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The Paradox of the Incarnation         

Sam Fitzgerald

 Annunciation, by John Donne

Salvation to all that will is nigh;
That All, which always is all everywhere,
Which cannot sin, and yet all sins must bear,
Which cannot die, yet cannot choose but die,
Lo, faithful virgin, yields Himself to lie
In prison, in thy womb; and though He there
Can take no sin, nor thou give, yet He will wear,
Taken from thence, flesh, which death's force may try.
Ere by the spheres time was created, thou
Wast in His mind, who is thy Son and Brother;
Whom thou conceivst, conceived; yea thou art now
Thy Maker's maker, and thy Father's mother;
Thou hast light in dark, and shutst in little room,
Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb.

Reflection

The paradox of the incarnation is beautifully captured in Donne’s final couplet, “Thou has light in dark, and shutst in little room, / Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb.” The possibility of God’s infinite love and light being contained in the finite body of a person sounds too good to be true, and yet it is precisely that possibility for which we wait and hope during Advent.

Of course, those lines are hardly the exception; John Donne likes a good paradox, and frequently expresses them using literary puns, for instance with dual implication of God “yielding” himself to Mary as both procreator and offspring. Yet in the midst of the witty line is a truism, for the intimate image of God “yielding himself to lie” with humanity conveys something of the vulnerability of the incarnation. Despite the purity and sanctity of Jesus’ birth, Donne’s line reminds us that Jesus’ final humiliation on the cross, having been stripped naked by Pilate’s soldiers, is the culmination of the “yielding” celebrated at Christmas. From the start, Jesus’ earthly life is governed by the paradox of that divinity “Which cannot sin, and yet all sins must bear, / Which cannot die, yet cannot choose but die.” Jesus’ coming birth is an affirmation of life in all its goodness, yet happens in the shadow of death in all its certainty.

However, this paradox goes both ways, for as well as describing Jesus yielding to the wretchedness of our earthly existence, Donne’s poem also paints a picture of our humanity, and in particular that of Mary, elevated. The poet reminds Mary, and by extension us, that from the beginning of creation she “Wast in His mind, who is they Son and Brother.” Jesus deigns to submit himself to his earthly humiliation because in doing so he sanctifies the human vessel into which he pours himself. And with its ecclesiastical imagery, Donne’s final line suggests that thanks to this incredible act of annunciation and incarnation, we can point to the sacred spaces in our lives and believe that even in their finitude, they can contain salvation.