Routine stuff with God

Gabriel told astonished Mary that she was going to be the mother of a king. “Oh, and by the way, Elizabeth (who is old and everyone said would never have children), is six months pregnant. That’s because there will never be anything impossible with God.” (Luke 1.36-37, my translation)

Gabriel’s sweeping declaration has a familiar ring. It immediately took Mary (and the audience of Luke’s gospel) to a story she had heard many times before. Almost two thousand years earlier, in a tree-shaded tent, another incredulous woman was told she would give birth to a son. Elderly Sarah chuckled. Just like Elizabeth, she had long since lost hope of being a mother. The Lord reacted, “Why are you laughing? Is anything too hard (wonderful) for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:13-14, ESV). Of course not! was the implied answer. This is routine stuff for God.

Isaac’s arrival wasn’t just a pleasant surprise for Abraham and Sarah; it was God’s special delivery on his promise. Abraham would be the father of a great nation, and this would cause blessing for all peoples of the earth (Genesis 12:1-3). Could John’s and Jesus’ arrival also be the fulfillment of God’s promises to his people? This seems to be one of the important themes in Luke’s gospel.

The “nothing is impossible for God” motif has other echoes in Scripture. During Babylon’s siege of Jerusalem, God gives prophet Jeremiah a strange order. In the presence of witnesses, he should pay cash for a field which happens to be in territory occupied by the enemy! (This, after God had already told Jeremiah that Jerusalem will be overthrown.) Why would he throw away money like that? Jeremiah transmits God’s logic behind the plan: “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land” (Jeremiah 32:15).

Then Jeremiah grabs some perspective as he worships God: “It is you who has made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you” (32:17). Sound familiar? Jeremiah’s prayer ends something like this: “You miraculously delivered Israel from captivity in Egypt and gave them a fantastic homeland. But they disobeyed you and now they’re in a heap of trouble. You have told me that Jerusalem is going to be overrun by the Babylonian army, as a direct judgment of the people’s sinful behavior. And yet you tell me to invest in a field!” Talk about a depressed real estate market!

We hear Gabriel’s theme again when God answers Jeremiah: “I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” (32.27). The implied answer is No! When things seem impossible for humans, God says, “Leave it to me.” In the face of certain destruction, God tells Jeremiah that he will bring his people back, cause them to live in security and will make an “everlasting covenant” with them. I’m sure this story was also on Luke’s radar as he wrote his gospel treatise.

We hear the familiar melody one more time in the OT. As he did with Jeremiah, God also told prophet Zechariah about the restoration of the remnant. Describing the future peace of Jerusalem, God says that elderly men and women will again sit in the streets, the same streets where boys and girls will play (Zechariah 8:4-5). “If this is marvelous in the sight of the remnant…should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts?” (8:6) Or, “If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant…will it also be too difficult in my sight?” (NASB). Again, the implied answer is No! Why? Because the Lord Almighty is speaking.

Now, as we return to Gabriel’s conversation with Mary, it seems that the melody has blossomed into a full orchestral arrangement: “For nothing will be impossible with God.”