Notes from the Wayside: Christmas Perspective: Theotokos

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Christmas Perspective: Theotokos

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Theotokos

The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Luke 1:30-33 (NRSV)

Go, tell it on the mountain

Over the hills and everywhere

Go, tell it on the mountain

That Jesus Christ is born

From "Go, Tell It on the Mountain,"

an African-American Spiritual

At the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, a young woman named Mary meets a messenger of God named Gabriel. Gabriel says to Mary, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." Mary is a bit surprised to hear this greeting, so Gabriel continues, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."¹

Naturally, Mary is a bit surprised to hear Gabriel's news, so she asks Gabriel how she can possibly give birth to a child when she hasn't even lost her virginity. Gabriel replies, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God."²

In some segments of the Church, Mary is given the title Theotokos, which is a Greek word meaning "God-bearer."³ In other words, Mary is the one who carries Jesus Christ, the Incarnate God, into the world.

At the beginning of the sequel to Luke's Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus gathers the Disciples to give them some final instructions. At this point, He has already been crucified and resurrected, and He is going to ascend to Heaven. His last words to the Disciples seem to echo what the angel said to His mother decades earlier. Jesus says, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."⁴

If one part of the Bible reminds the reader of a part written earlier, it is quite possibly the author's intent.

The Virgin Mary is empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry Christ into the world. Thirty years later, the Apostles are empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry the message of Christ throughout the world. Mary, the mother of Christ, is the one who was bestowed the title of God-Bearer, but, in some sense, we are all called to be God-bearers by carrying the light of Christ with us wherever we go.

The theologian and mystic Meister Eckhart once mused,
We are all meant to be mothers of God. What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly, but does not take place within myself? And, what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time and my culture? This, then, is the fullness of time: When the Son of Man is begotten in us.⁵

In recent years, many Christians have become angry that people, particularly those who work in retail, have started greeting people with a generic "Happy Holidays" around Christmas instead of a traditional "Merry Christmas." A few years ago, at a Starbucks in December, I heard a barista call out an order for someone whose name was supposedly "Merry Christmas." Basically, people were telling baristas that their name is "Merry Christmas" in order to force baristas to say the greeting they wanted to hear.

It is not the job of corporate America to proclaim the good news that the Son of God has come into the world. That job belongs to the Church, to those of us who have been commissioned by Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry Christ's message with us throughout the world.

This season, remember that you too are called to be a God-bearer in the world around you.

During this season, the pastors at my church are preaching about "Carrying Christ" in the world around us. Click here to check out the sermon podcast from Travelers Rest United Methodist Church.

Notes: