The God of the impossible

In the gospel of Luke, chapter 1, we read that an angel named Gabriel (verse 26) announces to Mary, “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus” (verse 31). The angel goes on to speak of how Jesus will be called the Son of the Most High (verse 32). God will give Him the throne of David and He will rule in a never-ending kingdom (verse 33). But Mary’s mind can’t think that far ahead. She’s still stuck on a question that she finally vocalizes. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin” (Luke 1:34)?

At this point, Mary was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, but clearly they were not sexually active to this point. Mary says, “Wait a minute! Time out! A pregnancy is the result of sexual reproduction, and my fiancé and I haven’t done that. So how is it even possible that I’m going to be pregnant in the first place?” Gabriel answers that the Holy Spirit will “overshadow” her (verse 35). He adds this in verse 37, “For nothing is impossible with God.”  What a great verse!  Mary responds with exemplary faith in God: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said” (verse 38). Mary replies, “You say that God has a plan, and that I have a part to play; count me in.”

Some people read this account and they come away with skepticism. They ask: “How can a virgin supposedly give birth to a child?” The answer is simple: because the God of the Bible is the God of the impossible (Luke 1:37). I’m going to be saying more about this in later blogs, but I wholeheartedly believe in the notion a literal virgin named Mary giving birth to Jesus. Why? Because the God I worship and serve is an amazing God who can perform miracles that are humanly impossible. The Bible indicates that the Virgin Birth was a supernatural miracle from God.

Once again, I love Mary’s response: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38). She could have said, “Before you go, I have a few more questions: first, what exactly do you mean that the Holy Spirit will “overshadow” me? What am I supposed to tell my parents, or Joseph?” She could have asked for a detailed explanation, but she chose to put her faith and trust in God and His plan. I want to be like Mary. I want to trust in God, even though I still have lingering questions.

Kevin