A Thrill of Hope for Those Who Believe
December 7, 2025
Preached by Ron Smith
Scripture Reading
Luke 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
If you have you ever wondered what Mary’s house would have looked like when the angel came to visit her, wonder no longer. You can go and visit it in a town in Italy called Loreto. It has been preserved inside of a church. How do we know for sure that it is indeed the house of Mary, well we don’t. But the story goes that angels picked it up and flew it 1000s of miles from Nazareth to Italy. Kind of hard to believe, isn’t it? Foolish and ridiculous even.
At the same time, it is not lost on me that we are about to talk about a virgin having a child. That’s kind of hard to believe. There are things in life that God does or is calling us to do which are unexplainable, hard to understand, hard to believe. Will we trust in God when it all seems impossible? This could be trying to understand the miracles we read about in the Bible, especially in light of modern science. It could be trying to put into practice the teachings of Christ like the call to forgive as he has forgiven us even when people have hurt us so badly. How can I do it, it seems so impossible. It could be thinking about how God will maintain his promises that we have in his word. What does it mean that God is with me when life is crashing down around me? These things can be difficult to understand. We want to know how the unexplainable can be explained. We want to know how what seems impossible can become possible.
We have an example of this right here in this story. Mary wants to know how she, a virgin, will be able to conceive and give birth to a son. Wouldn’t you want to know? At best it is a genuine question we have and not a lack of faith. At worst, we just simply have a hard time believing that nothing is impossible with God. Science says, this can’t happen. How will we respond? Do we believe God can do the impossible?
Let’s look at this incredible story, the story of what we call the annunciation. The announcement made by Gabriel that Mary would give birth to Jesus. This story pushes us to see that God has a plan, and even if it seems that the plan is crazy or too difficult to accomplish, nothing can stop his plan, and so, we need to believe it and get on board with his plan.
Let’s begin by looking at God’s plan.
God has a plan
As we saw last week, Israel was a people in waiting. They were waiting for the birth of a special child that would crush sin and evil. And the first ray of hope that God was indeed about to send that child came in the angel announcing the birth of John the Baptist. His mission in life was to prepare the way for this child. Prepare the way of the Lord.
And now the story intensifies and we see not just a ray of hope, but the blazing sun of hope as the birth of Jesus is announced by the same angel. There is a contrast that is set up between how the birth of John was announced and now how the birth of Jesus is announced. In both the angel Gabriel was sent by God to deliver the message. But this time, instead of being sent to the big and important city of Jerusalem, he is sent to a small insignificant village in Galilee called Nazareth. And he is not sent to a priest or someone holding important status in society, but rather to an ordinary young lady. He’s not sent to an older married couple trying to have kids, but to a virgin betrothed to be married. That just means that she was in a legally binding agreement to be married but her husband, Joseph, had not yet taken her into his house.
Now all of that could cause us to think that this story is less important than the previous. But actually, it is part of the pinnacle of God’s revelation to man. The message Gabriel has for Mary will change the course of human history.
Gabriel greets her, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (28). Mary is startled by the greeting. There must have been some fear in her instant reaction, because Gabriel graciously reassures her. She has found favor with God. She has found grace with God. Not because there was grace already in her, or that she has done amazing things to earn it. No, because of the unmerited, sovereign choice of God. She has no need to be afraid.
Then we come to this all-important life altering message in verses 31-33.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
We see first of all that Mary is going to have a son. She is instructed to name him Jesus, which means God saves.
Next, Gabriel begins to describe this child that will be born. He will be great. Not great in the eyes of God, not great in the eyes of man, but he will be great in and of himself. He will be called the Son of the Most High. Not because he has done something to earn this title, but because by nature, from birth he is the Son of the Most High.
Then we make it to perhaps the most important part of Gabriel’s message. The Lord will establish him as king. He will give this child the throne of his father David. If you are new to Christianity, or do not understand much about it, this might be a bit confusing. What does David’s throne have to do with anything?
David was the greatest king who ruled over Israel in the OT. What sets David apart from the other kings, was that he was a man after God’s own heart. That’s the way the Bible describes him.
What’s important for our purposes here this morning is that God made a promise to David. Listen to the words that God spoke to David (2 Samuel 7:12, 16):
When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom… 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’
This is an incredibly important promise. David’s dynasty will last forever. And here in Luke, Gabriel is saying that Jesus is the one who will fulfill this promise. But notice a difference. David was told that his descendants would reign. There would always be a son of David who would take up the throne. But what Gabriel says of Jesus is, “He will reign forever over the house of Jacob.” He will reign. Jesus himself will reign.
And, “of his kingdom there will be no end.” Jesus’s kingdom will last forever. Let that both challenge you and comfort you. Challenge you because if this is true, if Jesus reigns now, this is an incredible claim to authority. It is ultimate authority. You need to surrender to him. Stop holding on to whatever it is you are holding on to, and grab hold of him.
If you have surrendered to him, then let this promise comfort you. He reigns. Despite the chaos and evil you see all around you in this moment, you serve the One who has all things under control. Live your life in accordance with his kingdom rule and under his watchful care.
Now, if Jesus is to be great, if he is to be the Son of the Most High, and if he will reign forever, we must conclude that there is something different about this child to be born to Mary. This is God’s plan.
But there’s a problem. Maybe God’s plan won’t work. Can his plan be stopped?
Nothing can stop God’s plan
There are at least two obstacles to God’s plan that Gabriel’s visit to Mary brings to light. One has to do with what we just looked at – God was giving Jesus the throne of David. Why is this a problem? Because there was no one on the throne of David at this time. The last Davidic king that reigned over Israel had died hundreds of years prior to this. In other words, it seems God has not kept his promise to Daivd. It seems like a promise that had failed.
But what we need to see is that when God made that promise to Daivd, he was not thinking of merely an earthly kingdom. He had in mind the kingdom of heaven. The fact that there was a “pause” in the promise, is no problem at all. God has patience. God is working a plan that is far grander and majestic than we can ever imagine. God would maintain his promise by raising up a descendent of David and reestablishing his throne. And this is in fact what we see happening here.
But, there is a bigger obstacle.
Look at verse 34.
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
Well, that’s a pretty big problem. We have already been told by Luke that Mary is a virgin. In fact, this is the third time that it has been brought to our attention. There is no doubt about it. The whole point of this story is that Mary was going to be giving birth to Jesus as a virgin.
Do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus was born of a virgin? The thing that sets this story apart from the story of angels carrying the house of Mary to a city in Italy is that this is divine revelation. God is saying that he is going to bring the Savior of the world into the world by the means of a virgin birth. This is no folklore. This is no fairy tale. It is part of the very word of God. And God’s word is trustworthy.
But the question remains, how? That’s Mary’s question. How will this be? How will God overcome this big obstacle?
Verses 35-37
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Something miraculous was going to take place by the Holy Spirit. This child would be conceived by God himself. God will overshadow Mary.
This is not to be equated to the Greek mythologies where a god would have sexual relations with a human woman and produce a special human being. Such as Zeus and Alcmene having Hercules. The language Luke uses is not in any way sexual.
No, this is something different all together. In some way, God the Father through the power of God the Holy Spirit, would cause Mary to conceive God the Son. This child would be the God-man. Fully God, fully man.
This will not be any ordinary human descendent sitting on the throne of David. That is why Jesus will reign forever.
And to offer a kind of proof that this will happen, Gabriel lets Mary know that her barren relative Elizabeth is pregnant.
Nothing can stop God’s plan because nothing is impossible for God! Think about all God has done up until this point in the story of the Bible. Creation, Parting of the Red Sea, Goliath, Fiery Furnace, the many battles where Israel’s defeat was certain, but God did something miraculous giving them the victory. What about your own life? What are the impossible things that God has done for you?
Virginity will not stop the plan of God. Our God is the God who does the impossible. We might not understand how, we might not see a way forward, we might be confused, we might even be in disbelief. But know this, the plan of God will not be thwarted.
So, where does this leave us? We need to believe and get on board with God’s plan!
Get on board with God’s plan
Look again at verse 38:
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Mary serves as a great example for us. All through this episode she really does stand out. Even her question, “how will this be, since I am a virgin,” is a question of faith. She is not questioning if it can happen or even insinuating that it is impossible. She is more like, “Alright, sounds good to me. How will it happen? How are we going to do this?” She believes!
Unfortunately, our Catholic brothers and sisters go too far here. They elevate Mary way too much. We see this in the interpretation of this entire passage. For example if we go back to the greeting that Gaberiel gives Mary, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (28), the Catholic interpretation leads to what has been termed the Immaculate Conception. In fact, tomorrow, December 8th, is the day that the Immaculate Conception is celebrated. It is not really big deal for us here in the States, but when I lived in Italy, it was a national holiday, and everything was shut down. But, who is being conceived? We are talking about Mary. It is a celebration of Mary being conceived without sin. How do they get there? Well, “favor with God” could also be translated “full of grace.” Thus, Mary has been uniquely filled with God’s grace in such a way that she was born without sin and kept from sin so that she could bear the Son of God. While I appreciate the effort to honor Mary, we don’t have to add to the Bible to get her the honor that the Bible already bestows on her.
Unfortunately, we protestants have gone the total opposite direction. We go to great lengths to show that she was just a plain ordinary person. We don’t appreciate that she has indeed played a special role in God’s plan of redemption.
Her final response brings the balance we need. “I am the servant of the Lord.” She recognizes that all of this happening, depends upon the Lord doing it. She had been chosen by God. God would cause her to conceive. She was being set apart by the will of God. And she was ready to make herself available to what the Lord wanted to do in and through her.
Are you available to the Lord? Are you ready to follow Mary’s example and throw your arms up and say “here am I, use me to do your will.” What’s keeping you from saying yes?
It might be unbelief. You might be saying this is just too much. “A virgin gave birth?” But when you recognize who this child is – God in the flesh – it is easier to see why it needed to happen this way. God was entering the world to deal with a problem that only God could deal with. He was coming to bring his kingdom and destroy the power of darkness that seeks to keep people away from his grace and goodness. Something miraculous needed to happen.
Maybe what’s keeping you from surrendering is that you have a hard time believing that all things are possible with God. The difficulties you are facing in life are insurmountable. You don’t see anyway forward. Problems in your marriage, problems with your kids, problems with your parents, with your job, with classmates, sickness. We are surrounded by problems. Can God do anything about it? Can he work his plan or has it been stopped? God will carry his plan forward. He can do the impossible. It might not be the way you want him to. But as he does it, he will give you the grace and the strength you need.
Surrender to the one who reigns, and who will reign forever. He has a plan that he is working out. He wants to use you. You might not always understand his ways. You may even need to repent of disbelief. But what seems impossible to us, is possible with him. Nothing can stop his plan. Believe him and get on board with what he is doing.