TWO INCREDIBLE MIRACLES

I teach the Bible class at our church and our present study is a journey through the book of Luke. One of the unique things about this book is that Luke is the only Gentile writer of any of the books of the Bible. Secondly, Luke was a medical doctor and he brings a doctor’s attention to detail to his writing. There are other unique qualities to the book but I will leave those for you to discover.

I find the first chapter of Luke powerfully encouraging. Why? Because it is an illustration of God’s desire to give birth to His promises no matter what obstacles might be in the way.

We first meet Zacharias and Elizabeth. Zacharias, a priest, and his wife Elizabeth are childless and past their childbearing years. At a specific time, each division of priests that were direct descendants of Aaron went to Jerusalem to minister in the Temple. The divisions of priests were continually rotated in and out of these Temple responsibilities. On this visit, Zacharias was given the honor of burning the incense and then coming out of the Temple to bless the assembled crowd with the blessing of Numbers 6:24-26. To burn the incense and give the blessing was a once-in-a-lifetime event for a priest.

But God had something special in store for Zacharias and Elizabeth!

Zacharias is preparing to burn the incense when suddenly an angel appears and Zacharias is frightened. The angel tries to reassure him that he has come with the answer to a prayer request that he and his wife would have a child. The angel then explains that the child would be a prophet who would prepare the way for the Messiah, but Zacharias is frightened and the announcement does not seem to encourage him at all. He responds to the angel’s statement by saying, in essence, “Wait a minute, I’m an old man and my wife is past her childbearing years. This can’t be real!”

Gabriel responds to Zacharias by saying, “Your unbelief is not going to hold back this miracle. But you are not going to enjoy it like you should because you are going to be mute until the child is born.”

Scripture then tells us that Zacharias and Elizabeth went home after his days of service in the Temple were completed. Very soon Elizabeth became pregnant and this portion of “the miracle of chapter one” was on.

Now here is the second part of this miracle chapter. The first part tells the story of an older couple being given a miracle even though there was no possibility, in the natural, of it ever happening. Now the story goes to the opposite end of the life spectrum to a young girl who is a virgin. She is engaged (a marriage arranged by her father) but she has never known a man.

Gabriel, who appeared to Zacharias, now appears to Mary six months later. Gabriel announces to Mary that she is going to conceive and give birth to a son and His name will be Jesus. “He will be the Son of God!”

Mary responds in faith, whereas Zacharias had responded in unbelief. Mary responds just like a teenager. She says, in essence, “Wow, this is incredible! How’s this going to work?” The angel explains that the power of God would overshadow or cover her and she would supernaturally conceive.

The angel then says to Mary, as if to reassure her, that her relative Elizabeth has also conceived and will have a son. Mary would have known that Elizabeth was older and childless. I believe the angel was telling her this to let know her that she wasn’t alone in participating in this miracle and that God was birthing something very special. In other words, if God could give Elizabeth a miracle child, He could also give Mary a miracle child.

The angel then declares, “For nothing will be impossible with God” (1:37). Mary responds in faith to the angel’s announcement by saying, “I am God’s servant! Let His will be done in my life!” (1:38, my translation).

We really don’t understand how important Gabriel’s statement is to us. Gabriel has just finished his assignment of telling two women who couldn’t possibly birth a child in their present condition that they would indeed get pregnant. For both Elizabeth and Mary, this was naturally impossible, but Gabriel said, “Nothing will be impossible with God!”

This is more than a slogan, more than a faith-building statement! This should be the heartbeat of every child of God with a desire to be used of Him. It doesn’t matter whether you are old or young, “nothing is impossible with God!”

And we know the rest of these two stories. Elizabeth gave birth to John, who by prophecy had to come as the forerunner of the Messiah. Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.

I believe that one of the reasons these stories are told this way is to reinforce the understanding in us that nothing is impossible or too hard for the Lord. God sent the angel to both ends of the age spectrum to show us His desire to do the impossible for those who dare to believe. No one is too young and immature and no one is too old, too worn out to receive a miracle from God.

What promises has He made to you? What are you believing for?