A Seemingly Impossible Announcement of the Birth of Jesus

Matthew Mouser

Advent '23 • Sermon • Submitted 6 months ago • Presented 6 months ago

Luke 1:26–38

Advent

Impossible

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As we enter the Christmas season, there is much to say about the first coming of our Lord. We could talk about the hope and joy that exist in believing in God. We could talk about the beauty of His humble birth. We could talk about the love that God has for us shown in sending His Son. But this morning I want to talk about what is possible with God when we think that it might be impossible. Billy Sunday, the baseball player turned evangelist once said, “We have a God who delights in impossibilities!”

There is likely nothing about this morning’s message that will be groundbreaking or surprising to us. In fact, even as we look at it from the perspective of Mary, you have probably heard Luke 1 discussed from her perspective. But what I hope to do is proclaim the beauty of this story and clearly present the gospel that is throughout this passage.

Read Luke 1:26-38

First, we need to establish why the announcement of the coming of our Lord seems impossible. An angel, Gabriel, comes to Mary. This is the second appearance of Gabriel in this first chapter of Luke. What makes this seem impossible to Mary is the mere fact of the rarity of the appearance of angels. She certainly was familiar with the messages from angels in Old Testament history but this appearance was frightening to her just as it was to Zechariah. But Mary, to this point, would have seen herself as an insignificant person in this day in time. Historically, God’s divine messengers would appear to prophets or servants of God like Moses, Abraham, Gideon, and many others. But at this point she is just a teenage girl, set to marry a man named Joseph.

Not only is the rarity of the appearance of the angel notable, the sheer fear that an angel puts on display was of great concern. This is typical for what we know of angels and is why most encounters with angels begin with a phrase similar to what we hear from Gabriel to Mary here: “Do not be afraid.”

Just his appearance is not only frightening. The greeting that Gabriel brings causes confusion and concern from Mary. She is overwhelmed in this moment as to what the angel could possibly have to say to her.

Before we move on to the main subject of Gabriel’s message, we must not skip over what verse 29 says about Mary, though. We are told that she is favored by God and that the Lord is with her. Just with these two things we learn about her character and commitment to God. Though young, she is a young lady who has dedicated herself to service to the Lord. She remained pure sexually and God smiled upon that! It is also notable that The angel informs her of the Lord’s presence. The word for favor comes from the Greek word, charis, which is the word we translate as grace which helps us to understand the presence of God here. Because the Lord has seen shed His gracious hand on her.

After we learn of Mary’s confusion about how she ended up in such a situation, Gabriel delivers the main idea of the message. He begins by offering comfort to her and reminding her that she is favored by God.

Then she finds out that a son will be conceived in her womb and will name Him Jesus. This by itself is an impossibility by itself. Beyond that, she is told that this son will be called the son of God and will rise to the throne of David and reign.

Wow, if an angel came to you and told you that it was ordained by God that your child was going to some day be the president of the United States, it would be tough to believe it. And the child would be conceived without the assistance of an earthly father. It would be ridiculous.

Mary’s response brings up that exact concern. She says, “how will this be since I am a virgin?” This is a completely valid concern. It is physically impossible for this to happen.

But Gabriel explains to her that the child will be conceived by the Holy Spirit. It is because the conception is of God that the child will be holy just as God is as well!

He goes on to give a similar example. Now, this example is not the exact same because Mary’s relative, Elizabeth, conceived in her old age. But it was unheard of, and seemingly impossible for a woman at this age to bear a child. So much so that many had claimed that she was barren.

But verse 37 is the pivotal point of this message. “Nothing is impossible with God.” To paraphrase, “Mary, this is going to happen despite the fact that you’ve never been with a man because God can accomplish anything when His will is concerned.”

There are two words that alter the meaning of this verse for us. The angel does not just say, “Nothing is impossible,” because we would know that is not true. Instead, Gabriel includes the fact that nothing is impossible with God! We can look back to verse 28 and remember that the angel said, “the Lord is with you!” When our God is involved, there is nothing that is impossible. If He wills it to happen, it will happen!

You see, this is how God has operated from the very beginning of Creation. The universe has never known something to be made out of nothing. There are times throughout the Old Testament where things that once seemed to be impossible happened. Yet, God made them happen.

Let’s put Jesus into the equation. It is seemingly impossible for a person to live here on earth without sinning. Yet, the Word of God tells us that Jesus accomplished this. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

But we go beyond that. We look at the weight of our sin and it seems impossible that forgiveness would be afforded to us. Yet, the God-man who knew no sin made a way for our sins to be atoned for. He died and was raised from the dead. This was not just a revival after His heart stopped. He was dead in the grave for three days. And though the world has never seen such a resurrection, He was victorious over the grave. “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

And how does the mother of our Lord respond to such amazing news? She said, “I am a servant of the Lord. If this is what the Lord would have to happen, let it be so!”

What powerful words. There are so many areas of life that we ought to apply this. When we are concerned with a medical diagnosis, we remember that nothing is impossible with God and we would be wise to submit ourselves to Him. When we feel conviction regarding sharing the gospel with a coworker, we remember nothing is impossible with God and we say, “use me Lord.” When we as a body of believers feel the Lord is calling us to go into a certain direction, we bow before Him as humble servants.

The Christmas story is not the beginning of an impossible story. Rather, it is the continuation of impossible circumstances that God has made possible.

Invitation: what situation are you faced with that seems impossible? Does forgiveness seem impossible? Maybe you’ve avoided submitting yourself to the Lord as Mary did. Decide right now this morning that you want to submit yourself to Him no matter the cost!