#DailyDevotion The LORD Saves Us With The Impossible
Luke 129Startled by what he said, she tried to figure out what such a greeting might mean. 30“Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her. “God has chosen to bless you. 31You see, you will conceive and have a son, and you will call Him JESUS. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. And the Lord will give Him the throne of His ancestor David. 33He will be King over the people of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will never end.” 34“How can this be?” Mary asked the angel. “I’ve had no relations with a husband.” 35“The Holy Spirit will come over you,” the angel answered her, “and a power of the Most High God will overshadow you. And for that reason the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. 36Now there is also Elizabeth, your relative. She is old, but she too conceived. People call her childless, but she’s now in her sixth month. 37There is nothing that God will not be able to do.” 38“I am the Lord’s servant” Mary answered. “Let it happen to me as you said.” Then the angel left her.
Gabriel now tells Mary why she is blessed. Her blessedness and gracefulness is not innate to her being but rather it is simply God’s choice of her for his plan. Her blessedness and gracefulness is in this, that she would be the mother of God. Yahwah was going to be conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit. He would be her son. As her son he would inherit the throne of his now father David and as the God-Man fulfill his promise to David to have a descendent sit on his throne forever. He will be the Son of God and Son of David.
Now one can hardly blame Mary for her questions as an angel is bearing this news to her. Like her, we also wonder, “How can this be?” It is through the operation of the Holy Spirit, who like the Father and the Son is also truly God. Because the Holy Spirit is the one causing Mary to conceive as a virgin, he son would we called the Son of God. Jesus, Yahweh Saves, is the Holy One of God predicted by the prophets.
It seems the LORD has a penchant for making barren women pregnant. First Sarah, the Rebecca, Judah’s wives, Elizabeth (Mary’s cousin) and well, a virgin is just as barren as any other barren woman. Like Sarah, to whom the LORD said, “Is anything too wonderful for the LORD,” Gabriel tells Mary, “There is nothing that God will not be able to do.” This is an interesting thread in the salvation story because Jesus would later say concerning our salvation, “but for God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19:26, Mark, 10:27, Luke 18:27)
Just as impossible as a woman who is ninety or a virgin conceiving (and remaining a virgin) and bearing a child, so too, it is impossible for humans to save themselves. We cannot with our own power, reason or strength, with our mind, spirit or soul, do anything to save ourselves. It is impossible. But not with God. With God all things are possible. With God you can and have been saved by Jesus, who is not just man but is Yahweh Saves, Immanuel (God with us), The Holy One, The Son of God, and David’s Greater Son. He can save you and he has saved you. He became the atoning sacrifice for your sin. He became your righteousness and holiness before God.
Heavenly Father, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to be born of the Virgin, to take on our flesh and in our flesh make atonement for our sin. Grant us faith to believe this so we may have his righteousness and holiness for our salvation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.