26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favoured woman! The Lord is with you!” 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favour with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” 35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. 37 For the word of God will never fail.” 38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. Luke 1:26-38 New Living Translation

Why did the angel Gabriel not rebuke Mary’s question (vs 34) as he’d rebuked Zechariah when that man questioned how it was possible for him and his wife to have a son seeing they were so old? (Luke 1:18)

Perhaps the answer was because the Old Testament has examples of God granting a child to a couple when they were old, as He did for Abraham and Sarah. So Zechariah should’ve known that such a thing was not beyond what God could do! But never before had a child been born to a virgin without the involvement of a man. So Mary’s question was perhaps not one of doubt, but a simple one of how would such a thing happen? It’s not wrong for us to ask honest questions about God . . . and even to ask God hard questions in our prayers.

In the case of Mary, the answer to her question brings us to one of the great miracles of the Bible. God’s Son, through whom He created all things, was going to come into the world as a man who would be called Jesus, and his conception in Mary’s womb would be brought about by the power of God’s Spirit. Because, as Gabriel said, “the word of God will never fail”. Mary’s response in vs 38 to Gabriel’s explanation is a wonderful example for us all to follow.

Later in this gospel Luke tells us of an incident when Jesus commented on how extremely hard it is for very wealthy people to become saved (because they find it so difficult to let go of the world’s treasures). The disciples were amazed (probably because rich people usually do anything they want to) and said to Jesus: “If that’s the case, how can anyone then be saved”? And Jesus replied: “What is impossible for people is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)

We must keep those words of Jesus in mind as we follow and serve Him in the world. It’s what led to many missionaries accomplishing amazing things, such as when a Scot named John Paton was able to see the lives of cannibals in the South Pacific transformed by Christ in the 1800’s. Have you thought it impossible for some people you know to ever be saved and transformed? With God, all things are possible.