up residence in Nazareth after returning from Egypt, deeming Judea unsafe.

Full of Grace

The first Greek word of Gabriel’s greeting to Mary, translated as “hail” in some English versions, is a normal salutation like “hello, good day, greetings.”

The second Greek word is usually translated as “favored one,” or something similar. The Latin Vulgate translated it as “full of grace,” hence the line in the prayer. The root of the word means “grace, favor, charm,” so it’s not entirely out of the ballpark but it’s a bit strong. Luke knew the term and used it in Acts 6:8, but chose not to use it here. In later Catholic theology, the idea took root that Mary was full of all possible graces and led to proclamations of her being free from Original Sin from the moment of her conception (the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, not to be confused with the virginal conception of Jesus).

Most scholars are in agreement that the word should be understood as one who has been favored or graced by God. At any rate, Mary was perplexed and wondered what sort of greeting this was (v. 29). Gabriel clarifies by stating, “You have found favor with God” (v. 30). He goes on to explain to the reader that God’s favor is the grace of conceiving “the Son of the Most High” (vv. 31-32). This perfectly fits a translation of “favored one.”

Virgin of the Rocks (1483-86) by Leonardo da Vinci. This earlier of two almost identical versions hangs in the Louvre. (The other version is in London’s National Gallery.) The scene depicts an encounter between the infant John the Baptist and the Madonna and baby Jesus. The angel Uriel points to John the Baptist. Usually, in the iconography of religious art, John points to Jesus.

How Can This Be?

Mary’s response to the angel (“How can this be since I am a virgin?”) in v. 34 has caused consternation and confusion for many. Why would Mary ask Gabriel how she could conceive a child? She’s married to Joseph, but not living with him, so why does she not assume that when she eventually has marital relations she will conceive in the normal way? If you consider the parallel annunciation to Zechariah, after he had completed his priestly service in the Temple, he returned home and afterwards Elizabeth conceived (vv. 23-24). Similarly, in various OT birth annunciations, the conception of the child occurs after the angelic announcement is made. Mary has no reason to think her situation would be different.

A popular theory is that Mary took a vow of virginity. Knowing this, an elderly Joseph agreed to marry her to protect her from other suitors. While this theory gained popularity at a time when men and women regularly took monastic vows, there are no historical precedents in 1st century Judaism. And, as we see elsewhere in Luke (1:25, 48), childlessness in the culture at that time was viewed as a “disgrace.”

A literary explanation looks at other birth announcements in Scripture. At the appearance of the divine messenger, the visionary is told not to be afraid. Then comes the announcement that a woman will give birth to a male child and the name that child is to be called. The visionary then objects that this could happen or asks for a sign and the encounter concludes with the giving of a sign. All of these steps are present in the annunciations to Zechariah and to Mary.

The formula requires an objection in order for the angel to explain to the reader how this is to happen and provide the sign. Zechariah has the objection of age, but Mary’s only objection is that she has not had sexual relations. Her objection allows the angel to spell out that her child will be conceived, not through human agency, but by the Holy Spirit.

Blessed are You Among Women

The sign that Gabriel provides Mary is news that her aged relative Elizabeth is in her sixth month. Mary plays the role of the ideal disciple in Luke by accepting the will of God and then making her way in haste to the hill country of Judea to share the good news. This is a distance of about 90 miles and would have taken 4-5 days to complete on foot.

Playing the part of the prophet he would take later in life, the unborn John stirred in his mother’s womb upon Mary’s arrival. This revealed to Elizabeth the nature of Mary’s condition as mother of the messiah. She then blessed Mary and the unborn Jesus within her. Mary responded with her Magnificat, which has been discussed in another article. She stayed with Elizabeth for three months before returning home, allowing Luke to get her off-the-stage before returning to the conclusion of his narrative of the birth of John the Baptist.

The beginning and end of Elizabeth’s blessing of Mary (vv. 42, 45) are very reminiscent of a scene that only appears in Luke’s gospel (11:27-28). When a woman in the crowd blesses the mother who bore and nursed him, Jesus rejected the importance of biological motherhood: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” The OT tells of Jael (Judg 5:24) and Judith (Judith 13:18) who were also considered “blessed among women.” But Jael and Judith were blessed because God used them to deliver Israel through the slaying of an enemy warrior. Mary is blessed because of the fruit of her womb. This, too, recalls a passage from Deuteronomy: “If you fully obey YHWH your God and carefully follow all his commands…the fruit of your womb will be blessed” (Deut 28:1, 4). Elizabeth’s further words (vv. 45) makes clear that it is not only Mary’s physical motherhood that is being praised, but also her faith.

Not only has this passage given us the “Hail Mary” prayer, but it has also been the basis for various Marian doctrines: Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, and so on. Luke seems clear that Mary is not to be praised because she was physically the mother of Jesus, but because she meets the criterion of true discipleship.

An Epiphany of Sorts

The word epiphany comes from the Greek word meaning “appearance” or “manifestation.” In the Church calendar, the feast of Epiphany is traditionally celebrated on January 6 in commemoration of the coming of the magi to the Christ Child and marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas. Called “Three Kings Day” in some countries, the festival celebrates the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. In conversational usage, “epiphany” means a sudden flash of understanding or insight through a simple or commonplace experience.

Visit of the Astrologers

Mt 2:1-23 provides the story of the visit of the magi, the flight to Egypt and the massacre of the innocent. The evangelist jumps straight from Joseph naming Jesus after his birth in 1:25 to the magi arriving in Jerusalem in 2:1. The magi, or wise men, were most likely astrologers, not kings. Matthew doesn’t say how many there were or their point of origin other than that they were “from the east.” The popular idea that there were three wise men is based on the three gifts the magi brought: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Later traditions (from the 6th century CE) provide them with names such as Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthasar, different ethnicities and ages (old man with a white beard, young beardless man, and man with black skin).

The Adoration of the Magi, tapestry (designed by Edward Burne-Jones 1888, woven 1894)

Noting the rising of a particular star, the magi determined that it signified the birth of the “king of the Jews.” Thus, it was observations of the natural world that led the Gentile astrologers to the messiah. But, the natural world reveals only so much; the magi must inquire of King Herod the Great in Jerusalem as to the exact location of the child. God’s revelation in Scripture is needed for them to complete their journey.

Herod calls together his “chief priests and scribes” – the same antagonists that the adult Jesus will face in his ministry – and is told that Bethlehem is the birth place based on Micah 5:2. Although Herod and his scribes have the Scriptures, they do not believe and hence cannot use that information themselves. Herod learns the exact time of the star’s appearance – presumably the date of the child’s birth – from the magi and asks them to report back to him once they have found the newborn king.

The magi set out towards Bethlehem and the star led them to the exact location (2:9). Many have speculated if the “star” was a supernova, comet, or planetary conjunction. None of these could be used to pinpoint a particular house in Bethlehem. And it is a house in Bethlehem, according to v. 11. In Matthew’s telling, Mary and Joseph were residents of Bethlehem.

About those gifts...Matthew is not explicitly citing Isaiah, but may have him in mind: “all those from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the salvation of the Lord” (Is 60:6, LXX). We’re all familiar with gold. Frankincense was usually burnt as incense in religious ceremonies. Myrrh, an aromatic spice, was used as incense, as perfume, and as a cosmetic. Mixed with wine, it was offered as a painkiller to Jesus on the cross (Mark 15:23) and, with aloes, was used to embalm Jesus (John 19:39). Certainly, they were gifts befitting a king.

Refugees in Egypt

After the magi failed to return to Herod, he ordered the death of all boys two years of age or younger in the vicinity of Bethlehem. If the population of Bethlehem was about 1000, the number would be less than 20 boys. There are no records of Herod ordering this, but he was notoriously paranoid and it sounds like something he could have done. Matthew tells us that Herod decided on two years based on the time of the star’s first appearance (v. 16). The clues in the story tell us that Jesus would have been one or two years old, not the newborn babe in the traditional nativity story.

Joseph was warned of the danger by an angel in a dream and told to take his family and flee to Egypt until further notice. Only after the death of Herod (in 4 BCE) does the angel re-appear to Joseph in a dream and instruct him to return to Israel “for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead” (v. 20). This is a clear echo of Exodus 4:19 when Moses is told the same thing while he is an exile in Midian.

Joseph planned to return to Bethlehem until he learned that Herod’s son Archelaus was ruling over Judea. An angel had to instruct Joseph in one more dream that he should go instead to Galilee, whereupon he made his home in Nazareth. Why didn’t the angel simply tell Joseph in one dream to go directly to Galilee from Egypt? The awkwardness probably stems from Matthew adding vv. 22-23 to material that he inherited. Matthew is taking pains to explain to his audience how Jesus could have been born in Bethlehem – because that’s was Joseph’s home – yet was known to have come from Nazareth. (Luke uses the census to explain how Joseph and Mary, residents of Nazareth, found themselves in Bethlehem for Jesus’ birth.)

Mosaic Pattern

The imagery in Matthew’s narrative is reminiscent of stories surrounding Moses. It is not mentioned in the OT, but the Jewish historian Josephus, writing around the time of Matthew (80-90 CE), told the story of an Egyptian pharaoh who was informed by one of his fortune-tellers that a child born of the Israelites would be the downfall of the Egyptians. This caused the pharaoh to order the deaths of the male babies. But Moses’ father Amram was visited by God in a dream and told that his unborn child would be the one feared in the Egyptian prophecy. Later, as an adult, Moses fled to Midian to save his life, only returning to Egypt once he was told that those seeking his life were dead.

Much later still, when Moses was leading the Israelites to the promised land, Balak the king of Moab, called upon Balaam, a practitioner of the magical arts (the NT would call him a magus), to curse Israel (Numbers 22-24). Instead of cursing the Israelites, Balaam blessed them, predicting that “a star shall rise out of Jacob and a scepter shall come forth from Israel” (Num 24:17). This was understood as referring to the Davidic monarchy, but later was re-interpreted as a prophecy of a messianic king in the line of David.

Gospel in Miniature

Having reviewed Mt 1-2, we can see why the infancy narrative is called “a gospel in miniature.” In these two short chapters, Matthew explains various christological titles ascribed to Jesus: Christ, Son of Abraham, Son of David, Son of God, and King of the Jews. He also shows the reactions to this revelation, both good (the magi) and bad (Herod). Despite having the guide of the Scriptures, Herod (representing the Jews) rejects the messiah and tries to kill him, but he is accepted and paid homage by the magi (representing the Gentiles). This reflects the situation in Matthew’s community, which is predominantly Gentile. Although his opponents tried to kill Jesus, God protected him and later brought him back.

Studying the infancy narrative here and in Luke more than 30 years ago, was sort of an epiphany for me. I began to see that the imagery and symbolism had layers of meaning far deeper than I could have imagined. They were no longer background stories for nativity plays and Christmas specials. Understanding their true purpose helped me put the adult Christ back into Christmas.

Dreams of a Father

It is no secret that in Matthew’s infancy story Joseph plays the starring role. Mary is barely mentioned. Therefore, it is not surprising that Matthew has an angel announce the birth of Jesus to Joseph, instead of Mary.

The genealogy in 1:1-17 sets the stage. Throughout, the pattern is “A was the father of B, B was the father of C.” But at the very end, v. 16 reads: “Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born”. Someone reading Matthew for the first time would have to wonder why he didn’t just write, “Joseph was the father of Jesus.” Also, the mention of Mary would call to mind the mention of the four other women (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba) in the genealogy. As we have seen in my previous article, in each case where the mother was mentioned there was something irregular or scandalous about those unions. The presence of these four women in the genealogy prepares the reader to expect something unusual about Jesus’ birth when Mary's name appears.

Marriage Customs

V. 18 lays out the crux of the problem: “His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, but before they began to live together she was found to be with child – through the Holy Spirit.”

To understand the irregularity of Jesus’ birth, it is important to understand the marriage customs at the time. Marriage occurred in two steps. First, there was the formal exchange of consent before witnesses. This was followed some time later by the bride moving into the groom’s home. This gave the husband time to prepare a dwelling for his bride. 

Translations of v. 18 may say “betrothed” or “engaged” but neither Greek nor English has the adequate terminology to explain that according to Jewish law, Mary and Joseph were married from the time that they exchanged consent, even though they had not yet moved to the second stage of living together.

The explanation that Mary was pregnant “through the Holy Spirit” is for the benefit of the reader. In the story, Joseph was not privy to that information. As far as he knew, his wife was pregnant by another man. Matthew informs us that Joseph was both “an upright man” and “was unwilling to shame her.” In other words, he did not want to publicly accuse her of adultery, but neither could he accept the child as his own and sweep Mary’s supposed transgression under the rug.

Joseph the Dreamer

So Joseph’s compromise was to divorce her “quietly,” whatever that meant. Neither the divorce nor Mary’s pregnancy could be kept secret. But before he could proceed with his plan, he was visited in a dream by an angel who told him that the child was begotten through the Holy Spirit. Joseph was instructed to take Mary into his home and name the child Jesus, “for he will save his people from their sins.”

The story has echoes in the OT. The genealogy already told us that Jacob was the father Joseph, just as the patriarch Jacob in Genesis was the father of a different Joseph. In Genesis, Joseph had a series of dreams foretelling the future which he was able to use to his advantage to save his people in a time of famine. So, too, this Joseph will have dreams that occur at crucial moments.

Joseph’s Dream by Gaetano Gandolfi (1734-1802)

By naming the child, Joseph will become the legal father of Jesus. It was obvious who the mother of a child was, but to establish paternity, Jewish law required a man to give testimony since most men would be reluctant to claim to be the father of a child that was not theirs. Thus Matthew explains how Jesus became son of David (through Joseph’s acknowledgement of paternity) and son of God (through the Holy Spirit).

The name Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew Yeshua, which is a shortened version of Yehoshua (Joshua), which means “YHWH helps.” Yeshua is very similar to the Hebrew word for “salvation.”

Prophetic Fulfillment

Joseph did exactly as instructed and Matthew gives us the first of several formulaic citations of prophetic fulfillment. All that he had just described had been done to fulfill what a prophet – in this case, Isaiah – said long ago:

“Behold, the virgin [parthenos] shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.” (Mt 1:23)

Matthew appears to be quoting Isaiah 7:14, but it is not an exact quotation from the Hebrew of the Masoretic Text:

“Behold, the young woman [‘almah] is with child and shall bear a son, and she shall name him Emmanuel.” (Is 7:14, MT)

In language, the quotation is closer to the Greek translation of the OT:

“Behold, the virgin [parthenos] shall conceive, and shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel.” (LXX)

The main differences are that Matthew, following the Septuagint (LXX), uses the word “virgin” and says “they shall name him” instead of “she” (MT) or “you” (LXX).

In the context of Isaiah, the prophet is giving a sign of reassurance to King Ahaz of Judah who feared a coalition of Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel. Isaiah announces the birth of a child – presumably a child of the king’s – who will not have reached the age of reason before both attacking kingdoms will be in ruins. The name Emmanuel means “with us is God.”

This is not a prophetic prediction of the messiah, nor of a virgin birth. The Hebrew ‘almah means “young woman” and the Greek translates it as parthenos. While parthenos does have a technical meaning of virgin, it is also a term used to describe a young woman. Matthew definitely understands it in its technical sense because he clarifies in v. 25 that Joseph did not have sexual relations with Mary after taking her into his home.

Matthew stresses that “they” shall refer to Jesus as Emmanuel, “God with us.” The “they” to which he refers is “his people” whom he will save from their sins. Moses was also a savior of his people, the Hebrews. But for Jesus, “his people” will be all the nations of the world. But whereas Moses saved his people from bondage to Pharaoh, Jesus will save his people from bondage to sin.

This episode foreshadows the conclusion of Matthew’s gospel which closes with the words of the post-resurrection Jesus to his disciples, “I am with you always to the end of the age” (28:20). Thus the enduring presence of God’s spirit in Jesus which was made known by an angel to Joseph, would be spread to all the nations until the end of time through the preaching of the apostles.