I. Introduction
A virgin birth! That’s impossible! We all such know things can’t happen. Why, we’re intelligent and rational people, aren’t we? We like to think that we understand the natural world around us and how it functions. (Actually, we really don’t, but we like to think we do.) We like to think that we understand the natural order of things. And of course, in the natural order of things, a virgin birth is impossible. So there you have it! Man has determined what is possible and what isn’t. Man has spoken. Man is wise. Man is also vain, isn’t he?
If man doesn’t even fully understand how the natural order of things in the natural world works, what makes him think he can understand the supernatural order of things in the supernatural world? Could it be man isn’t as wise as he thinks he is? The Bible speaks to that very question in the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth. Paul isn’t talking about the possibility of a virgin birth. He’s talking about Jesus’ work of obtaining our salvation by His death on the cross which is, of course, a supernatural work.
*1 Corinthians 1:18-21
18 For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
God did not design salvation to be understood through human wisdom. This world, in all its earthly wisdom, can neither see nor recognize nor know God by means of its own philosophies. That’s the way God planned it. He did so because, in His wisdom, He chose to open the blind eyes of sinful man solely with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only those who believe the so-called “foolishness” of the gospel can ever be saved.
*1 Corinthians 1:22-25
22 For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom;
23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
If God provides salvation in a manner that defies human logic, reason, and wisdom, why would we be surprised that He gives us that salvation in His own Son whom He chose to send us through a virgin birth? Or, asked another way, which is the greater miracle? Is it the virgin birth of Christ or is it purchasing our salvation with Christ’s own blood? Which is the greater miracle? Is it the virgin birth of Christ or is it the creation of the world and everything in it? Just consider this miracle…
Genesis 1:3
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Four simple words in the English language – but they reveal infinite power completely beyond the range of human comprehension. So is the virgin birth too difficult for such a God as the Lord? Is anything too difficult for the Lord? Those are rhetorical questions, aren’t they? They don’t require responses because the answers are patently obvious.
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II. Text
Last week we saw the angel Gabriel appear to Mary, the girl whom God had chosen to be the mother of our Lord and Savior. Gabriel told her that she had found favor with the Lord, that she would conceive the Son of God, that the boy’s name would be Jesus, that he would occupy the throne of David, and that He would rule over an eternal kingdom.
Gabriel’s full explanation and Mary’s response are the subjects of this morning’s text.
*Luke 1:34-38 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And 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 offspring shall be called the Son of God.
36 “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son in her old age; and who was called barren is now in her sixth month.
37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
I said this last week but I need to say it again. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ is funda-mental, that is foundational, to biblical Christianity. If there were no virgin birth then Jesus’ father was a man, a sinner just like you and me, and Jesus would be unable to save Himself, let alone us. So if there were no virgin birth there is no salvation. This is true because if there were no virgin birth Jesus would not have been resurrected and He is still dead! If Jesus Christ is still dead then we are without hope. The Scriptures are clear.
*1 Corinthians 15:16-19
16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;
17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
18 Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men to be most pitied. (back to Luke)
Unlike Zacharias’ doubt when Gabriel told him of the coming birth of John the Baptist, Mary expresses no doubt at all in God’s revelation to her. Neither does she challenge the angel to prove his words. However, she sincerely wonders how it is possible that she could become pregnant since she knows she has never had relations with a man.
*Luke 1:34-35
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And 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 offspring shall be called the Son of God.
So Mary’s question, unlike Zacharias’, is not driven by doubt, but by incredulity and sheer awe. It is for this reason that Gabriel does not rebuke her as he had done with Zacharias, when he lost his ability to speak for the duration of Elizabeth’s pregnancy.
In v. 35 Gabriel tells her just exactly how this incredible miracle will take place. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you…” By the way, the Holy Spirit’s prominence in creating the miracle of the virgin birth is completely consistent with His role in all creation.
Genesis 1:2
2 And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
Gabriel’s reference to, “…the power of the Most High” is a common OT title belonging exclusively to God Himself. The Hebrew is “El Elyon,” which means that God is the sovereign and omnipotent Ruler of all creation. It is His Spirit that will overshadow this young virgin, and in doing so, will fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy made seven hundred years earlier.
Isaiah 7:14
14 “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel.”
Now does Mary understand everything at this point? Of course not! Human conception was a mystery then and, to a very large extent, it still is. Look at David’s description in the Psalms.
*Psalm 139:13-16
13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.
The point for Mary is not that she understands how God accomplishes all that He has done, is doing, or will do. The point is that she trusts Him and believes Him completely. I don’t have to tell you there’s a powerful lesson for us there, do I?
We know that the Roman Catholic Church has come to venerate this humble young girl and has tried to elevate her into someone she never was and never could be. But there is no biblical evidence for any of it. Furthermore, there is simply no need to do it. There is no need to elevate Mary to some mystical and nearly supernatural plane.
Listen, just like you and me, she was chosen by God to accomplish His purpose. She was obedient and she humbly accepted His will for her life. Then she willingly, and without question, submitted herself to Him. Isn’t that precisely what God expects of each one of us as well? Yes it is. And you can’t do any better than that.
So Mary believes what Gabriel says, but now, by God’s grace, the angel strengthens her faith by informing her of what would no doubt be considered another, albeit a less astonishing, miracle.
*Luke 1:36
36 “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son in her old age; and who was called barren is now in her sixth month.
Mary’s exact relationship to Elizabeth is not specifically stated. They may have been distant cousins. But I think it’s safe to say that their exact familial connection is nowhere near as important as the fact that the older woman was now six months pregnant. Mary must have taken this as more proof from God that He could do the impossible.
Have you ever noticed how, when God does a great work in your life, that the truths of the Scriptures come alive for you? Mary would have known those truths and the Holy Spirit may well have brought them to mind for her. Here are just two of them.
Psalm 113:9
9 He makes the barren woman abide in the house as a joyful mother of children. Praise the LORD!
Jeremiah 32:27
27 “Behold, I am the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”
That rhetorical question by God through the Prophet Jeremiah makes a powerful segue to the next verse in Luke. (Remember, a rhetorical question doesn’t require a response because the answer is obvious.)
*Luke 1:37
37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Is there a more reassuring verse in Scripture? This is one of God’s greatest statements about Himself, and it is in turn, one of God’s greatest promises to us, His children. It is with those words that Gabriel takes Mary all the way back to Genesis to her knowledge of Abraham and Sarah. God had told them they would have a son but Sarah responded to this news in much the same way as Zacharias had responded to Gabriel in Luke.
*Genesis 18:11-14
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.
12 And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord (Abraham) being old also?”
13 And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’
14 “Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
Does He do what He says He will do? Can you trust God’s promises?
*Genesis 21:1-3
1 Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as he had promised.
2 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. (Isaac means, “he laughs.”)
What’s the lesson for us? It is simply this. God will accomplish His purposes for all of creation for all time. Therefore, He will accomplish His purposes for you and me as well. It doesn’t matter whether we think it is possible or not. “Is anything too difficult for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14) “Nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)
God creates everything from nothing. He puts life in barren wombs. He overshadows a virgin and she conceives. He brings the physically dead back to physical life. He turns the spiritually dead into the spiritually alive. He does all those things and infinitely more because He chooses to do so.
Are you praying for the salvation of a friend or a loved one but have seen no response? “Is anything too difficult for the LORD?” “Nothing will be impossible with God.”
But there is an important caveat here we dare not ignore. I know you’ve heard this before but here it is again. We must not take these words, or any other words in Scripture, out of the context in which they are found. Far too many people, Christian and non-Christian alike, assume those words in Genesis and Luke apply to their plans, to their purposes, and to their wills. Let me be clear. They are wrong! God is in the business of accom-plishing His plans and His purposes and His will, not ours.
One of the greatest tasks in our lives as Christians is learning to align our will with His. If you expect Him to align His will with yours, you can also expect to be disappointed. Sadly, there are a lot of televangelists out there who provide the bait for this snare, and a lot of people get trapped in it. We need to remember that the God of the Bible is not our “celestial vending machine.” Consider this quote from J. Vernon McGee.
“Many people use this verse, ‘Nothing will be impossible with God,’ as a cliché to cover up the fact that they want their own selfish desires. Nothing is impos-sible with God, but there is a great deal that is impossible with you and me…
Anything God determines to do He can accomplish…but that does not mean He will do everything believers want Him to do, because some things are not included in His plan.”
Mary didn’t have that problem. Even though Gabriel’s message was stunning and promised that a miracle would take place, she simply believed God. Does that sound familiar? Remember Abraham? Both his salvation and the subsequent blessings in his life and the lives of his progeny came from what?
Romans 4:3
3 And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
Mary wholeheartedly believes God, and in the next verse, she exercises complete and humble faith in the One in whom she believes.
*Luke 1:38
38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
We need to get the full impact of what she is saying here. Mary is stating her full sub-mission to God. A bondslave (or “handmaid” in some translations) is usually thought of as one who is in forced subjection, involuntary service, and often at least, suffering cruel treatment. None of that is true with Mary. She has been chosen to be blessed, and she knows it very well. And so she is ready and willing to do God’s bidding.
There is no fear and no trepidation. There is no reluctance and no timidity. She is ready to serve God and she is ready to serve Him now. She is ready even though she knows full well that both ridicule and all sorts of criticism will be poured out on her. And don’t forget Joseph. He will know the baby is not his. But all of that pales in comparison to this. According to the Mosaic Law, Mary could be facing capital punishment.
Deuteronomy 22:23-24a
23 “If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her,
24a then you shall bring them both out of the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death…”
And yet with all of that, Mary submits to God, His Word, and His plan for her life.
So while this young girl is not what the Roman Catholic Church has tried to make her, she is, nonetheless, great in the sight of God. Against what seem to be insurmountable odds she says to Gabriel, “…be it done to me according to your word.”
While you and I are called to follow Mary’s example, we are not called to venerate or to worship her. Yet as the centuries have come and gone, the Catholic Church continues to elevate this servant of God to outrageous heights. Last week we saw that she is neither involved in the redemption of sinners nor in mediation between God and man. But Rome has gone far beyond even those errors. (I’m not speaking about each and every Catholic, but the official teachings and doctrinal positions of the Roman Catholic Church itself.)
In the year 600 A.D. the church sanctioned praying to Mary. In 1854 she was declared to have been born without original sin in what Rome calls “the Immaculate Conception.” In 1950 the church declared that Mary never died but was assumed (taken alive) into heaven. In 1954 Pope Pius XII announced that Mary was the “Queen of the World” and the “Queen of Heaven.” There is not now, nor will there ever be, a queen of heaven.
Saying such things about the Virgin Mary is scripturally unfounded. The Bible teaches none of them about Mary. But ironically, the Bible does tell us about one who is called the queen of heaven. The Catholic Church didn’t invent her. She was already an object of worship in paganism. The Prophet Jeremiah speaks of her. In outright defiance of God and His Law, the Jews had been worshipping Babylonian gods. Through Jeremiah God pronounced judgment on them.
*Jeremiah 7:16-20a
16 “As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you.
17 “Do you see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18 “The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out libations to other gods in order to spite Me.
19 “Do they spite Me?” declares the LORD. “Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?”
20 Therefore thus says the LORD God, “Behold, My anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place…”
Look again at v. 18. The queen of heaven is the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, the wife of Baal. This is the goddess many of the Jews of Jeremiah’s day were worshipping. They were so devoted to the man-made religion of the Babylonians that when God told them to turn away from this pagan worship, they refused.
*Jeremiah 44:16
16 “As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you!”
They wanted a matriarchal society and so they chose to worship a pagan goddess, a false queen, instead of worshipping the God of the Bible, the true King of all Creation. The Babylonian goddess Ishtar is the only queen of heaven the Bible ever mentions. The Virgin Mary is not the queen of heaven. Frankly, I believe she would be appalled and sickened by worship that belongs to Jesus Christ being directed towards her. I make no claim to special insight here but I suspect God has preserved Mary from that knowledge.
Why is it so important that we, as Bible-believing Christians, understand this “Cult of Mary”? The pressure on the professing church to lay aside its differences and move ahead in a spirit of ecumenism is only increasing. Religious liberals, the “ECT” (Evangelicals and Catholics Together), the Emerging Church, Rick Warren, and innumerable other forces from every corner are insisting that we should “lighten up” about what are often called “fine points of worn-out doctrines.” Rather, for the good of the church, Protestants and Catholics should unite together in a spirit of love and mutual acceptance.
But church history teaches us that whenever Protestants and Catholics join together, the only doctrines softened or given up are those of the Protestants. Rome gives up nothing.
It’s like what diplomats used to say about negotiating with the old Soviet Union. The Russians would come to the table and say, “What’s mine is mine; what’s yours is nego-tiable.” Why is it so important that we understand the errors of Catholicism and the “Cult of Mary?” It’s so important because untruths continue to work their way into the church. Such lies are always trying to nibble away at biblical truth.
Listen, if you ask people anywhere in the world to tell you who the leader of the Christian Church is, the vast majority will answer, “It’s the Pope of Rome.” In 1997 the Pope of Rome, John Paul II, said this:
“Having created man male and female, the Lord also wants to place the new Eve beside the new Adam in redemption. Mary, the new Eve, thus becomes the perfect icon for the Church. We can therefore turn to the Blessed Virgin, trustfully imploring her aid in the awareness of the singular role entrusted to her by God, the role of co-operator in redemption.”
That’s blasphemy! But it’s blasphemy that’s being more and more received and accepted by untaught Christians. If Christians neither know nor understand their Bibles, what chance do they have to stand against lies? We need to know God’s Word and take it for what it says. We are not to embrace the precepts of men or the doctrines of demons.
Matthew 15:8-9
8 “This people honors Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.
9 “But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.”
1 Timothy 4:1
1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the doctrines of demons…
III. Conclusion
What can you take with you today? First, nothing is impossible with God. You can rest on that truth. Second, Mary, that simple little servant of God, is one of Scripture’s greatest examples of godly trust and submission.
Truth! Biblical truth is our lifeline. Knowing God, believing Him, trusting Him, submit-ting our hopes, our fears, our plans, our desires, and our wills to Him will lead us to true joy and peace in this life that He has given us.
The Virgin Mary, faithful, obedient, and humble young girl that she was, knew all of that. She willingly gave herself to God for His purposes. What a lesson for you and for me!
Will you say to God, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.”?
Can you say, “Lord, I am Yours. I know beyond doubt that You can do anything. So I ask you to do with me what you will. Put me where you want me, when you want me there, and doing what you want me to do.” May God grant each one of us the grace both to say it and, more importantly, to mean it.
~ Pray ~