Virgin Mary, Meek and Mild?
Artist Ben Wildflower's depiction of Mary speaking the words of the Magnificat. This piece appeared in the Washington Post, 12-20-2018.THAT girl would be the Mary of Luke’s gospel!_
Post originally published on the Westar Institute website: Blog post “Virgin Mary, Meek and Mild?
Christmas is coming and with it the many images of the Virgin Mary, Meek and Mild.
In the time before COVID, there were Christmas pageants. A little girl or a young teen might kneel demurely at the manger if she is cooperating, blue shawl over her head, opposite the boy in the bathrobe as Joseph, standing firm. They form the manger scene. Sweet and angelic Mary gazes on the baby Jesus.
The popular nativity scene at Christmas: Sweet and angelic Mary gazes on the baby Jesus.
Or we may think of Christmas cards with images of Mary in pale blue, gazing downward, hands in a posture of prayer.
Or we may recall works of art we have seen, statues and stained glass in church buildings and museums.
Mary, hands folded in prayer or Mary holding the infant Jesus, appears as devout, meek and mild, an image of womanly perfection
The Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus.
The beatific Mary of these images appears as silent in the still beauty of the Christmas night.
Is Mary silent, however, or silenced?
This image of Mary the mother of Jesus bears no resemblance to the image presented by the author of the gospel of Luke.In the opening narratives of the gospel, Luke carefully constructs a contrast between Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, and Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Each receives a divine messenger, later identified as Gabriel, who announces the birth of their child. Both are surprised, Zechariah because he and his wife, Elizabeth, are old and beyond the childbearing years, Mary because she is a virgin.
Each responds differently, however, and the outcome is different for each.
The parallel narratives in Luke 1 follow a form found in Hebrew scriptures when a leader or prophet receives a divine call. The gospel author clearly follows the sequence of elements that Norman Habel* discerned in those narratives to present a telling contrast.
Each account begins with an introduction to the character. Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, are presented as virtuous individuals from good family lineages. Zechariah is a priest, and the scene opens in the sanctuary of the temple as he is fulfilling his service.
The description of Mary’s location is terse in contrast, and her location is described simply as “a town in Galilee called Nazareth.” Her lineage is not mentioned, but she is betrothed to “a man named Joseph of the house of David.”
The action begins in each with the first element of the form, a divine confrontation. A divine messenger appears to Zechariah in the temple and he shakes with fear.
The divine messenger who appears to Mary is named as Gabriel.
The messenger speaks to each of them using phrases characteristic of call narratives in elements of the form labeled the “introductory word” and the “commission.” Language familiar from birth announcements in the Hebrew scriptures is also incorporated.
The messenger assures Zechariah with the characteristic “Don’t be afraid” and gives him the news that his prayer is heard, that Elizabeth will bear a son. The messenger instructs him to name the child “John” and tells of the important mission John will have.
Gabriel’s greeting to Mary is one that often indicates that a call to a mission will follow, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you!”
The narrative then portrays her contemplating the nature of the greeting. Then the divine messenger explains her commission, beginning with the assurance “Don’t be afraid.” He tells her that her mission is to conceive and give birth to a son and name him Jesus. Jesus is announced as the one who will rule forever on the throne of David.
As is typical in call narratives, the one called objects. Zechariah asks how he can be sure of what Gabriel has said since he and his wife are both old.
Mary asks how this can happen when she has not known a man.
In each case, the messenger responds with a sign, a usual element in call narratives.
Because he did not trust the divine messenger’s words, Zechariah is struck dumb, unable to speak until the events are fulfilled and he later delivers a prophetic speech after the naming of his newborn son, John.
This narrative concludes with a description of Zechariah unable to speak and instead adds a response from his pregnant wife, Elizabeth, that indicates that the Lord has taken away her disgrace.
For Mary, the divine messenger explains that she will conceive by the holy spirit and the sign is Elizabeth’s pregnancy now six months along. Mary responds with an affirmation of her enslavement to the Lord and the prayer that the messenger’s message be fulfilled.
Zechariah, the temple priest, is silenced while Mary, called to conceive and bear the son of the Most High, speaks her assent to carrying out her assigned mission.
In the next scene, Mary really speaks. Proceeding immediately to the house of Zechariah in a city in the hill country of Judah, she greets the pregnant Elizabeth.
The power of Mary’s voice in greeting causes Elizabeth’s baby to jump in her womb in response. Then the holy spirit empowers Elizabeth to speak, blessing Mary and identifying her as the mother of the Lord and as one who trusts in the divine promise to her.
For an explanation of the form of the prophetic call, see: Norman Habel, “The Form and Significance of the Call Narratives,” Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 77 (1965): 297–323.
