How shall this be, since I know
not a man? (Luke 1:34)
The question is really quite
revealing. It was essentially this: 'How is it possible that I will conceive
when I have never had intimate relations with any man?' In other words, Miryam
had not yet become sexually active; not with Yosef, to whom she was betrothed,
nor with any other man.
The answer was that God, the Most
High, whom many Jews referred to as their Father in Heaven, would enable Miryam
to conceive and bear the child. The angel's metaphoric language was that
"the power of the Most High" would "overshadow" the young
woman. The Holy Spirit would first come upon her to prepare and sanctify her
for the divine event, as recorded by Luke:
The Holy Spirit shall come upon
you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you. Therefore, the Holy
One born of you shall be called the Son of God! (Luke 1:35)
The details of just how the Most
High would cause Miryam to conceive were not related by the angel. The topic of
that miraculous conception has become a discussion for the ages, but there is
not a soul on earth who can really say how it happened. Its reality, however,
was confirmed to Miryam with the angel's parting words - words that have become
memorized by millions:
With God nothing shall be
impossible! (Luke 1:37) (Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Stone Manger: The Untold Story
of the First Christmas [2d ed.; 2011], 356 of 2025; cf. "Afterword #1:
The Concept of Virgin Birth," Locations 1794 to 1838 of 2025 where
Chadwick disagrees with the thesis Mary was not a virgin at the birth of Jesus and
Jesus was conceived through sexual intercourse)
Further Reading:
