The Gospel of Luke: Conceiving of the Inconceivable

Transcript

JRNT 62
06/23/2024
The Gospel of Luke: Conceiving of the Inconceivable
Luke 1:34-38
Jesse Randolph


Well, something I am sure we have all experienced, at some point is that feeling of knowing that you have just entered a conversation that was happening long before you entered into it. And that feeling of being lost, and playing catchup, and listening out for clues; as to what the topic DuJour of the conservation might actually be. Opportunities for awkwardness, and embarrassment in those situations abound; because you do not know the context of everything that has already been discussed, you don't know what to say, or when to say it, or whether you should say anything at all. And that's kind of what we are doing here this morning, in a sense.

As we are going to resume our study of the Gospel of Luke, we're going to be jumping right into the middle of a conversation, you could say, and specifically that of the angel Gabriel's annunciation to Mary. And of course, the good news is no one here needs to jump in, and speak, and worry about putting a foot in their mouth. All that needs to happen here this morning, is I need to serve up the text that God has given us, so that we can grow in our understanding of His Word, which will in turn transform us as we seek to live for Him day in and day out.

So last week we explored the first part of The Angel Gabriel's annunciation to Mary; where he greeted her, and told her, “Not that she was full of grace, rather that she was favored.” And he told her, “That the Lord was with her.” And after seeing that, Mary was both perplexed by, and pondering over those statements, the angel Gabriel told her in Luke 1:30 “Not to fear.” He said, “Do not be afraid.” And then this angel proceeded to tell Mary about this child; that she would soon be carrying in her womb. This son, named Jesus would be great; He would be called the Son of the Most High, He would be given by God, we saw last time in verses 32-33 that He would be called the Son of the Most High, He would be given that throne of His father David, He would reign over the house of Jacob forever, and there would be no end of His kingdom.

And then Mary, who at this point, at her oldest would have been in her early teens, received all this information. And one can only imagine how her head must have been spinning, and her mind must have been spinning, and her heart was racing, and her thoughts were wandering. And what did Mary, this devout, pious, newly betrothed girl say? What did she do?

Well, that takes us to the next part of the scene; the next part of the annunciation where Mary replied to the angel. Take a look with me at verses 34-38, that's our text for this morning. God's Word reads, “But Mary said to the angel, how will this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy child shall be called the Son of God. “And behold, your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold the slave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”

We have six points this morning, which are tied each to the text that we'll be in. First, we are going to see a deliberative probe, which refers to the question Mary asked the angel Gabriel there in verse 34. Second, we're going to look at a divine process, the process by which Jesus would be Spirit-conceived in Mary's womb. Third, we’re going to consider the definite proof, namely what the angel was saying would happen to Mary; was certain to happen in light of what had already happened to her relative Elizabeth. Fourth, we're going to look at a dependable promise, that's in verse 37, that nothing will be impossible with God. Fifth, we'll work through Mary's dutiful position and the humble servant-minded attitudes, with which she received the angel's words. And then sixth, and briefly we'll look at the departing proclaimer, as the angel Gabriel, his message having been proclaimed, exited the stage and the scene.

We'll start with our first one, the Deliberative Probe in verse 34. Again, it says, “But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be since I am a virgin?” Now we saw back in verses 28-29 that after the angel said to Mary, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Mary was very perplexed, and it said she was pondering what kind of greeting this was? In other words, the angel's initial greeting in and of itself in that moment was almost too much for Mary to handle.

Well, what came next was then verses 30-33, that was last week, where the angel described the unique way that Mary would be shown favor, the unique attributes her Son would possess, the positions He would hold, the roles He would fulfill, the deity He would possess, as the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. And that didn't exactly relieve Mary's perplexity, rather it heightened it, which leads to what she says here in verse 34 where she says, “How will this be since I am a virgin?”

Now note the ordering here, note what is on Mary's mind. She just heard all of this information, all of this data about the Son that she would have—His greatness, His Goodness, His coming kingdom, His eternal reign—and Mary didn't have questions about any of that, did she? No, she didn't. And that's because she knew that a Messiah had been promised, and she knew that the Messiah would come, and she knew that the Messiah would be great, and she knew that the Messiah would have this special relationship to God.

No, Mary's question was much more immediate, much more practical, much more, you could say, “biological.” She wanted the angel to take her back to the beginning, to take it from the top, to be kind, and rewind (for those of you who existed in 1998 you'll get that reference). But Mary's question here, and you see it, was, how will this be? There was this sense of surprise, and awe, and wonder, loaded into her question, how can this be? Now, we might be tempted to take Mary's reaction here as some sort of statement of doubt, or worse, defiance, as though Mary was questioning the angel. But that's not what this was, that's not what is going on here. For starters note the way Mary's question is phrased. She asks,” How will this be?” That's how the LSB translates it and I think that's right. It’s not so much how can this be, it's how will this be. And there is a difference between those two statements.

What's the difference? The difference is this: the way that Mary's question is phrased here in the original language reveals this sense of subtle acceptance of whatever it was the angel was about to tell her. Mary was assuming in her amazement that what the angel said, would happen, would in fact happen. And in fact, when we get down to verse 38, which we'll look at the end of the message today, we see that sense of resolve and faith that she had where it says, “Behold the slave of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word.” In other words, she showed no reluctance, she wasn't coming to grips with what the angel was saying here. Rather, she was accepting of the news she had received.

Mary didn't laugh like Sarah in the Old Testament; she didn't incredulously ask for a sign like Zechariah up the page in Luke 1. Recall Zechariah in Luke 1:18 asked the question in response to the angel's announcement to him, “How will I know?” Mary's response was different. She was merely asking for an explanation; she was merely asking for help in wrapping her mind around it all. “How will this be?” The tone of Zechariah's question was I can't believe it, there is no way, whereas Mary's question was simply inviting further information.

She was asking in a sense; how can I be sure this is so? Mary wasn't lacking faith, not at all. Mary believed, but notwithstanding her belief, she just didn't understand. She was mystified. And why? Why the confusion? Why the state of subtle bewilderment here? Well, like anyone of us Mary's understanding of what procreation involved was driven by her understanding of biological realities.

She knew the facts of life, she knew about the birds, and the bees, she knew that children were conceived only when one man, and one woman come together sexually, and she knew that for good and pious Israelites such as herself, children certainly weren't conceived outside the safe and protective confines of marriage, and she knew that as a young betrothed girl experientially she had never been through either—she had not been married, she had not had sexual relations. She was, as it says here in verse 34, “A virgin.” And by the way, a better more literal translation there would be, she had not known a man. That's exactly what it says here in the text, “she had not known a man.” And that's, by the way, a very typical Jewish way of stating what we see here in our text that she was a virgin.

Remember Genesis 19:8, that's that scene involving Lot's interaction with the wicked men of Sodom, and as he, in that way that we always shake our heads when we get to that part of the text says, “I have two daughters here,” and offers his daughters to those men. He describes them by saying, “And they have not known a man.” They were, in other words, virgins. Or we think of Jephthah's daughter in Judges 11:39, she is described as “she did not know a man.” In other words, she was a virgin. Here in Luke, of course, the point is that Mary had not known a man sexually, she was a virgin.

Now, some will say, and in fact some have said, especially those who already have a built-in anti-supernatural bias, so what when they see this text. And then they'll go on to argue, that while Mary, was a virgin, when the angel Gabriel visited her, this text and what it says up in verse 31, “you will conceive in your womb, and bear a Son,” it doesn't mean that the angel was announcing that she would undergo a virgin conception. That's what the anti-supernaturalist crowd would say. And the argument would go, the angel could just have readily been telling Mary here; that she would have a son at some distant point in the future, after she was already married to Joseph, and no longer a virgin. So, to this camp, verse 31 and verse 34, no big deal. Mary was going to have a child; the way that women have children, naturally, through normal means of male/female procreation.

The only problem with that argument is, that's not at all what the angel Gabriel was saying; either in verse 31 nor was Mary alluding to in verse 34. The angel hadn't made some sort of lame 50/50 prediction, the type you see modern so-called prophets making; like you are one day going to have a husband, and you are one day going to have a child. No, this is saying you are going to have a Son, and you are going to have that Son through a virginal conception. And you are going to conceive now Mary before that marriage even takes place. That's the way this passage reads, simply as a matter of taking God at His word. But also, that's the only logical way to take this passage.

See, the only way this question Mary asks here, “How will this be?” verse 34, “since I am a virgin?” The only way that makes sense would be if it were referring to her immediate present circumstances. She wouldn't be asking this question about her virginity; if it was the future that she was concerned about. It would make no sense to have her speaking here as having never known a man if the future and specifically her future marriage bed with her future husband Joseph is what's in view.

No, the angel had communicated something very specific to Mary, back in verse 31 that she would conceive shortly after receiving the announcement that he was making to her. He was telling her, “That she was going to become a mother, at once.” That's the only way this question here she asks in verse 34 makes sense. And note, Mary didn't doubt the angel Gabriel's words. Again, she just wanted to make sure she knew, and understood in some sense how this was all to take place. She was very understandably in the state of overwhelmed surprise.

Now I feel like of late, I have been going after the Roman Catholic Church on almost a cyclical weekly basis over the past month. And that's okay for a number of reasons. One, though, we are in a text right now that is taking us right to the subject of Mary, so it's kind of unavoidable.

So, I have another rant against Roman Catholicism for this week. Okay, are you ready for this? This one has to do with the Roman Catholic Church's doctrine of the so-called perpetual virginity of Mary. There have been many who over the course of the centuries have used our text, verse 34, as the supposed basis for what the Roman Catholic Church teaches about the perpetual virginity of Mary. And they will argue that the words that you see there in verse 34 where it says, “since I am a virgin,” or “since I have not known a man,” they would take that to mean that Mary would never know a man, that she would perpetually be a virgin.
Well, passages like Mark 13:55 and Mark 6:3 which tell us that Jesus had brothers and sisters; sort of blow that whole notion out of the water right away. If Jesus had brothers and sisters, let's just use our scientific minds here, what does that mean? Mary would not perpetually be a virgin; she would have sexual relations with her husband.

Well, not only that, as we look at our passage here in verse 34, grammar matters, syntax matters, verb tenses matter, and the reality is the verb that is used here, in verse 34, is in the present tense. And what the present tense does, is it describes continual action taking place up to the present time. What's being said here then is, “that Mary had continually been, up to this point, where the angel made this annunciation, in this continual state of not being with a man.” And what this is really testifying to, would be Mary's pure, chaste, holy ways. Up to the current period of her betrothal to Joseph, she had kept herself, she had remained sexually pure. That's the idea, that's the thought undergirding the use of the present tense here.

Here is another grammatical point; I know you come here for grammatical points on Sunday mornings. Had Luke, as he described this interaction between Mary, and the angel, wanted to communicate or wanted to indicate, that Mary would perpetually be a virgin, he with his very thorough grasp of the Koine Greek language of the time, could very easily, have recorded this thought in the future tense, to suggest that Mary always and perpetually would be a virgin. But he didn't, he used the present tense, meaning Mary here wasn't indicating that she would forever be in this perpetual state of virginity, she wasn't making this perpetual vow of virginity, she wasn't saying that she would remain a virgin forever. Not at all. It's grammatically unsupportable.

In fact, and here is another point, and this takes us beyond the grammatical and more to the logical, and historical, there is no practical way that Mary could have made a vow of virginity, perpetual virginity. Why? Well, Mary, we have seen, was betrothed at the time that she made this statement to this angel. And as we have seen, betrothal was this important intermediate step that a young man and a young woman would take leading up to the official consummation of their marriage. If a betrothed young girl like Mary were to make a pledge that she would perpetually remain a virgin, she would be doing so with the understanding that she would be breaking her coming marriage vows to her soon-to-be husband Joseph. A bride pledging to be perpetually a virgin is not only an oxymoron, it would be a violation of the marriage covenant, which in Mary's case, godly young woman that she was, would violate the godly character that she repeatedly demonstrated throughout this passage.

All this to say, the Roman Catholic Church's argument for the perpetual virginity of Mary is untenable theologically, it's unsupportable grammatically, and it's just problematic all around. Mary here was not saying that she would perpetually remain a virgin, rather she was saying, “that she was a virgin,” at the moment Gabriel visited her, which only increased her level of awe at the news that he was sharing with her.

Getting back to our text, another indicator here that Mary's response was not one of doubt or disbelief but rather was one of startled belief, and amazed puzzlement; was the way that the angel responded to her question. Note here that the angel doesn't rebuke Mary, he doesn't penalize Mary or punish Mary, he doesn't seal Mary's lips shut the way he did with Zechariah. Rather, he answered her, which we see in verse 35.

If you are a note taker our second point this morning is, Divine Process. Verse 35 says, “The angel answered, and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy child shall be called the Son of God.” Again, there was no rebuke, there was no scolding, there was no sense of disapproval from this angel. None of those. Rather there is an answer. The angel answered, it says, “the angel replied to Mary.” And then note how he answered her, there are really three components to it. First, he said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you;” second, he said, “the power of the Most High will overshadow you;” and then third, he said, “For that reason the holy child shall be called the Son of God.”

I've given this second heading that title, the Divine Process, because what we have here, is Luke's Spirit-directed explanation through the lips of this angel, of how the virgin conception of Jesus, in Mary's womb, would occur. Here we are given this divine summary, one that has stumped the scientific type, puzzled, perplexed people, and confounded unregenerate souls for centuries now of how the Holy Spirit would creatively bring about the physical conception of Jesus in young Mary's womb.

Our text along with Matthew 1 would be the only two sections of Gospel narrative where we are given direct record evidence here of the virgin birth, and specifically how the virgin conception would take place. In fact, why don't we go over to the other instance of the virgin conception being recorded in Matthew 1, just to give us some color and context of what has been revealed in the canon about the virgin birth, the virgin conception. Look at Matthew 1, very first page of your New Testaments. Matthew 1:18 says, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the One who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”

Now note, back to Luke, that neither text, neither Matthew 1 nor Luke 1 provides a ton of detail about the how, mechanically speaking, biologically speaking, spiritually speaking the Spirit of God was going to cause Mary to become with child or pregnant. Rather, all the angel reveals in either account is that the Holy Spirit would act, His power would be working, a conception would take place, and the child would be divine. Again, look at our text, verse 35, it says, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you and for that reason the holy child shall be called the Son of God.”

We'll take this piece by piece, starting with the first one here where he said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.” In other words, the Spirit of God, the third person of the trinity would be the active life-giving agent in the conception of Jesus in Mary's womb. This idea of the Holy Spirit being life-giving really would be nothing new to Mary to hear this; because the Spirit of God has always been actively life giving.
We see that back in Genesis 1:1-2 which says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And then he goes on to say, “And the earth was formless, and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” So, in other words after the heavens and the earth had been created and while the earth was still formless and void, the Spirit of God began to move over the face of this formless mass which God had created; and then He started the creative process which took place over the course of six literal 24-hour periods.

Psalm 33:6 also alludes to the Spirit's involvement in creation. It says, “By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made, and by the breath,” that could also be translated Spirit, ruach, “of His mouth all their host.” Psalm 104:30, speaking of animals, says, “You send forth your Spirit, and they are created.” So, the Holy Spirit has always been life-giving and active in creating things, people, and planets.

Getting back to our text though, the Holy Spirit's life-giving power, we see here, from this angel's announcement; would be active in the conception and the birth of Christ. The Creator God who brought life out of nothing; would now create life within Mary's womb. And this, wouldn't be a matter of Mary simply being filled with the Holy Spirit like in Ephesians 5; sense or in the sense, of John the Baptist, while he was still in his mother's womb and Luke 1:15 says, “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit.” No, this wasn't a statement of Mary's spiritual condition here, rather this was a description of the means by which Mary's pregnancy, her physical actual pregnancy would be achieved. Her child, her Son, would be conceived without the involvement of a human father. And instead, would be conceived through the Spirit's demonstration of His divine power in her, and through her. That's what is meant by that first one, there in verse 35, “the Holy Spirit will come upon you.”

And then look at what comes next. After he said, “that the Holy Spirit will come upon you,” he says, “and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” The power, the dunamis of whom? The Most High would overshadow Mary. Now, who is being referred to with those words “Most High?” Last week you may recall in verse 32 we saw that the child that would eventually be carried in Mary's womb would Himself be called Son of the Most High. So, was Gabriel here telling Mary that her child would be the agent of His own conception? Would Jesus, in other words, be bringing about His own birth?

Well, you'll need to come to our summer in the systematic series on Christology for deep questions and answers like that. From our text, though, in verse 35 in its context, it is actually clear grammatically that that statement, “the power of the Most High will “overshadow you” is directly linked to the words that precede it. The words that we just went through where it says, “the Holy Spirit will come upon you,” meaning the reference here to the Most High is a reference to, a synonym for the Holy Spirit.

Just like God the Father, is God Most High (we saw that last week, El Elyon) as He is referred to some three dozen times in the Old Testament, just like God the Son like we saw last week in verse 32 would be Son of the Most High, God the Spirit is also Most High. And to say that God is the God Most High, whether you are talking about God the Father or God the Son or God the Spirit, is to say that He is powerful, He is omnipotent, He is Almighty, He is sovereign in His reign, and His rulership over all the earth. That's the importance and the significance of the words the angel gave here to Mary; where he said the power of the Most High, will overshadow you. He was essentially underscoring for her that the same eternal Spirit of God, who was there at the beginning of the foundation of the world, who created the world would now be creating life in her womb. The power of the Most High, the power of the Holy Spirit would be directly involved in the conception of her coming child.

And note that interesting word, specifically that interesting verb that the angel Gabriel used in this part of his announcement. He told Mary, “That the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Now that word “overshadow” is a familiar one, it's used throughout the Old Testament to describe God's hovering physical presence in various settings, like we think of the descriptions of the tabernacle like in Exodus 40:33-34. This concept of overshadowing is used to describe God's glory, His presence overshadowing, infusing the very walls of the tabernacle.

Here is Exodus 40:33-34, it says, “He erected the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and he put up the screen for the gateway of the court. Thus, Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle.” That word “covered” is the equivalent of the Greek word for “overshadowed” that we see here in verse 35.

The same word is used in Numbers 9:18 where this concept of “overshadowing” comes through even more clearly. Numbers 9:18 says, “At the command of Yahweh, the sons of Israel would set out, and at the command of Yahweh, they would camp; as long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped.” That Hebrew word for “settled over,” is equivalent of the Greek word for “overshadow” that we see here in verse 35.

One more, Numbers 10:34 says, “Now, the cloud of Yahweh was over them by day; when they set out from the camp.” Again, that word “over them,” is the equivalent of our Greek word “overshadow”, here in verse 35. And note, this concept of overshadowing is found not only in these Old Testament passages that describe God's hovering presence over the ancient tabernacle.

It also appears in other places, in a more generic set of assurances for Old Testament believers, like Psalm 91:4, which describes God's overall protection of His people. It says, “He will cover you,” that's that same verb there, “He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will take refuge.” That's that same concept of “overshadow”.

Then we get to the New Testament and the same term that we see in our passage, “overshadow,” is used to describe the cloud, which overshadowed Jesus' disciples at His transfiguration. Like Luke 9:34, it says, “While He was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.” Or Matthew 17:5 says, “While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Listen to Him.”

In other words, when we see this word “overshadow” elsewhere in Scripture it is referring to God's glorious presence; either before, or over His people as He surrounds them, as He encompasses them. And that's the same idea here now with Mary. God the Spirit who has been present in various different places over the course of history—in creation, at the tabernacle—would now be present in her, in Mary. He would surround her; He would “overshadow” her as through His creative power He caused her to conceive.

With that, we turn to the next part of this divine process, that the angel Gabriel outlined for Mary. He said, “For that reason the holy child shall be called the Son of God.” For that reason, meaning because the Holy Spirit would be the divine agent of conception, and then, we see these two descriptions of the child that Mary would carry. First, the child would be holy, and second, He would be called, “the Son of God.” We'll work through those terms sequentially, starting with that first description that He would be the holy child.

Not merely holy; as in set apart for special service, not merely holy; in terms of being consecrated unto God, not merely holy; in terms of being anointed, though as the Messiah He certainly would be. But holy in terms of, His transcendence, holy in terms of, His moral purity, and His perfection, holy in terms of His, divinity, His deity. To say that He would be, “The Holy Child,” in other words, was a way that Gabriel was saying to Mary here that, her Son would be, “God Himself,” “God incarnate,” “God in flesh.” He would, as John 1:14 would later testify, “become flesh, and dwell among us.” He would be The Holy Child and He would we see elsewhere in the Gospels, also be called “the Holy One of Israel and the Holy One of God.” He was already holy, and perfect, and righteous in His eternal preexistence, but now as He put on humanity; He would be holy, and perfect, and righteous in His incarnation from the moment of His conception; which was brought about by the Holy Spirit in the womb of His mother Mary.

He would not only be The Holy Child though, He would also be called, we see here in verse 35, “The Son of God.” He would be called, it says, “The Son of God.” Those words like the reference to Him, being a Holy Child, were another reference to His deity. Yes, He would be the son of Mary, conceived in her womb. Yes, He would be the son of David, like we saw last week. He had this right to the Davidic throne. Yes, He would even be the son of Joseph in this adoptive legal sense. But He was and is the Son of God in His nature and His essence.

We remember the words of Hebrews 1:3, which speak to that relation between God the Father, and God the Son. It says, “that Jesus is, “the radiance of His glory, and the exact representation of His nature.” In other words, just as God Himself, is God, Jesus is God. So yes, the coming Christ child would be the Davidic Messiah, and yes, He would rule over the house of Jacob, and yes, His future reign would be eternal, and yes, He would be great. But He would not only be great, He would be God. He always was God, He always has been God, He always was with God, John 1:1. But through His conception in Mary's womb, and through His eventual birth in Bethlehem, He would become God incarnate, God in the flesh, the God/Man, Son of the Most High. He would be no less than Israel's Messiah; but at the same time, He would be more than that. He would be very God. “The Holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”

Well, as we've already seen Mary's response to the angel Gabriel, differed from that of Zechariah. Zechariah wavered, he doubted, he saw the sign, he wanted proof. Mary, by contrast, operated from faith. The question she asked the angel, verse 34, “How will this be?” didn't highlight doubt, it showed faith, so much faith in fact that unlike Zechariah she didn't request a sign from the angel Gabriel. But as we turn to verse 36, we're going to see that the angel gave her a sign anyway, which brings us to our third point, Definite Proof.

Look at verse 36, it says, “And behold,” still the angel speaking here, “your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son, in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her, who was called barren.” So, with these words, the angel Gabriel was giving Mary, a sign to bolster her confidence, to fortify her faith, that all he had told her would actually take place. You see it there, Mary was told by the angel that Elizabeth, her relative, had also conceived a son. And for Elizabeth, what made this truly remarkable, even miraculous as we've noted, was that she conceived in her old age. And not only had she conceived; but she had carried that child in her womb nearly two-thirds of the way to term. Which is picked up in the last few words of verse 36, there where it says, “that she was in the sixth month for her who was called barren”.

And note, that as he revealed this information to Mary, as Gabriel did, this wasn't some stray fact; or some random detail that he was giving here. Rather, the angel's entire purpose in sharing this information with her was to communicate to her, that if God had worked such an astounding miracle in the life, and the womb of Elizabeth, then she ought to, and should have the confidence that He would fulfill His promises to her, to Mary, as well. Elizabeth was going to have a child so Mary needed to understand with certitude that she would as well. And six months in, Elizabeth's no longer hidden; very obviously pregnant belly, would provide a sign to Mary that the angel Gabriel's words were trustworthy.

Now we've already alluded to it, but note that the angel Gabriel, here in verse 36, refers to Elizabeth as your relative. He says, “Behold your relative Elizabeth has also conceived.” Elizabeth was Mary's relative. How so? In what way? Well, the Scriptures don't tell us directly so we're going to have to do some sleuthing, especially in weeks ahead when we get to Luke 3,and the whole genealogy of Jesus that is mentioned there, but for now, recall that back in Luke 1:5, we saw that Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron. She came from Aaron's priestly line.

And we know that Jesus, as we saw last time, would come from the Davidic line. And we've already traced out a sermon or two ago how Joseph came from the Davidic line, and as we're going to see when we get to Luke 3, Mary apparently also was of the Davidic line. So, if Elizabeth was of the Aaronic line, the line of Aaron, and Mary was of the Davidic line in what sense could these two be called relatives, as we see here in verse 36? Well, when we consider that in these times; the house or the clan of which one was deemed to be a member was dictated by the lineage of your father, we know that Mary and Elizabeth could not have been relatives through their fathers because Elizabeth's father would have been of Aaron's line, and Mary's father would have been of David's line. And that leaves us with one option, they were related through whom? Moms. It would have been a maternal connection not a paternal connection. Mary's father would have been of Davidic descent while her mother would have been from Aaron's line, thus connecting her and Elizabeth as relatives. Again, we're going to get more into that genealogy when we get to Luke 3. And we'll have some fun comparing what that genealogy says to what others say, especially the one in Matthew 1.

But for now as we move onto verse 37 we're going to see that the angel Gabriel continued on in his annunciation to Mary, and he built on what he had just shared with Mary about Elizabeth and her pregnancy, and what this meant for Mary, and her impending pregnancy, Look at verse 37, and here is our fourth point.

Our fourth point is Dependable Promise. Look at verse 37, it's a short one, these are the angel Gabriel's words to Mary still. He says, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Those words surely are words that many of you here this morning are familiar with, they certainly would have struck a familiar chord with Mary; because those words would have immediately sounded a lot like what the angel of Yahweh said to Sarah, Abram's wife, back in Genesis 18:14 where he said, “Is anything too difficult for Yahweh?” “Is anything too difficult for God?” Of course, the question that the angel asked Sarah back in Genesis 18 is really just the inverse of what the angel declared to Mary here in Luke 1:37. Is anything too difficult for God, communicates the same idea as nothing will be impossible with God. Put another way, if nothing is too difficult for God; then it naturally follows that everything is possible with God. And it's not just back in Genesis that we see language like that. Consider the words of Jesus Himself who in Luke 18:27 said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

Now there are just a few observations I want to make here about verse 37, and this statement that nothing will be impossible with God. First it needs to be pointed out very plainly that this is a reference to the omnipotence of God. Just as God is all-knowing, omniscient, just as He is ever-present, omnipresent, He is all powerful, He is omnipotent. He is undefeated, He has never fallen short, He has never almost accomplished anything. Rather, what He purposes He does. He is the all-powerful God, who created the Pleiades and each of the elements that make up the water that we drink. He is the God who made the sun, and its rays which warm our earth. He is the God who has made billions of galaxies, and trillions of stars, and each of the freckles on your grandson's nose. There is no getting away from it, there is no doubting it that God is all powerful, and because of that verse 37, nothing will be impossible with God. So, He is omnipotent.

Second, the thing to note here; is that these words of the angel Gabriel have a context, and the context here as we've just worked through, is the angel Gabriel speaking of the power of God; to form life in this young virgin girl's womb, even without the involvement of her soon-to-be husband Joseph. I know that this text has a context, and while a text without a context is a pretext, it's also important to note that Gabriel's words here in verse 37 are communicated, they are written down by Luke in the future tense, and specifically this is what is known as a logical future. And all that means is that the angel's words, in verse 37, were communicating something that would not only happen in Mary's day, and not only be true in Mary's day, but these words are communicating a principle that is always true. The tense of the verb, the very grammar of this text is suggesting, declaring a timeless truth, one that applied not only to Mary in her time, but one that applies to each and every one of us today; perpetually and forever that nothing will be impossible with God.

God is able to, and regularly does, blow holes in our human expectations. We see that not only from what happened here with Mary, but of course, we know that from human experience, do we not? I could give you the microphone and have you all come up here and tell story after story about the way that God has shown His ability to accomplish and do the impossible. Even more important, though, we see that truth about God being able to do the impossible all over the Scriptures. Psalm 115:3 says, “Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” Jeremiah 32:17 says, “Lord Yahweh, behold You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You.” Mark 10:27 says, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or understand, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.”

Here is another observation about verse 37, I think this is our third one. By saying, “that nothing is impossible with God,” what we aren't saying is, “that God could or would do anything that is inconsistent with His character.” The reality is, He wouldn’t, and He couldn't do any such thing. We know from Scripture, Titus 1:2, that God cannot lie. We know from Scripture, II Timothy 2:13, that God cannot deny Himself. And it also follows, since God's attributes are revealed to us in Scripture, that He cannot be unloving, He cannot be merciless, He cannot be impatient. So when the atheist tries to stump you with the can God create a round square question, or can God create a rock so big that He couldn't move it, or can God make two and two equal five, you can tell them in love that they are being ridiculous; because there are things that He cannot do; because He Himself has said, “He cannot do those things and will not do those things.”

Here is a last observation about these words here from the angel; in verse 37 that nothing will be impossible with God, and this really brings this text to our front porch, our doorstep today. Just because, as the angel Gabriel here said to Mary, “nothing will be impossible with God,” that doesn't mean, that God has promised in every situation, and in all circumstances to actually do the impossible. He hasn't promised that He will cause that adoption to go through. He hasn't promised that He'll cause that lump, or that growth, or that nodule to go away. He hasn't promised that that spouse will change. He hasn't promised that those thousands of needed dollars will somehow show up in your bank account tomorrow. He hasn't promised that there will be certain results at the polls in November. He hasn't promised that Christmas will one day be the way it once was. God could of course steer any of those circumstances; or circumstances like them, any way He wishes, but it doesn't make Him any less powerful, or any less able, or any less, God simply, because He sovereignly, and perfectly has chosen not to steer those circumstances in the direction that we would prefer He would.

Back to our context here in verse 37. At the time of Gabriel's annunciation to her; we've seen that Mary was this young, betrothed girl, this unmarried virgin. Conception for her without a husband to her, to anyone, would have been deemed impossible. But not with God. I appreciate J. C. Ryle's take on this passage, he says, “Nothing is too hard for the Lord.” “There is no sin too black, and too wicked to be pardoned; the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin.” “There is no heart too hard, and wicked to be changed, the heart of stone can be made into a heart of flesh.” “There is no work too hard for a believer to do, we can do all things through Christ strengthening us.” “There is no trial too hard to be borne, the grace of God is sufficient for us.” “There is no promise too great to be fulfilled, Christ's words will never pass away, and what He has promised, He is able to perform.” “There is no difficulty too great for a believer to overcome, if God is for us, then who can be against us?” “The mountain shall become a plain.” That's what the angel Gabriel was doing for Mary here and communicating to Mary here. In the wake of this monumental news, he was assuring her; by pointing her to her relative Elizabeth; that what seemed like a mountain would actually be a plain. And that's because verse 37, “nothing will be impossible with God.” Well, the point was well received, by Mary, we see in verse 38.

Here is our fifth point, by the way; this would be Dutiful Position. “Mary said, verse 38, “behold the slave of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word.” That's really beautiful, as we see here; the posture, and the pledge of Mary, both how she viewed herself, and what she was committing herself to.

Let's first consider her posture. After hearing these words from the angel Gabriel, she identifies herself right away as “behold the slave of the Lord.” She didn't magnify herself, she humbled herself. She didn't coronate herself, she lowered herself. She didn't call herself a queen, she called herself a slave, a doule as she would in her Magnificat in verse 48. Her posture was that of a slave.

And then look at her pledge, which she made with these words, she says, “May it be done to me according to your word.” Note she didn't say, “first, Gabriel, let me see if this is true.” “Let me do some fact checking, and then I'll be a slave of the Lord.” She didn't say, “let it be done to me, when I finally have peace about all this.” She didn't say, “let it be done to me; when I finally understand it;” or when, “I think I'm ready for it.” Her response was nothing like that. She responded with absolute unquestioning confidence in God; as she accepted as true what the angel had told her, that nothing will be impossible with God. She accepted her role as God's instrument, to be used as her Master saw fit, and willingly submitted herself to the Lord's plan.

Now, surely the Lord's plan would have from her vantage point, some sharp turns, and some bumps in the road ahead. First and foremost, we think that she would have to face Joseph, her soon-to-be husband, and tell him that she, who was his betrothed, was now pregnant. And of course, Joseph's first thought, as he recounted all their history, and purity of relationship, would be, to think, we've never had sexual relations; so, this is an instance of adultery. And he, would have had the option under the law of Israel; to either divorce her; or Deuteronomy 22 says, “to stone her,” to have her stoned. So, she faced that sense of anxiety.
She would also have to face the disappointment of her parents, her family. Her family would be embarrassed across the board, her father who had pledged her purity; when she was first betrothed would be ashamed. She would also of course have to face the stigma of unwed motherhood as she faced all these disapproving looks and the murmuring and the chattering and the verbal slings and arrows that would soon be coming her way. And she would have to face all of this, remember, as this young at oldest, teenage girl.

Well, she responded as we see here in verse 38; by humbly accepting it all. “Behold! the slave of the Lord, may it be done to me; according to your word.” Now I've said this, I think several times before, and I'm sure I'll say it many more times in the years ahead, but the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, though they have this fixed historical context, and they were given to us in this unique context that we can't really replicate, they are loaded with timeless truths like this one, which we not only can, but we need to apply to our lives today.

As we went through last week, Mary is not to be exalted, as the Roman Catholic Church would have her be, but she absolutely is to be emulated; with the type of faith that she revealed. I mean, can you imagine how much clarity there would be in churches and pulpits across the land if women who sensed a call to preach, or to be a female pastor, a pastorix, instead went to what Mary says here and said, “behold the slave of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word.” Can you imagine how much confusion would be cleared up among modern day teenagers and pre-teens; even in the church who are being told by certain evangelical leaders; that they can be whoever they want to be, maybe even the other gender or a made up gender, so long as they love Jesus, if instead they were forced to contend with this language, behold the slave of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word.

Can you imagine how many Christian marriages would be strengthened, and fortified if overlording, domineering, unloving husbands, and unsubmissive, rebellious, dripping faucet wives; instead adopted the position of Mary here and looked at these words, and lived them out—"behold the slave of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word.” Can you imagine? How much false religion would be rooted out? Whether it is the signs and wonders of Pentecostalism, or the tradition and dogma of Roman Catholicism or the soul-destroying message of universalism, if people contended with these words—"behold the slave of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word.” In other words, these words here from Mary, as she heard the words of the angel Gabriel, and responded to them present for us, and present to us, a model response; because we are all called ultimately to live, and function this way. We are all called as followers of Christ, to view ourselves and to live as slaves of the Lord, and to do what God has declared to us and for us in His Word. And that's not to be some sort of foot dragging, wincing, grumbling against our will type of slavery. Instead, it is supposed to be a compliant, hopeful, joyfully submissive type of slavery to God Himself.

That brings us to our sixth and final point, and this will be a very brief one. This is the Departing Proclaimer. You see the words of Luke there at the end of verse 38, simple sentence there. It says, “And the angel departed from her.” Having revealed to Mary that the greatest event up to that point in human history was about to take place in her womb, the angel Gabriel departed from her. The message had been delivered, his work on earth here at that point was done so he departed. His mission was now accomplished and he went back to the heavenlies; into the presence of God, and now the God/Man, the Son of God, Jesus, the One who would save His people from their sins, the divine Redeemer, The Holy Child, the divine King who would reign over a kingdom that would last forever was now on His way.

Well, what we've worked through today in our passage is a truly glorious segment of Scripture. It's a section that doesn't in any way marry up with human logic, or human expectations. It records events which defy laws of natural human procreation. It gives us some of the details, but not all of them. In the end, what we've looked at today, the divine conception of Jesus, and how that would happen leading up to the virgin birth of Jesus, it's a matter of mystery, mystery not in the sense that it is untrue; as the unbelieving world would like to point out, but rather mystery in the sense that it is unattainable. It is ultimately incomprehensible to mere mortals like us, like the trinity, like the hypostatic union, and that description of the two natures of the one person, Jesus, like the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

But the virgin birth, the virgin conception of our Lord isn't this Rubik's cube; or this puzzle that we have been charged with figuring out. Rather, it is a truth that is to be believed by faith. So, the question is, do you believe? Have you believed? Do you believe not only that the Lord Jesus was conceived in the womb of his mother Mary? The virgin. But do you believe that He died? Do you believe that He rose? Do you believe that He conquered death? Do you believe that He paid for your sin? All matters ultimately of Christian faith come down to those truths about a virgin birth, the perfect God/Man coming to this earth, dying a sufficient atoning death on behalf of sinners like us. And it must all be appropriated ultimately by faith. So, do you believe? We'll close with that.

Let's pray. Lord, thank You so much for this chance to be together this morning. Thank You for the truth of Your Word, thank You for its clarity, thank You for its power, thank You for the work You do through it. God, thank You for the example of Mary. As non-Catholics we can sometimes shy away from Mary, and the example that she was, but when we just grapple with what the text says about Mary, and her holy example, her faith, her belief, it is such an encouragement. And I pray, that we would be encouraged, and spurred on to have that type of faith, one that says ultimately like it says in verse 38, “behold the slave of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word.” May those be our words; as we go about this week, as we live as grateful slaves, humbled by, and living in light of what You have given us, in Your Word. Thank You for this time together, may you be glorified in our week ahead. In Jesus' name, amen.