Luke 1:34-37
Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” “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 holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
One of the central themes of Luke’s Gospel – indeed, of his two-volume work that includes both this Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles – is revealed in this brief passage.
Let’s first set the scene: Mary, a young maiden engaged to Joseph, is visited by an angel who tells her not only that she has found favor with God but that she will bear a child who will be God’s Son and the king of Israel. Luke tells us that Mary is perplexed, and we wondered if in this case “perplexed” also means “bowled over,” “blown away,” and perhaps “terrified.”
Whatever she might be feeling, she asks a question as simple as it is essential: “how can this be?” Her question has, of course, immediate and direct relevancy. Mary is a virgin. How, indeed, can she bear a child? But it might also describe more. How can this be, for I am plain and ordinary? How can this be, I don’t know anything about raising a king? How can this be, because I am mortal? How can this be?
Gabriel replies, describing the work of the Holy Spirit in and through and on Mary. But to be honest, I have no idea if that helps. What does it mean to have the Holy Spirit “come upon you” and the “power of the Most High overshadow you”? He then repeats his promise that her child will be holy and named as God’s own Son.
You wonder if perhaps Gabriel senses Mary’s continued state of perplexity and wonder, of fear and courage (courage, certainly, just to find her voice and offer her question to this divine messenger). You wonder if Gabriel senses all this and moves with intention from descriptions of the divine activity on a grand scale to a simpler assurance: Your relative Elizabeth is pregnant.
Here, at last, something more concrete. Concrete but equally wondrous – for Mary knows her cousin is old, much too old to bear a child. But she has. And if an old barren woman can conceive, then so also a young virgin.
Which is when Gabriel delivers his message, perhaps the message of this Gospel and the whole Bible: nothing is impossible with God.
Nothing.
Prayer: Dear God, remind us now and always that nothing is impossible with you, so that when you come into our lives and ask us to dare great things, we know that you are on our side and that, indeed, all things are possible. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Post image: “The Annunciation” by Fra Angelico (1387-1455)
As I reread this annunciation devotion something just occurred to me, an ordinary, not very deep thinker. When the Holy Spirit “came upon” Mary, it not only gave her the news that she, a virgin, would bear a child but also gave her the courage to accept the news – gave her the courage and strength to be the mother of a king, whatever that would mean.