“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
Luke 1:34
Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah 7:14) to the house of David, becomes reality in the New Testament, when the angel of the Lord visit’s Mary, and tells her, “…You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him, Jesus…. (Luke 1:31).”
Talk about receiving impossible news! Mary’s response to this improbable news is that rhetorical question, “How will this be, since I am a virgin (Luke1:34)?” From where Mary was standing, the news that she would be the mother of the Savior of the world was incomprehensible. How could something so amazing, so unbelievable happen to her or through her? She was just a simple village girl, and a virgin at that. What the angel told her was quite incredulous.
This season of Advent is filled with the same kind of incredulous news. God, through his word, invites us to accept that the gift of Christ’s birth in a manger is really meant for us (you) and that it signals a future full of hope. Yes, just like Mary, we (you) have been picked out of anonymity and out of our old sinful nature and have been made the object of God’s favor. The Presence of Immanuel means that God is with us (you).
In this season where the weariness and fragility of life is so evident; where hope seems quite dim, God calls us to embrace an impossible hope. “How will this be?” you might ask. We can hope, not in what we see or cannot see, but in what Christ has already done for us and in what he will do for us. Yes, despite the weariness that surrounds us, and despite how bleak and hopeless the future may seem, we can be certain of an abundant and hopeful future, because that hope is secure in Christ. He has spoken it, and he will deliver it (Jeremiah 29:11). His name is still, “Jesus”, the “God of our salvation!” Think about how amazing this is!
Loving God, you give me more than I deserve, and I am blessed beyond measure. When the foundations begin to shake, even then, I will trust in you only, my hope and my salvation. AMEN.