Characters at the Cradle: Mary, Gabriel's Message

by David Chadwick

Gabriel’s initial appearance to Mary left her “greatly troubled” as she tried to figure out why he said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” The angel went on to tell Mary not to fear and explained that she had found favor with God.

Mary settled into the news that she would bear a son and would call him Jesus. He would be the Son of God and the Savior of the world. Gabriel went on to say that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her. With every word that she held in her heart, her fear turned to faith.

After a powerful proclamation of the news of the coming King, Gabriel gave Mary an “Oh, by the way.” What did he tell Mary, you might ask? He said, and I paraphrase, “Oh, by the way, your cousin Elizabeth, in her old age, is also with child.” He told her that Elizabeth, too, was pregnant with a son and was just six months ahead of Mary. If you remember, Elizabeth was barren and she had been totally healed!

Can you imagine Mary trying to process all this information?

In those moments following Gabriel’s message, Mary had to contemplate that she was a virgin who would be having a child who was the Son of the Most High God. She also had to wrap her head around the fact that her cousin Elizabeth was also going to have a miracle child as well. In Elizabeth’s old age, she found herself miraculously pregnant.

Without Gabriel telling her, Mary could not have known of her cousin’s pregnancy because Elizabeth had been in solitude and quiet for five months. In those quiet early months of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, without a soul ever knowing, promise was growing, hope was arising, and promise was flourishing. Every word of the story God was writing would point to the ultimate hero, Jesus, the Savior of the world.

I wonder if Mary had enough time to even contemplate all that was happening in those moments. Do you think she had the wherewithal to recognize God’s redemptive purpose for all of mankind? Did she feel the anticipation swelling inside of her? Was she overjoyed? Was she stunned? I’m sure there was a mixture of many emotions!

Whether she fully knew it or not, Mary was watching the early stages of God’s plan of salvation begin to unfold before her very eyes!

Characters at the Cradle: Mary, The Divine Conception

by David Chadwick

There are many holy and purposeful connections that took place between the Creator of the universe and his creation leading up to Jesus’s entrance into the world. Join me as we continue to look at some of the special characters at the cradle.

I love the significance of both Gabriel and Joseph as characters at the cradle. But today, I want to place our focus more specifically on Mary, who played the very special role as mother of the Savior of the world.

I left you with a cliffhanger yesterday, thinking about the profound question Mary asked after hearing from Gabriel of the coming Savior. Mary said to Gabriel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

The answer: it was only done by the power of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, who is also known as the silent sovereign.

Mary’s conception as a virgin is the reality that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. It is one of the most profound mysteries of the Christian faith. Some false theologians have tried to downplay the importance of the Virgin Birth. They have implied that it is not an essential doctrine of the Christian faith. Hear me loud and clear, my dear friends, and I don’t use this phrase lightly, but this is a false teaching. Anyone teaching this could not be more wrong, and their teaching is heretical. You should never ascribe to it as a follower of Jesus. It’s a biblical teaching. The early church’s credal statements affirmed it. So should we if we are faithful followers of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary’s humanity to conceive a holy child in her womb. Jesus, the Son of God, would be different. He would live as a perfect human and the Savior of the world. Perfect God and perfect human at the same time. A mystery, for sure, but it’s what the Bible clearly teaches.

Jesus’s perfect holiness came from a divine conception. He had to be perfectly human in order to die for our sins, but perfectly God in order to forgive us for our sins. The Incarnation, God coming to earth as a man, paved the way for the greatest story ever told!

As we wrap up the miracle of divine conception, do you notice the Trinity here? The Father, the Most High God, ordained the entrance of Jesus, his Son, who was then created by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all present in the divine conception!

Characters at the Cradle: Mary, An Introduction to Gabriel, Mary, and Joseph

by David Chadwick

This week, we will continue to look at some more characters whose lives had profound intersections with the cradle of Jesus. Over the past two weeks, we studied Zechariah and Elizabeth.

This week, we study Mary, the mother of Jesus. But in order to understand Mary, we have to understand Gabriel and Joseph as well.

After Gabriel visited Zechariah with the amazing news that his wife would give birth to a baby named John (the Baptist), God gave him a second assignment. He told him to go visit a young virgin girl named Mary in the town of Nazareth in Galilee. She was betrothed to a man named Joseph who was from the house of David. In those days, the betrothal time was a set apart year-long period during which a couple could get to know one another before marriage.

In order to fully understand the significance of Mary and Joseph, you must know these two important biblical truths. First, Mary was a virgin. She had to be a virgin in order to fulfill the Isaiah 7:14 prophecy. The Christ child had to be conceived by the Holy Spirit to a virgin woman in order to bypass the way that Adam’s sin was transmitted through humanity ever since the Fall in Genesis 3. Secondly, Joseph had to be in the household of David in order to fulfill the prophecy that the Messiah would come from David’s lineage (Jeremiah 23:5).

Joseph, too, is an important part of the story. Gabriel appears to him in Matthew’s gospel to assure him that Mary is impregnated by the Holy Spirit. He obeyed and must have been a great father.

Gabriel, the same angel that appeared to Zechariah, also appeared to Mary saying, “Greetings, O favored one.” He announced the coming Messiah, telling Mary she would have a son named Jesus, which means Savior, for he will save the world of its sins. Jesus would be the Son of the Most High God. He would reign over Israel and God’s Kingdom.

Mary was a Godly woman, likely a young teenager, who was specifically chosen by God to carry out a very important mission. She was not perfect, as Catholics assume, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But I do think she should be honored more than many Protestants tend to honor her.

Much like Zechariah, Mary was troubled, startled, and overwhelmed. Mary wondered, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” This question is profound, and I will help answer it tomorrow. Stay tuned.