Luke’s Gospel gives us the beautiful
story of the Visitation, when Mary
hastened to help her cousin
Elizabeth. What does this have to do
with mercy? First, Mary is doing a
work of mercy in helping her older
relative with this unexpected
pregnancy. But the text has another
theme, a bit hidden, that is also
connected with mercy. Luke is hinting
that Mary is the new Ark of the
Covenant. What does this mean?
The Ark is first mentioned in the
book of Exodus. It represented the
presence of God with his people
Israel. The Ark was a large wooden
box gilded with gold that contained
three things: 1) some manna 2)
Aaron’s rod, which budded, and 3) the
tablets with the Ten
Commandments.
The gold-plated cover of the box was
called the mercy seat (kapporah
in Hebrew; hilasterion
in Greek). Later when the Temple was
built, the Ark was placed in the Holy
of Holies, where the high priest
would go once a year on the Day of
Atonement. He would sprinkle blood on
it and make an offering to God to
atone for the sins of the people, so
that God would have mercy on them and
forgive their sins.
So the Ark of the Covenant had this
close connection with mercy. In the
New Testament, Jesus himself is the
one who offered the perfect atonement
for sins by his sacrificial offering
of his own life on the cross. The
Greek word used for the mercy seat,
indicating its role as an atoning
sacrifice, is used of Jesus, for
example, in Romans 3:25 where Paul
says, “whom God put forward as a
sacrifice of atonement by his blood,
effective through faith.”
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In the Visitation, we can see an
important connection between the Ark of
the Covenant and Mary. How so? First,
consider that the Ark represented God’s
presence among the people. As she went
on her journey, Mary was already
carrying Jesus. And since Jesus is God,
Mary is the God-bearer. Here she is
bringing Jesus, who is mercy itself and
the one who will offer the atoning
sacrifice for our sins. Mary was like a
tabernacle for Jesus. What the Ark held
in promise, Mary held within herself in
its full reality: the incarnate
Lord.
Luke’s text indicates this, as we can
see by comparing it to 2 Samuel 6:1-19,
where the Ark of the Covenant was
transferred to a new location.
1) Joy: David and the people danced
with joy before the Ark; “When
Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the
child leaped in her womb” (Lk
1:39).
2) Humility: David said, “How can the
ark of the LORD come into my care?” (v.
9); Elizabeth said, “And why has this
happened to me, that the mother of my
Lord comes to me?” (Lk 1:43).
3) The Ark remained in the house of
Obed-edom for three months, and Mary
stayed with Elizabeth “about three
months” (Lk 1:56).
4) Blessing: The Lord blessed the house
that held the Ark, and Elizabeth told
Mary, “blessed is she who believed”
that the Lord would fulfill his
promises (Lk 1:45).
In our
life
Mary gives us a wonderful example of
mercy in going to assist the elderly
Elizabeth, and she went with haste.
This can spur us on to be fervent and
zealous in being generous with our
service to God and to others.
Prayer
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our
life, our sweetness, and our hope! To
you we cry, poor banished children of
Eve; to you we send up our sighs,
mourning, and weeping in this valley of
tears. Turn then, most gracious
advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us,
and after this our exile, show unto us
the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin
Mary.
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