“Therefore, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His Name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 7:14
Although we still look for supernatural signs, true faith begins and finds its fruition at the cattle crib in Bethlehem.
Mysterious. Miraculous. Majestic.
Such is but one way to describe what happened that night in “The House of Bread” when Heaven came down to earth. There was no spaceship from outer-space or fiery chariot from Glory to transport God’s “only-begotten” to the stable; yet, what happened there that time should evoke more wonder and awe within us than if they had.
“Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.”
The rational, naturalistic mind says “That’s impossible!” And, it begins citing scientific evidence to contradict such a possibility; yet, to those who view this blessed Event through eyes of faith, we can only bow our heads and whisper, “Glory to God the Father.”
Yes, from a normal, biological standpoint, a virgin birth is impossible—for it takes both the male and female chromosomes to create a human being. And, even if there’d been some quirk of “nature” and had been some sort of human parthenogenesis, Jesus would have had to be female because of the lack of the male chromosome.
That’s why our Manna says “Therefore, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign (Heb. ‘owth’—‘signal, omen, flag, beacon, evidence, token, miracle, etc.’).” He, the “God of the impossible” (Gen. 18:14; Lk. 1:37), chose to announce Jesus’ arrival in a most unusual—yea, miraculous—way to “confound the minds of the wise” even as He would later with the Cross and the empty Tomb (I Cor. 1:27).
Thus, it’s no accident that Gabriel fleshed things out a little bit for Mary that day when she asked “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” (Lk. 1:34)—i.e., “How can I give birth to a son since I’m still a virgin?” He knew she wasn’t questioning his message or God’s ability like Zacharias did (Lk. 1:18); she was simply asking for more light in her confusion, knowing God would not lead her to break His Law concerning premarital sex.
And, that’s why Gabriel replied, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow (Grk. ‘episkiazo’—‘to cast a shade upon, envelope in a haze of brilliancy, etc.’) you” (v.35a). God Himself. . .the same One Who has created us all. . .would perform a “consecrated conception” within Mary unlike any other before or since.
Oh, dear Pilgrim, doesn’t this evoke wonder and invoke praise within you?
It should.
And, doesn’t your heart thrill when you meditate on what happened that Night of all nights in Bethlehem? Again, it should.
Why not spend a few minutes right now quietly singing “O Holy Night” or “Silent Night” unto the Lord? And, then spend a few more minutes whispering, “Thank You, Lord Jesus.”
December 23, 2012
