God’s unexpected plan and our response (Luke 1:26-38)

When my husband and I considered moving to New Zealand, it seemed logical to settle in Christchurch where his family is based, but when on a visit we explored jobs (especially for me), no door was opening. We have just agreed to stay on in the UK, when I received an email from the principal of Carey Baptist College in Auckland asking if I would be interested in applying for the job of Old Testament lecturer there. A former tutor/lecturer of mine recommended me to them, but the principal had no idea that I had a Kiwi connection or that we were actually in New Zealand at the time. So it happened that we flew up for my interview and I was offered the job, which surprisingly landed us in Auckland. God’s plans often turn out differently from our expectations.

Two birth announcements and God’s surprise choice

I am reminded of this as I read the Christmas story, which is so familiar to us that we lose sight of how utterly unexpected God’s ways were. This second birth announcement in Luke’s account invites comparison with the first about John the Baptist. In both, the angel Gabriel appeared, and his greeting led to troubled thoughts, perplexity, and fear (Luke 1:11-12; 26, 28-29). In both, reassurance came (‘do not be afraid’; Luke 1:13, 30), followed by the announcement about the birth of a son, his name, and his role (Luke 1:13, 15-17; 31-33). In both, the recipients of the message questioned how this could be and asked for/received a sign (Luke 1:18, 20, 34, 36). Yet, there are significant differences. Zechariah and Elizabeth had respected status being from a priestly line, Mary was a young unmarried virgin with little status (though her fiancé was a Davidic descendant, Luke 1:27). The first birth announcement was made in the temple, the hub of divine activity, while the second took place in the remote town of Nazareth in Galilee (Luke 1:26). Elizabeth’s pregnancy would take away her disgrace as a barren woman, Mary’s was to bring public shame and the slur of sexual immorality. Yet, it was the son without recognised status, from the backwaters, surrounded by question marks over his birth who would rule on David’s throne.

Messianic expectations

God’s plans are unexpected in other ways, too. As Christians, we see Isaiah 7:14 predicting Messiah’s virgin birth, but Jewish interpretation never took the prophecy about a ‘young woman’ this way, nor understood Messiah to be God incarnate.[1] It is more than likely that Mary herself did not grasp the full significance of her experience because Son of God in Jewish thinking was not an indication of divinity but a Messianic-royal title. God promised a father-son relationship for Solomon, David’s son (2 Sam 7:12-14) and Davidic kings were pronounced God’s son at their coronation (Ps 2:6-7).[2] Mary would have understood her son to be Messiah, the Davidic King who would free Israel from foreign domination so it could flourish under God’s righteous rule. The overshadowing of the Holy Spirit would mark out Messiah as endowed with God’s presence, just like the tabernacle was (Luke 1:35; Exod 40:35).[3]

God’s plan and our response

As Christians, we understand that God’s plan was so much bigger and different from common Jewish expectations. Jesus was not only Messiah and in this sense son of God, but the Son of God, God incarnate. Neither was His kingdom limited to Israel, to their restoration in physical-political, even spiritual terms. Although Mary could not know or understand all that God had in view and she is justifiably perplexed, her questioning is unlike Zechariah’s unbelief and her response is humble submission to the Lord’s plans as His servant (Luke 1:38). As we think of Christmas and reflect on how differently God’s long-announced plans came to being, we are reminded of how much higher the Lord’s thoughts are than ours (Isa 55:8-9). Not only that, but we can know that no matter how inconceivable His plans and their realisation may look to us, nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37). May we renew our trust in the Lord who can do over and beyond what we can imagine in our lives and in the world.

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[1] In the Hebrew, what our Bibles translate as ‘virgin’ in Isaiah 7:14 is ‘almah, which means a young woman of marriageable age and sexual maturity (like ‘maiden’ in English). This most often implies virginity, though the focus is not on this aspect and Hebrew has a word that explicitly means a virgin (bethulah).

[2] Psalm 2 is considered a coronation psalm, used in the liturgy when the king was crowned. It is also a messianic psalm describing the Davidic king par excellence. The idea that a king is the son of a god was widespread also in the ancient Near East (e.g. in Egypt) and indicated the king’s authority and special position. In Israel, of course, being God’s son as king did not mean divinity.

[3] The parallel is noted by commentators and is evident in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament used widely among Jews in Jesus’ time and later among the early Christians). There, the same Greek word ‘overshadow’ is used for the cloud settling on the tabernacle in Exod 40:35 (‘And Moses was not able to enter into the tabernacle of testimony, because the cloud overshadowed it, and the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord.’ Trans. Brenton).

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