Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Luther on the Annunciation...

To this poor maiden marvelous things were announced: that she should be the mother of the All Highest, whose name should be the Son of God. He would be a King and of his Kingdom there would be no end. It took a mighty reach of faith to believe that this baby would play such a role. Well, Mary might have said, “Who am I, little worm, that I should bear a King?” She shut her eyes and trusted in God who could bring all things to pass, even though common sense were against it; and because she believed, God did to her as he said…. there are here three miracles: that God and man should be joined in this Child, that a mother should remain a virgin; that Mary should have such faith as to believe that this mystery would be accomplished in her. The last is not the least of the three. The Virgin birth is a mere trifle for God; that God should become man is a greater miracle; but most amazing of all is that this maiden should credit the announcement that she, rather than some other virgin had been chosen to be the mother of God… [1]



[1] Bainton, Roland H., ed., Martin Luther’s Christmas Book, Augsburg, Minneapolis, 1948, pp. 14-15

1 comment:

existentialist said...

Hi Brian,
That might have been the first piece of Lutheran theology I have ever read and how beautiful it was. Thank you. How clear. I do not know what my Orthodox brother's problem with Luther is, I think he was a genius!
In Christ
Olympiada