Possibility

 December 14, 2024

““Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”” —Luke 1:30-34 

Gabriel’s announcement to Mary was pretty amazing. She was going to have a very special baby. “Son of the Most High…throne of David…his kingdom will never end.” All this apparently went right by Mary. All she heard was “you’re going to have a baby,” and all she thought was, “I’m a virgin.”

Skeptics have ridiculed the virgin birth, saying that is is a story concocted to cover up an illegitimate pregnancy. If your world-view is mechanistic, anything that smacks of the supernatural is inadmissible. But Christian teaching from the beginning has asserted the virgin birth of Jesus. Why? Three reasons:

1. It was the fulfillment of prophecy. Isaiah (7:14) said “the virgin will conceive and bear a son.”
2. It ensured the sinlessness and divinity of Jesus. As Mary’s son, he was human. From the Holy Spirit that overshadowed her, he was divine—God in human flesh.
3. It means God can supernaturally invade your life, too. No matter what your circumstances, God can step in, and when he does, amazing things can happen. Even to you.