“How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
— Mary, Luke 1:34
If you know me at all, you know how much I love the writings of the late Eugene Peterson. The man has pastored my soul for decades. In one of his perhaps lesser known works, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, he reminds us the birth of Messiah wasn’t the only miraculous birth in scripture, but it was the only one of its kind.
The eminent pastor turns our attention to pre-Advent scripture to briefly recount five miraculous births God was “critically and intimately involved in…”:
- Abraham and Sarah (Isaac)
- Manoah and unnamed wife (Samson)
- Boaz and Ruth (Obed)
- Elkanah and Hannah (Samuel)
- Zechariah and Elizabeth (John)
And here is how he worshipfully distinguishes the heart-staggering birth of King Jesus from those earlier birth events:
The work of God in the conception and birth of Jesus through Mary is continuous with these five previous “impossible” births, but it is also different…
How so? we wonder.
In the mothers ranging from Sarah to Elizabeth, a barren womb was the impossible condition to overcome; these women very much wanted a child. But in Mary the “impossible” condition is virginity: here there is no yearning for or expectation of a child.
Christ Plays In Ten Thousand Places, 55-6
Peterson quotes Raymond Brown (The Birth of the Messiah, p314), who opens to us the compelling thought of this being the first and only birth through agency of a human womb in which God took the initiative.
It was all God’s idea!
In Mary’s case, she was a virgin who had no thought of bearing a child at that time. It was unthinkable to her. Maybe someday but not at this stage of her life, and certainly not as an unmarried woman!
Her pregnancy was ALL God’s idea! He wasn’t answering the cry of a barren couple, he was answering
Himself,
His own heart,
His own yearning.
This is the heart of Advent. This is the miracle and mystery of Christmas hope. Here is the gospel: God from the start has sought you, not the other way around. You weren’t even aware of your longing but that God was already at work filling your womb, your inner cry, with his life.
When Mary visited her cousin to tell her the news of her divine pregnancy, Elizabeth called her “Blessed!”
Allow me to put an ❗️on this post by pulling from another author I greatly admire. Picking up on Elizabeth’s same exuberant emotion, Brennan Manning applies it to all of us who are caught in the thrall of Christmas grace:
You are blessed! God’s desire is for you. And Jesus is the incarnation of God’s furious longing. He is your supreme Lover. It’s true. You are blessed. Your soul’s winter is over. The snows are over and gone. Flowers are blooming inside of you. The season of joyful songs has come. To you. You are blessed! The love of God is folly. No one is excluded. All (really!) are called to the banquet table. Come, and be filled. You are blessed! You can pray like a child, and enjoy God. You are blessed! Heal, and be healed…Amen. Amen. Amen.
Brennan Manning, The Furious Longing of God
Selah, blessed and beloved!
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Nothing is impossible for God! I’m reminding myself of that now.Lifes problems have really come into my life.Both my parents almost died last year God miracles healed them.My mother is still sick at times and I long to do the best for her it’s in God’s hands.Ive been helping a few people to take away trauma and depression again in God’s hands.I have a couple health problems arthritis in my bones and teeth problems.Again I believe it’s in God’s hands.When I can’t manage things anymore it’s good to know God is burden by our struggles and problems.I forget to celebrate the journey he puts us in to get there.Again his ways our higher than ours and he has a plan and a purpose to give us peace,healing,and awesome plan for our lives .I’m excited to see what he’s gonna do
I love your heart, Laurie! Your faith inspires all of us who know and love you. What a gift you are to the body of Christ…thank you for your comment here. God bless you and Merry Christmas, dear one!
Beautiful grace… God leaning toward us just because He is disposed to do so….so grateful! Thank you for the beautiful Christmas bath of grace!
May the love of the only begotten Son lean into you and all your family this season, Kelli. May the fullness of the Godhead surround you and dance all around you and take pleasure in you! Merry Christmas love!
I’m gonna have to share that.
By all means, do, Jon! And merry Christmas to the Kirks!
Thank you so much for sharing yet another wonderful and insightful message surrounding Christ’s birth!!! May you and Sandy be enveloped by God’s great love and compassion during this time of the year.
May God’s peace fill your hearts .
What a beautiful benediction from you to us, Beth, thank you! May God’s love and favor shine all over your household as it did another blessed home all those many years ago. Merry Christmas love from us!