Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:30-35
The angel brought the good news of upcoming Jesus’ conception and His birth to Mary. Mary had no idea how this was going to happen since she had not been with any man. She only accepted and received the will of the Father. Interestingly, she did not even mention anything to the angel about her being engaged, and neither did she ask the angel to tell Joseph about this exchange. Mary’s pregnancy had the potential to alienate her from everyone and even put her life in danger. Her parents could have accused her of wrongdoing, and Joseph could have accused her of being with another man. In addition, her countrymen could have shunned her for claiming to carry God’s child. Furthermore, the religious people could have stoned her to death. There were many risks for Mary in accepting the call of God in her life. However, Mary trusted God’s plan and did not worry about all the “what ifs”!
The angel told her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her, and she would have a holy conception! Those statements were all future tense. Mary was informed about this beforehand, and she chose to humbly accept the call, believe the angel, and receive God’s plan for her life. This assignment was a great privilege for Mary, but it was also a great responsibility and a costly one for her.
As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything. Ecclesiastes 11:5
The only involvement that Mary had in Jesus’ conception was to accept the work of the Holy Spirit in her life. The King of Kings began to take on the human nature in her womb and grow in His stature and wholeness inside of her. Jesus was dependent on His mother to take care of Him while in the womb until such a time that He was ready to be born. The Holy one inside of her grew just like any other baby, but Mary knew hers was someone special who had come from on high!
Similarly, when we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit begins to dwell within us and brings life to our spirit man. Intellectually, we do the works of God and what happened inside of us, but we become born again and the new nature of God begins to grow in us. Mary knew she was a carrier of a Holy child. Do we know we are carriers of His holiness when we receive Him as our Savior and Lord!? Initially, we accept the change by faith. We know we have been touched by God but we don’t completely understand the extent and the ramifications of being born again! At the beginning, the transformation is not visible to others, and it looks like nothing has changed. However, over time when the new life grows inside of us and begins to take on the nature of God, our change will become more noticeable and profound!
The King of Kings who entered the world through Mary’s womb, desires to take His place in our hearts and in our lives. When we make Him the priority and give Him room to grow, we begin to see the magnificence of the gift entrusted to us by God! When we nurture the seed of life in us and recognize His holiness within us, we are compelled to live a sanctified life and to prepare a dwelling place for Him who is holy!
Image by Annalise Batista from Pixabay