Luke 1:³⁵ And the angel answered her,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.  (ESV)

There are plenty of misunderstandings and much genuine warping of what happened to Mary.  Contrary to what some in a feminist culture wildly assert:

• this was no instance of divine rape;
• it was not consensual sex between God and a human being;
• it was not abusive;
• it was not degrading to women;
• it was not the work of Joseph and Mary;
• and it was not unholy.

Rather, what happened was beautifully holy–exactly what we’d expect from God whose heavenly worshipers are recorded in Scripture as extolling His holiness:

Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” (Revelation 4:8)

A thread of pure holiness runs throughout the angel Gabriel’s short answer.

First, there is the agency of the Holy Spirit whose presence will surround Mary with holiness.  It was the Holy Spirit’s work to perform the miracle known as the Incarnation.  Matthew records it like this:

Matthew 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Notice how both Mary and Joseph respected the holiness of the situation.  Given the cavalier manner in which American youth treat their sexuality in our present culture, it is worth noting how different things were in Mary and Joseph’s day.  Purity, honor, righteousness, and respectability were considered virtues.

Next, we see that the power exerted by the Most High was holy.  It overshadowed Mary.  The word used here for overshadowing carries the meaning of an enveloping protection.  (This same word is used when speaking of Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration.  Mark 9:7 Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!”–[NAS])

This overshadowing was a most holy moment!  Lovingly blanketed in the protection of God’s power, Mary would conceive without human help.  The one to be born was conceived in holiness and was uniquely the Son of God.

Luke 1:³⁵ And the angel answered her,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.(ESV)

Hurrying to the response will make us overlook something really important:  God answered.

Angels are created beings.  Their role was to mediate heavenly revelation from God to man (prior to the coming of the Christ and nowadays the indwelling of His Holy Spirit), to help the pious, and in the future to do God’s will with respect to judgment.  Basically, they are servant messengers of God.  So when the angel answered, it was because God gave Gabriel an answer to give.

Consider the compassion of God.  Rather than just assigning a duty to Mary and expecting her to do it (like a slave), God brings Himself near to Mary and has compassion upon her.  He treats her like a beloved child.

He listened.  He answered.

God understood that the news would be hard for Mary to hear and to understand.  Had the answer been informationally complete, it would have overwhelmed her.  It would be too hard for any human being to understand.  It is reminiscent of Jesus’ words to His disciples in John 16:12, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.”

The virgin conception was not part of the Jewish expectation.  It stood in stark contrast to the pattern of humanity since Creation.  So God unfolded the mystery in beautiful and remarkably simple terms.  You can hear His love as an undercurrent, knowing that even the smartest among us is incapable of making what is supernatural into something rational.

With gentleness and compassion, He answered.

What is hard to understand in your life today?

Is there anything you’re finding difficult to bear?

How might knowing that God hears your prayers, knows your confusion, has compassion upon your fears, and also that He answers minister to you in this moment?

Luke 1:³⁴ And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”  (ESV) 

Out of the million possible answers to her question, the angel responds simply and factually with the most outrageous claim since “Let there be light.” The response is actually far more outrageous than informative.  Today, enjoy this photo from Hubble, consider the wonder of creation, the new miracle of the Incarnation, and let the words of Scripture spoken to Mary speak for themselves:

Luke 1:³⁵ And the angel answered her,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.   (ESV)

Photo from NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, more available at link above.

Fred Gailey: All my life I’ve wondered something, and now’s my chance to find out. I’m going to find the answer to a question that’s puzzled the world for centuries. Does Santa Claus sleep with his whiskers outside or in?

Kris Kringle: Always sleep with them out. Cold air makes them grow.

No offense to Mr. Gailey or Mr. Kringle from Miracle on 34th Street, but that’s not the question that’s puzzled the world for centuries.  The really puzzling question is the one that Mary asked.

How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

This is the last day for this series we’ll be looking at Mary’s question before exploring the angel’s answer in detail.  But, I think it’s instructive to continue to put ourselves in context of the annunciation.

Theologians are pretty assured that Mary was not expressing doubt as Zechariah did.  Beyond that general agreement, there’s diversity in why they think she asked that.  Had I been in Mary’s sandals, here are some questions that would form the back story of why I’d ask it:

• Virgins don’t get pregnant (*and stay virgins).  So does God want me to do it with Joseph?
• Virgins don’t get pregnant*.  Does God think I’ve already been with Joseph?
• Virgins don’t get pregnant*.  Is God talking about later on…like after I’m married?
• Virgins don’t get pregnant*.  Am I going to have to do it with someone else?
• Virgins don’t get pregnant*. I’ve never done this before.  Is it going to hurt?
• Virgins don’t get pregnant*.  My parents are never going to believe this, are they?
• Virgins don’t get pregnant*.  Is this just a weird dream?
• Virgins don’t get pregnant*.  Who on earth is going to believe this?

God’s answer to Mary will address these things. 

The truth is that virgins don’t get pregnant (and remain virgins), apart from a miracle. 

What happens next is a miracle. 

It defies natural explanation.  It has divided people.  It is the real question that has puzzled the world ever since it was first uttered.  Miracles, true miracles, cannot be truly explained apart from God.

Jon, you’re absolutely right that Bill O’Reilly is wrong: Christianity is not a philosophy.  (Readers: follow the link to The Daily Show.)  I’d give you an A in philosophy of who Jesus claimed to be.  O’Reilly might need to repeat the class if he’s going to call himself Christian.  If Jesus is just a philosopher of historic significance and not the Son of God in O’Reilly’s world, Bill might not be at the after-party either.  The two of you can still pal around together, debating who won the War on Christmas, although it will be pretty obvious that God did.

But you’re right:  Christmas seems everywhere.  A Santa-fied version at least.   There is no War on Christmas in the secular sense.  No one is trying to ban snow, the colors red and green, overplaying “Santa Baby,” or around-the-clock showings of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

No one really ought to care what Lincoln Chafee’s tree is called.  It’s a cheerfully lighted evergreen tree, not an object of worship.  Well, at least it’s not supposed to be…

Now, it seems to me that you’re a deep-thinkin’-kind-of-man and I’d bet there’s a serious fold in your fabric of humor, so I have a serious question for you:

Is there a real war being waged worldwide against being Jewish in a secular/cultural sense or is it only in a religious sense?

Jon, could it be that the reason you don’t see Christmas as under attack is because you know religious Jews have long been targets?  Religious Christians are newcomers to the persecution party.

It’s easy to be popular as “Jewy Jewman” (your Sternism) who makes Jewishness cool in a secular sense.  But the minute one displays devout religious Judaism–thud!  Inclusion on the guest list at parties becomes less frequent, unless I suppose it’s a Bris or a Bar mitzvah or something having to do with dreidels or huts.

Cultural Christianity is everywhere and materialism is alive and well, too.  Who doesn’t like dressing up and going out to a party knowing that you have the next day off as a federal holiday?  But bring Jesus to the party and suddenly, it makes a person pretty unpopular.  I know the awkward silence that follows when people ask, “So what do you do?” and you respond, “I’m trained as a pastor.”  Everyone suddenly needs a refill.

Ironically, the area in which you and Mr. O’Reilly agree is this: it’s the teachings that made the man Jesus notable  (whether as a moral teacher or philosopher).  It’s really not that after his martyrdom Jesus “got better.” Not that He’d brag about it, but as God, He always was better.  There’s more to this man Jesus than ever met the eye.

On a human level, there is only one answer to the question in the Gospel of Luke 1:34:

How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

Science’s only possible answer is “Impossible.”  It simply couldn’t happen–if there is no God.  It’s why a Christless Christmas poses no problem for secular culture.  God–like Elvis–has already left the building and has equal probability of showing up again. 

There is another answer to Mary’s question though–one that includes God.  And that’s why you’re right: Christianity is a religion.

Take the theo (theos, God) out of theology and all you’re left with is –logy (a bunch of words to study…like Mr. O’Reilly’s philosophy).  Jesus–more than philosopher or moral teacher–belongs at Christmas because Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us.”

For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)

There is no pregnant pause after the angel finishes his five point message on the Messiah.  Mary just blurts out the question that has been forming all the while.

How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34)

The echo of this question has resounded throughout history.

Logic or Mystery?  This question has been the crux of faith since Mary first asked it.  The virgin conception of Christ is so important that without it, Christianity ceases to be.  If Jesus was just another run of the mill human, then He isn’t God.

The idea of the virgin conception is foundational to Christianity.  In fact, it’s fundamental.

In 1909, Lyman Stewart financed the publishing of a set of essays that would change the American religious landscape.  The Fundamentals: A Testimony To The Truth was a set of 90 essays in 12 volumes published from 1910 to 1915.   Initially, they were merely designed to affirm orthodox Protestant beliefs and these essays were to be sent free of charge to vocational and lay Christians.  The Fundamentals rapidly became a lightning rod for criticism by the journalistic world resulting in giving us one of the great pejorative terms of the 20th century and beyond: Fundamentalist.

In 1920 Curtis Lee Laws, editor of the Northern Baptist paper The Watchman-Examiner, coined the word Fundamentalists to describe those “who still cling to the great fundamentals and who mean to do battle royal” in order to protect what they saw as central tenets of the Christian faith.

Within 60 years, the term fundamentalist had become a synonym for blind ignorance, opposition to the spread of modern scientific knowledge and intellectual advancement, and is now applied to many different religions but always with the same unfair flavor of ignorant zealot.

Ninety essays (in 12 volumes) were probably a bit excessive which may have contributed to their ridicule.  However, among those 90 essays, we can discern five foundational doctrinal beliefs shared by Christians of diverse backgrounds.  One of these is the virgin conception, sometimes referred to as the virgin birth.

In the horizontal flow of scientific evidence of how conception occurs, there was a singular break. 

The virgin conception: science cannot test or prove it.

History cannot empirically verify it through the convergent observations of the past.

Reality–as observed by billions of people since the beginning of time–cannot explain it.

This is why it is a crux of faith.

It’s not that Christians are fools who deny both science and history.  We are not stupid, anti-intellectuals who stare at information with a blank vacuity incapable of understanding a vast pile of evidence.  Rather, we look at the history of the world and scientific understanding as a horizontal line of human existence and yet, we see more fully.  We see with spiritual sight and therefore, we see God’s underscoring it all.

This line of human existence doesn’t go back infinitely, both science and history agree with Christianity on this one.  If God could give us the first Adam, God could give us the last Adam, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  It’s beyond scientific.  Its roots are firmly established in historical antiquity before time began.  It’s the crux of faith.

1 Corinthians 15: 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. 50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Luke 1:31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

His kingdom “will never end” is the fifth Christological reference in just two verses.  To Mary and to the faithful Jews of her day, these five descriptors could mean only one thing: Messiah.  It harkens back to King David.

Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ (2 Samuel 7:16)

But Mary was not an uninformed woman when it came to the promises of God.  Underscoring all the truths about God and His mercy, the Messianic expectation was that His kingdom will never end.  This idea is affirmed in many places in Scripture, but one of the most dramatic depictions can be found in the writings of the prophet Daniel.

Daniel 7:13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Mary–and faithful Jews like her–were all looking forward to the Advent of Messiah in a single dimension–a single point in time.   They were looking forward to the kingdom that will never end, but still living in a world limited by death; a world still infused with the full curse of sin; and a world in which humans were like sheep going astray.  Our patterns of life involved following our own ways, worshiping our own gods resembling our self-interests, and too often handcrafting our actions with pride as the motivating influence.

What these faithful Jews of the first century lacked in perspective cannot be blamed on anything other than needing fuller understanding of the ways and Word of God and how it all required the Cross.  Sin had to be dealt with and it’s why Messiah came—period.  Those like Mary were looking for Messiah, but they didn’t stop to fully consider that an eternal kingdom filled with sinful people would be more like hell than heaven.

This is why Messiah’s Advent must be telescoped to a beginning in which sin would be dealt a death-blow, and a Second Advent, a return of Christ to usher in a kingdom that was finally free from the stain of sin, exhibits God’s mercy and love, and focuses all worship on God alone.  Messiah had to be different than just one man born as any other man.  The mystery of how and why God would send His Son in this way was surprising and shocking.

The faithful Jews of Mary’s day were expecting Messiah. 

They just didn’t expect Him to arrive in the way He did.

We, on the other side of the Incarnation, look for the return of Christ–His Second Advent–with the same eager anticipation.  He will come with the clouds of heaven to gather His faithful followers of all ages to join Him in this eternal kingdom: the kingdom that will never be destroyed.

Warning:  I revised yesterday’s devotional for clarity purposes—just to make sure that no one attributes Jesus’ conception to anything other than the virgin conception recorded in Scripture.   

In my effort to put myself in Mary’s sandals and think about what may have been going through her mind, I mentioned the biological father of Jesus wasn’t the point of “his father David.”  It was pointing to the Messiah coming from the Davidic line (from which both Mary and Joseph were descended).

When we come to the text, we must remember we stand on the other side of the Incarnation.  Therefore we know the Incarnation is a mystery and that God did a surprising, new thing.

Mary, however, was living it.

She was present on the before and during of the Incarnation, not just on the after side, as we are.

For her, it could have been logical or mystifying.  Logic always makes more sense than mystery.  Logic would have involved Joseph since he’s the one to whom she was already betrothed.

Think about it: in all of Mary’s life (and in all of the history about which she knew), God had never brought about a baby in anything other than the normal reproductive way.  Even Adam and Eve weren’t created as babies, but fully grown reproductively capable adults.

The human mind is an amazing thing.  I picture Mary rapidly adjusting puzzle pieces of information, trying to make sense of what the angel was saying.  Particularly that “with child” part.

Meanwhile the angel continues speaking: “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever… (Luke 1: 32-33b)

This is the fourth hint that the baby the angel is talking about will be the Messiah and further confirmation now that he will be a King.  Forever, however, is a long time.  Would this baby live forever or would he be the beginning of a new dynasty that would always be from David and the house of Jacob, the chosen people?

Mary would have been hearing and absorbing and trying to make sense of all these things.  Logical or mystifying?  The more information the angel gives, the more the mystery deepens.