Mary As Ark Of The New Covenant
2021년 12월 19일Mary As Ark Of The New Covenant
< Fourth Sunday of Advent >
On this last Sunday before Christmas, the gospel directs our attention to a scene so human it is divine: two pregnant women supporting one another. One, a young women just married; the other, an old women long past child-bearing age. Yet both pregnancies are miraculous! The young woman remained a virgin despite being pregnant. The older woman shouldn’t have been able to bear a child, but “with God all things are possible.” The greatest story ever told begins with two women with miraculous pregnancies. Elizabeth became mother to John the Baptist. Mary, of course, is mother to our savior and redeemer, Jesus Christ.
The leaping of the baby within Elizabeth’s womb at the sound of Mary’s greeting has deep significance. In the Old Testament during a battle, the Ark of the Covenant (containing the tablets with the Ten Commandments and signifying the Presence of God) was captured by the Philistines. They, however, endured plagues as punishment and begged the Israelites to come “to the hillside of Judea” to come take the Ark away, which they did. King David danced before the Ark of the Lord as it entered Jerusalem. The Bible says David danced so freely his clothes fell off! He thus danced naked before the Ark bearing the Presence of God. And that’s exactly what the baby John did before the Virgin Mary, thus claiming her as the Ark of the New Covenant, bearing the Presence of God!