An Trinitarian Tryptich for the Feast of the Annunciation

Today we celebrate the day when the Archangel Gabriel. But what we fail to realize is that this is actually the centerpiece in a tryptich of Annunciations found in the Bible. In fact, the 3 Annunciations have a very strong Trinitarian theme with 1 member of the Trinity being the main focus of each Annunciation. If you haven't figured out by now the other 2 that I am refering to are the Annunciations to Joseph in a dream & the Annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah.

1st we have the visit of the Archangel Gabriel to Zechariah found in Luke 1: 11-22.

The Trinitarian focus in this Annunciation is God the Holy Spirit. Gabriel told Zechariah that even from his mother's womb John would be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to empower us to live out our calling as Christians. he does so by giving us the gifts we need to do so. In John's case that included the gift of prophecy.

Next we have the event that we celebrate today. The Annunciation to Mary by Gabriel that she would be the mother of the Savior found in Luke 1:26-38.

The focus here is God the Son. It would be by the power of the Holy Spirit but the heart of the message is that the Child will be called Son of God. The Son was sent by the Father & through the power of the Holy Spirit Mary became His mother. She became the Θεοτόκης (Theotokis), the Mother of God. The Word of God is spoken to Mary by the Father's messenger, & by her "fiat" the Word becomes flesh.

Finally we have the message of the angel to Joseph in a dream found in Matthew 1:18-25.

The focus here is on God the Father. Unlike the clear connection found in the other 2 Annunciations that connection may be a little hard to see at 1st. But it is seen in the statement where the angel told him "you must name him Jesus." The final decision for what the name would be rested with the father. & by giving Joseph the mandate to do so, he was also being told that he was to act as the earthly representative of God the Father in Heaven. Joseph was told that his actions were to be the image of actions of the Heavenly Father. Joseph was the visible sign of what the invisible Heavenly Father was like, caring for, protecting, providing for not only Jesus, but all of us who put our trust in God.

As I said, the Annunciation we celebrate today is the centerpiece that shows us in a nutshell the mystery of the Trinity, 1 God, yet 3 Persons. All 3 Persons are found in each Annunciation. But as I pointed out each also has its focus on 1 Person of the Trinity. So we have a beautiful tryptich painted for us that reveals to us the awesome truth of who our God is that we proclaim everytime we recite the Creed (Nicene or Apostle's) when we pray.