Today’s Scripture Reading
Luke 1:34–37
“How will this be?” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”
Supernatural Births
Most of us are familiar with the Christmas story in Luke’s gospel. Mary was frightened when the angel Gabriel confronted her. Her response was not, “OK, no problem, sounds good to me.” No; she was frightened and terrified. Let us not fall prey to calling her ignorant and gullible, or what C.S. Lewis termed “chronological snobbery,” since this was 2000 years ago. She was just as incredulous as we would be. We must remember she was probably 13 to 15 years old at the time, and she rightly questions the angel, “How can this be?” And I think many of us come to this point in the Christmas story, and it becomes a problem for us, because it claims the supernatural. We like the stories about birth in the manger, shepherds celebrating, and the Wisemen coming to worship as they give gifts and praise God. And we do likewise during the season. But to think that a virgin birth preceded the coming of Jesus is pretty hard to swallow.
But then we miss the response of the angel Gabriel to Mary: “With God nothing is impossible.” If we miss this, we’re putting “God in a box,” and yet who would’ve thought this story up.
According to the amazing claims of the Bible, the little baby born in the manger by a virgin birth is the God-man sent to rescue humanity. So if I was designing or creating the story, I would have him come in on a cloud with chariots and white stallions, with a real Hollywood blockbuster entrance. Many of the Jewish nation were expecting that kind of entrance as well. They were expecting the prophesied Messiah to forcefully deliver them from the political oppression of the Roman Empire. But as we know, He came in deep humility as a baby born at a feeding trough. He came to freely give away His power, not to use it in retaliation.
If we look into the Christmas story, we also see that Mary’s cousin Elizabeth is pregnant at a very advanced age and will bear her son John the Baptist to herald the coming of Christ. We also remember the Old Testament story of Sarah and Abraham having a child at around 100 years old. Yes, these stories are incredible and hard to believe. So what does this have to do with our Faith In Practice mission? Think of the patient and their families that are desperate for help. They know they can’t help themselves, and on paper, in the world’s eyes, things look bleak. But one thing they do know in their hearts: “Nothing is impossible with God.” Their simple, deep faith resonates in their lives, and they lean into that in prayer. After they’ve made their 12- to 14-hour bus ride to be seen in a clinic, the team of volunteers they meet represents answered prayer. The surgery they receive many times shows that “With God nothing is impossible.” The Christ child becomes real to them and, in turn, real to each and every one of us who gets the blessing of participating in this amazing mission.
God bless, and Merry Christmas.
Dr. Mark Woolf
