The Annunciation of Our Lord

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lent is a somber season, even more so as Holy Week approaches. And yet, on this day we find ourselves singing “Alleluia” and Glory be to the blessed Trinity, words which we would normally refrain from singing during this somber time of the church year. But we sing these joyful songs because today is a special day. It is exactly nine months before Christmas. And so, the Church has a custom of observing on March 25th the Annunciation of Our Lord. You can hear at the root of the word “annunciation” the more common word “announce.” For it was nine months before Christmas that the angel Gabriel appeared to the blessed Virgin Mary to announce that she would give birth to the Christ, as we heard in our reading from the first chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel. And so, we might think of today as a sort-of “Christmas in March.”

And I must confess, I have always liked Christmas more than Holy Week and Easter. Perhaps that’s an odd thing for a pastor to say. After all, it is Holy Week and Easter that are the center of our Christian lives. For there we celebrate the central events of human history—the Passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation. Christmas matters, but its theological significance pales in comparison to Holy Week and Easter. And yet, I must confess that I have always liked Christmas more than Holy Week and Easter.

This was especially true as a child—and not even because of the Christmas presents. Even the church services—I always liked Christmas more. I found the Holy Thursday service to have an uncomfortable weightiness to it. I knew it was important, but it was uncomfortably important. And Good Friday was the most uncomfortable of all. Singing about death and reflecting on Christ’s brutal suffering made me feel quite uneasy. And then Easter Sunday would come, and it was as much of a relief from the intensity of Lent as it was a joyous celebration. But Christmas—Christmas is pure joy with no discomfort. That’s why I always liked Christmas best. And as an adult, especially as a pastor, I can’t say that my feelings have changed much. Sure, I have come to appreciate the necessity and importance of Holy Week and to see its beauty. But on a purely emotional level, Christmas is still my favorite.

As I reflect on this, I think it’s only natural. I suspect that I’m not the only one who feels this way. After all, who enjoys looking at the cross? It’s uncomfortable. To be sure, it is a necessary discomfort. But it is still uncomfortable. But with Christmas, there is no discomfort. Christian parents gladly give their children toy nativity scenes. Many of us will joyfully sing “Joy to the World” or other Christmas carols throughout the entire year. But I have yet to hear someone singing in the shower:

O sorrow dread! Our God is dead,

Upon the cross extended.

There His love enlivened us

As His life was ended (LSB 448:2).

I think that we like Christmas because we can relate to sweet baby Jesus. We can’t possibly fathom a perfect adult human. It’s just not within the realm of our experience. But an innocent child is very relatable. Anyone who has ever held a newborn infant in their arms can imagine little baby Jesus in the arms of His mother. To be sure, the babies that we have held are poor, miserable sinner, just like us. But as an infant, they have had a limited amount of opportunity to show it. And so, we think of the pure, holy Child of Mary, and it fits into the framework of our experience, at least in some way.

But this “Christmas in March” invites us to blend these thoughts about Christmas and Holy Week. This thought certainly will not be as comfortable as “Christmas in December.” But the merging of Christmas and Holy Week today gives us a helpful and beautiful picture of Christ’s great love for us.

Our reading from Hebrews reminds us that:

It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins (Hebrews 10:4).

Therefore, Jesus came to be our sacrificial lamb. Though He grew up to be thirty-three years of age before His Passion and death, still Christ remained the same pure, innocent Child of Mary. And that innocent Child was put to death on Calvary’s cross. And He died because of your sins and mine. We are guilty of sending Him there. The fact that this pure, innocent Child of Mary was required to die in our place in order to atone for our sins reveals the utter wickedness of our sins. This innocent Child died because of your anger, because of your unkind words, because of your lustful thoughts and actions, because of your impatience. He died because you are a poor, miserable sinner. Christ’s death reveals the enormity and seriousness of your sin.

And yet, the fact that this pure, innocent Child of Mary was required to die in your place also reveals the depths of God’s love for you. Though you are a poor, miserable sinner, though you daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment, our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to go to hell and back for you. He has claimed you as His own and made you holy by virtue of His atoning death on the cross (cf. Hebrews 10:10). His love for you knows no bounds.

And so it is that we need both Christmas and Holy Week. Christmas matters not only because the physical birth of Christ was a necessary precursor to His life, death, and resurrection. Christmas matters because it invites us to see Christ for who He really is—He is the pure, innocent Child of Mary. He is the perfect Son of God. And because He is the perfect, pure, and innocent one, He is able to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And so, we are right to join the blessed Virgin Mary in her beloved song:

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior (Luke 1:46-47).

For the innocent Child of Mary is our Savior who has died so that we may live eternally.

Thanks be to God!

In Jesus’ name. Amen.