Came across this gem in my Advent sermon prep that helps us see Mary as the model of mission in the church.
John Macquarrie regards the annunciation to Mary as a helpful illustration in the understanding of the church. He sees a parallel between the original bringing to birth of Christ and the responsibility of the church to, as it were, bring Christ to birth in the world.
“Just as she was the bearer of the Christ, so the Church his body, brings christhood into the world. But this takes place through the action of the Spirit in the Church which again is the community of the Spirit” (Macquarrie, 354).
Thus the annunciation reminds us of the involvement of God in providing his power and his grace, of the way in which he comes to human beings, conveying to them his purposes and allowing or calling them to have a part in carrying out those purposes. Dictionary of biblical imagery (electronic ed. “annunciation”)
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