THE SACRIFICE OF OUR NATURE

THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD    

Isa 7:10-14,8:10; Ps 40:7-11; Heb 10:4-10; Lk 1:26-38

The Reward of The Sacrifice of The Lamb

We have reflected on the sacrifice that our human nature was created to be to God. For a sacrifice to be truly worth the name, it must be a voluntary offering and never forced in any way. Any form of coercion removes the beauty and worth of the sacrifice. Therefore, after God’s creation of man and woman in His image, he let them exercise their free will as a path leading to making them in the likeness of God. The path outlined by their free will, if illuminated by the word of God, leads to divine likeness. Thus, the true path of our free will is a path of sacrifice of ourselves to God. It is indeed so, because God, who leads us in the path, is the meaning of sacrifice. God is holy unto Himself; He is consecrated to Himself as He cannot be any other, in any respect. So, listening and doing the word of God makes us a sacrifice to God. Since God is a God of covenant, He also consecrates Himself to us according to the word He has spoken to us. The infallibility of the word of God implies this understanding.

The infallibility of God’s word spoken to man is the reason we sin gravely when we fail to believe in the word of God. As we noted yesterday, a lack of faith in our relationship with God reveals the presence of sin and darkness within us. This is why the prophet Isaiah rebuked Ahaz for his incredulity as the king on the throne of David. “The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.” The sign was for himself because a doubt was in him, which defines his constitution and actions. The weakness defined by a lack of faith in him was a great hindrance to God accomplishing His will for the house of David through him. His refusal to ask for a sign as demanded of him was a dubious way of hiding his lack of faith under the cloak of false humility or respect for God. The Lord unmasked his weakness: “Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too? The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign.” The sign given to the House of David was the original sign God spoke about at the fall of Adam and Eve. God remains the same and never changes in His love for us.

The ancient sign of salvation given to Ahaz in his fear and faithlessness is about the woman and her son who would constitute a fitting sacrifice unto God. The son of the woman will be no other than the Son of God appearing in human nature. The angel revealed the fulfilment of the ancient promise in his words of annunciation. The woman and her son are privileged by God, for they were consecrated or made pleasing sacrifices unto God from the beginning. “Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ … ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever, and his reign will have no end.’” Apart from the revealed fact that Jesus Christ is God the Son in human nature, he is called the Son of God in the sense of the uprightness or righteousness of his life. The Son of Man is the consecration or sacrifice of human nature to the word of God, and therefore, to the divine will. Hence, he is the one who built the House of God as God promised David, and in the sense of the Man in the likeness of God as stated in Genesis. The Blessed Virgin Mary, as the mother of Jesus Christ, is the mother of the perfected human nature, in perfect enmity with the ancient serpent. The statement of her consecration or sacrifice reveals as much. “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said be done to me.”

The same note of consecration or sacrifice was prophesied about her Son, Jesus Christ, as explained by the author of Hebrews. “Bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are useless for taking away sins, and this is what Christ said, on coming into the world: ‘You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation, prepared a body for me. You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for sin; then I said, just as I was commanded in the scroll of the book, God, here I am! I am coming to obey your will.’” He lifted the quote from the prophecy of the psalmist about Jesus Christ. The prophecy is about what we have explained above, the sacrifice acceptable to God, who is the holiest Sacrifice, is the dedication of our minds, hearts, souls, and strength to Him. We become like God when we offer Him such an acceptable sacrifice, because God’s sacrifice of Himself to us is Jesus Christ. The Son of God became the Son of Man for our salvation. Let us unite with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of the redeemed, and offer ourselves in union with Jesus Christ to the Father as a holy and acceptable oblation. We become like God, even God with the Son, as the reward for our sacrifice.

Let us pray: O God, who willed that your Word should take on the reality of human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, grant, we pray, that we, who confess our Redeemer to be God and man, may merit to become partakers even in his divine nature. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.