The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:35 NET
Over 2000 years ago, the angel Gabriel appeared to a young virgin in a small village in Galilee. A nobody in the middle of nowhere. And he brought to her a highly unusual message from God. She was going to have a child. And not just any child. Her child would be the Son of the Most High. And he would reign on the throne of David (Luke 1:32).
I cannot imagine Mary’s reaction to either Gabriel’s appearance or his message. But her response was one of acceptance, although with a very valid question. How can I, as a virgin, have this child?
Gabriel responded that God would father this child, a child who would be called the Son of God. She would not conceive in the usual way. Instead, the Holy Spirit would come upon her, and the power of the Most High would overshadow her. Her conception would be a miracle.
When Gabriel said the power of God would overshadow her, he could have been alluding to the glory of God filling the Tabernacle at its inauguration. In Exodus 40:34, we read that after the Tabernacle was assembled and dedicated, “the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”
And so, as God took up his dwelling in the ancient Tabernacle at Sinai, he now took up his dwelling in the womb of this young virgin. For nine months, Mary’s womb was, in a sense, the Most Holy Place, the dwelling place of God himself. What an honor and privilege. She was indeed blessed.
