“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.” Luke 1:31 NIV
Walter Liefeld states, “Luke presents the theology of the Incarnation in a way so holy and congruent with OT sacred history that any comparisons with pagan mythology seem utterly incongruous” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary [Zondervan], 8:829). While the virgin birth is clearly a miracle, there is no hint of God cohabiting with Mary. Rather, the Holy Spirit would “overshadow” her. It is the same word used for the glory of God resting upon the tabernacle (Exodus 40:35), and for the cloud overshadowing the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration (Luke 9:34). While there is a mystery here, the sense is that the awesome presence of the Holy Spirit would envelope Mary and miraculously cause her to conceive the Lord Jesus, who is eternally God and yet, from conception in Mary’s womb, fully human. Jesus had a human mother, but no human father. He is unique in all of history in that He is undiminished deity and perfect humanity united in one person. Neither Mary nor Elizabeth fully understood Jesus’ deity at this early point in time. Elizabeth refers to Mary as “the mother of my Lord” (Luke 1:43). By “Lord” she was referring to Jesus as the Messiah, and probably did not realize that the Messiah had to be divine. It later becomes clear that He is not just a human descendent of David and of Mary, but also fully divine. The Saviour had to be fully human, yet without sin of His own, to bear the sins of humanity. He also had to be fully God so that His sacrifice had infinite merit before God. We must affirm both Jesus’ humanity and His divinity as well as His virgin birth.
PRAYER THOUGHT
Lord Jesus, we affirm that You are the Son of God and the Son of Man.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord Jesus, as we declare You to be our Lord and Saviour, we affirm that You are truly the Son of God and the Son of Man. AMEN
INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)
Luke 3:9-14
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