| Continuing with the conception and birth of Jesus Christ, we come to Luke 1:36-38. God's messenger, Gabriel came to Mary and relayed the message that she would conceive and give birth to God's son. She asked how this would happen considering she had not been with a man yet. After explaining it to her in more detail he gave more information in verse 36, "And behold thy cousin Elizabeth hath also conceived a son..." The word "conceive" is the same word used in verse 31. This is significant because both John and Jesus Christ began to be formed in their mothers' wombs after conception. The only difference was that because God was not a man, He provided seed by way of a miracle. It should be noted that in both cases the father was distinctly independent of the son. Jesus Christ was and still is God's son. There's no two ways about it. We move on to verse 37 where Gabriel made the following declaration, "For with God nothing shall be impossible." As important as these words stand, they have lead to great confusion. Imagine the stumbling block a young believer faces after reading Hebrews 6:18, "...in which it is impossible for God to lie." Why the apparent contradiction? In Luke 1:37, the word "nothing" is a bad translation of an earlier known Greek word that meant "no word." The word "impossible" came from another word that meant "void of power." When we insert the more accurate translations it reads as follows, "For with God, no word shall be void of power." Gabriel exhorted her to have confidence and trust in God's word because His word is never void of power. What a tremendous truth for all God's people to learn from. Finally we come to Mary's humble and meek response, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word." When God gave His word, she had the humility to receive it. It would have been at that time that Jesus Christ was conceived in her womb. Notice how she already had the humble heart to receive. This says a great deal about her parents. Jesus Christ also learned obedience from his mom and stepfather. We can see this in Matthew 26:39 where he meekly said, "...not as I will, but as thou wilt." God chose only the best to rear His son. |
| Mary's Response...Luke 1:36-37 By Timothy W. Burnett |