Art Reading Scripture

The Annunciation, 1333, Simone Martini, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... And the Word became flesh and lived among us, ... John 1

We believe in the Word of God in three ways. The Word of God is Jesus, the Word that became flesh. The Word of God is the Scriptures, the Old Testament/Hebrew scripture and the New Testament. The Word of God is the proclamation of the Gospel and the witness of God's people which continues in many and various ways as we live the love of God.

Simone Martini's Annunciation originally served as an altar piece in the Siena Cathedral. Worshippers might meditate on Mary's willingness to submit to the will of God and nurture, bear, and become mother to God's Son. She is called Theotokos, God-bearer. Mary and the angel both have stern looking faces which was simply the style of the time, though against the tradition of Mary's willingness, it whimsically suggests a bit of angelic coercion and a reluctant Mary. It is a theme that appears in other paintings of the annunciation. Lilies are the flower of Mary, symbolizing purity, chastity, and royalty. Immaculate, Virgin, and Queen of Heaven are all terms associated with Mary. At the peak of the altar piece is a the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, surrounded by accompanying angels. From the dove's mouth emanates a beam of light, perhaps the light of the world from the beginning of creation which will be born the light of the world for our salvation. Perhaps most interesting, unusual, are the words being spoken by the angel which stretch across to Mary's ear. "Ave Maria, gratia plena, dominus." "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee."

Mary's pregnancy was not thought to have happened via a sexual act, so she remained a virgin. Rather it was understood to have happened quite literally through her ear, as the words of the angel and the light from the doves mouth entered her body there. Theodotus of Ancya, 450 CE, "It was through the sense of hearing that Mary conceived the Living God." Kyros of Panopolis, around the same time, "Brethren let the birth of God our Savior Jesus Christ be honored with silence, because the Word of God was conceived in the holy virgin through hearing alone." The Syriac Acts of John written earlier in the 3rd century says four times that Jesus, "entered by the ear of the virgin and dwelt in her for nine months."

Each Christmas we sing of becoming like Mary and becoming bearers of Christ, one in whom Christ is conceived and born. "O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray, cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today." The Apostle Paul wrote, "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17 We have faith because some has spoken to us, because we have been taught the stories of Jesus, because we have sung the faith with words and music, and because we have pondered the idea, the conception of God with us in our thoughts. Christ is born in us, conceived in us, and the Word of God becomes flesh in us that we nurture and carry. it comes through the ear. Notice that Mary in Simone's altarpiece also has a book in her left hand. In many pictures of the Annunciation the book is opened and Mary is reading from the prophet Isaiah. "Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14.

Listen to the Word of the Lord. Read the Bible. Sing and hear the witnesses. Indeed, the Word of God and the words of God speak from pictures to our ears, to our minds, hearts, and souls that faith may be brought to us. God wants to be born in you, to be with you. One way God has chosen to come is through your ears, into your minds, into your hearts, to also be born out of your mouth as you proclaim the Word of God.

Keep the faith. Say your prayers. Love like Jesus.

Pastor Tim Bauer