Luc. 1, 26-38.
And in the sixth moon the angel Gabriel was sent by God into a city of Galilee, which is called Nazareth, unto a virgin, which was trusted unto a man, whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, blessed art thou: the Lord is with thee, thou that givest among women. When she saw him, she was frightened by his speech and thought: What greeting is this? And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bear a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be called great and a son of the Most High, and God the Lord shall give him the throne of his father David; and he shall be king over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom shall have no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be? for I know of no man. The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, thy friend, is also with child with a son, in her old age, and now goeth in the sixth moon, which is in cry, that she is barren. For with God no thing is impossible. And Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord: let it be done unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
This day is celebrated as a feast, because it is the first revelation of the coming and present Christ; and indeed it should rather have been called the conception of Christ, than the proclamation of Mary; as also the Symbolum says: Conceived by the Holy Spirit; and Joh. 1, 14: "And the Word became flesh. Summa, it is the day of the Incarnation of the Son of God. Today the most noble and main miracle of all miracles happened, that the divine and human nature were united in one person.
*) Cf. Erl. A. opp. var. arg. VII, 392 D. Red.
and the infinite God becomes a finite man. Whatever thing can be grasped in faith, in words and thoughts it is inexpressible, yes, an offence and annoyance to all the wise.
2 After this, the history is to be dealt with, namely, how an angel is sent by God with divine authority and in the highest heavenly council; who was undoubtedly accompanied by many other angels. Which glory and majesty is indeed invisibly guided; but who is he who can grasp it with thought? Then this invisible splendor of glory is kept hidden and sent to the poorest young man.
in the least place, among the most despised people of all the kings of the earth. And immediately with the rest, which Lucas paints magnificently and diligently according to all the circumstances of things.
The main place, however, is where the angel describes the Son who is to be born; where he claims with powerful words that this Son is both true man and true God. For that he is true man, he proves with the words, when he first says: "You will become pregnant", but, "in the body"; so that no one understands a spiritual conception and becoming pregnant, but the one, where a female image naturally conceives or becomes pregnant, namely, not in the mind or spirit, but in the body, that is, in that female instrument of the body, where men are used to be conceived. Secondly, when he says: "You will bear a son"; since the conception that takes place in the mind does not give birth to children from the body, or son and daughter. Is therefore the birth of a true son and a true child from the body. Third, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus," because the name is a characteristic of the person, and proves that the birth is human, after the manner of all men. Fourth, because he calls David a father, this son is a true man; for otherwise he could not be David's son. For neither an angel nor a spirit can be called the son of man etc.
(4) That he is the true God is evident first of all from the fact that it says, "He will be called the Son of God. Although this can be twisted and blasphemed by perverse people, no person in Scripture is especially called the Son of God except this one. It is true that the saints are called together and in the plural also sons of God, or son; as Ex. 4:23. says, "Let my son," or my people; but to none is it specially said, "Thou art my son," except to this one.
5 Secondly, because this person is given an eternal kingdom. This cannot possibly be given to one who is a mere man, because it belongs to God alone that he be a king without end. Temporally it certainly cannot be, because we see that no king can be a king for a hundred years, let alone that one should be able to be king without end, because all are mortal. But this king must be immortal and eternal; therefore he has another kingdom than this worldly one. And yet because he is a man and the son of David, he is mortal. So he becomes a wonderful king, who is both mortal and immortal. Who will rhyme this together? He therefore dies as a man and lives as God: and death is swallowed up in life, and the immortality of God swallows up the mortality of man. From this it follows that after this life there is another one left, and that this King, who is man, does this and deals with it, so that men are drawn by him from death to life. Ah! Who believes this? Who pays attention to it? Who admires it? We pass by like the dumb and the blind.
The fourth piece is the confirmation of the previous one, namely, when the virgin asks: How can a son be born from her without a man? As if she wanted to say: How can I become pregnant in the flesh without a man, as you say, since I have not yet known a man? This is said so that we know the mother is a virgin and the fruit of her womb is still a true son. Therefore, so that it would not be regarded as a sponge and empty imagination, or as a subordinated fruit, the angel explains by which husband she should become pregnant, namely, not by a man's image, but even by the Creator and Holy Spirit, who created everything from nothing and makes it constantly alive. He who makes everything from nothing can also create a son from the virgin's womb, that is, conceive from the Holy Spirit and become pregnant.
1884 L. VII, 395-397: The Passion of Our Lord Christ. W. XII, 2499. 1885