Conceived by the Holy Spirit

Conceived by the Holy Spirit

The Annunciation of the Lord – 3/25/2026

Luke 1:26-38

Rev. Dr. Christopher W. Brademeyer

That portion of God’s holy Word for consideration this evening is our Gospel lesson from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke in the first chapter with special emphasis on verses thirty through thirty-one which reads as follows:

“And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.”[1]

Thus far the Scriptures.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There are some moments in history where everything changes in a grand event or impressive pronouncement. The Declaration of Independence began the history of this nation of ours. A man promises to take a woman to himself as his wife and so begins a family legacy that lasts for generations. A peace treaty is signed and a war ends. These make our history books, are celebrated in our media, and have documentaries and novels written about them. But some of the greatest moments in history do not look great at all when they happen. They are quiet, hidden, even unnoticed. So it is with the Annunciation of the Lord.

So it was with the Annunciation. There was no crowd, no royal court, no earthly fanfare,

The Annunciation by Philippe de Champaigne (c. 1644)

and no impressive procession. There was only a young virgin girl named Mary in Nazareth, an angel messenger from God, and a Word of promise. From this moment, quiet and hidden though it was, the history of the world took a radical turn. This is the moment when God the Son took on human flesh in the womb of His mother, the blessed virgin Mary. The Annunciation is no simple announcement of a future birth, it is the very first instant where God becomes man, the very moment that the incarnation begins.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, this message, this Word from Gabriel the Archangel, brings about what is said. Mary will bear the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the very Savior of the world. And from that moment on, everything in different for her and, indeed, for all of us as well. God had truly come to save His people. The long-promised Messiah had arrived. The salvation of humanity began not in spectacle or fanfare but hidden there in the womb of Mary.

God Keeps His Promises

The first thing these readings teach us is that God keeps His promises, even when His people are fearful, faithless, and surrounded by trouble. In the Old Testament reading from Isaiah, King Ahaz was in a moment of crisis. Nations were threatening Judah. Fear as everywhere. And the Lord, in mercy, offered Ahaz a sign, “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” This is an astonishing act of mercy. God does not often allow people to dictate which sign He would perform. God is never reluctant to deliver His people, and He is never stingy with His mercies.

But Ahaz refused. This refusal sounded pious on the surface, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” But it was not the faithful act it might seem to be, it was unbelief hiding under the guise of piety. Ahaz does not trust the Lord, he has already set his heart elsewhere. That is to say, Ahaz put his faith in political arrangements, earthly calculations, and human strength rather than the promise of God.

Isn’t this common among us as well? We often prefer what we can measure, manage, and control. We are far more comfortable with visible securities than with divine promises. We trust our plans, our timing, our resources, and our own wisdom. When push comes to shove, we prefer those things we feel in control of rather than lack of control in faith. Faith means trusting God to deliver, something that we are unable to do anything about, one way or the other.

But in spite of human unbelief, God remains faithful. Ahaz would not ask for a sign, so God gives one anyway: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a [S]on, and shall call his name Immanuel.” That is one of the most remarkable promises in all of Holy Scripture. It is not merely that a child will be born, or that a ruler will arise. No, a virgin shall conceive a Son. This is not an ordinary part of God’s providence, that is, His care of us. It is a special, divine intervention into the world He made. It is a new salvation. This is shown in the name of this promised child, Immanuel, God with us.

God’s promise is not even the miracle of the birth of this Son, but His promise that He will no longer be far away, no longer only above us, no longer only our Judge. He will be God with us, with sinners. He will be with us in our weakness, in our suffering, in our temptations, in our moral failures.

The Son of God: Promise Fulfilled

In the Gospel reading, centuries later, that ancient promise was fulfilled. The angel Gabriel is sent not to a palace, not to Jerusalem’s elite, but to a virgin named Mary in an obscure town called Nazareth. And there the promise given through Isaiah came to pass. The virgin did conceive. God indeed kept His promise. He may not have done this on our timeline or how we might have expected. But He is, and was, faithful to His Word of promise.

Jesus is not simply the ruler foretold of long ago, like some fairy tale legend or mythical king. No, He has come to put His enemies, and yours, under His feet. God has sent His Son to save you. He will not forget you. The One who entered the womb of Mary will never abandon you. The One who keeps His promises will not suddenly fail to remember them.

The second great truth of this feast is that God the Son became man truly and historically. This is not a metaphor, a literary device, in appearance only, or symbolic. It is as true as we are sitting here today. When Gabriel spoke to Mary, he said, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.”

The word choice here matters. Indeed, every word given in Scripture through human authors is the product of the Holy Spirit. Its specific construction and grammar matter. Gabriel did not say, “you will one day mother a child.” Nor did he say that “you will care for a child sent from heaven.” No, he said that “You will conceive in your womb.”

This is a real conception, a real pregnancy, a real incarnation. And when Mary asked how this will be, since she is a virgin, the angel answered: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” The incarnation of Jesus is not an ordinary, human act. It is the direct, miraculous work of God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the child to be born of Mary will be the very Son of God.

Jesus is not some prophet or teacher long anticipated. He is not like a future Billy Graham or a new pope. He is the holy, eternal, Son of His Father. God with us. Indeed, Jesus is Almighty God, maker, sustainer, and savior, here in the flesh among us to save us from sin, death, and the dread oppression of the Devil. From the moment of His conception, Jesus is fully God, having received His divine nature from His Father in eternity and fully man, having received His human nature from Mary, His mother. And this Jesus, who is both God and man in one indivisible Person, is our Savior. Indeed, that is the very mission appointed for Him by His Father.

Every Life is Precious

Every human being is precious to God. The third thing that the Annunciation teaches us is the value of life in the womb. Unborn babies are human beings known to God, made by God, and precious to Him. For this reason, even the earliest Christians have been pro-life, to borrow a modern term. Certainly, there is more to valuing human life than simply being against abortion. We could spend time discussing the fifth and seventh commandments and how they apply to our need to care for our neighbors in all their physical needs. Suffice it to say, the very vulnerable act of being a tiny little baby in the womb of Mary has shown us all the great holiness of pregnancy and birth. We should never downplay these beautiful situations, nor should we devalue the children who are yet to be born.

Conclusion

  Jesus Christ, our Savior, became a man in the womb of His mother Mary. This was the fulfillment of ancient prophecy, first to Adam and Eve and later to Ahaz. God does not forget His promises. And the promised Child, Jesus, shows us that God cherished all life, even the little yet-to-be-born babies. Above all, our Lord Jesus is not a simple prophet or king, He is the God of God, able to shoulder our sins and save us from all evil.

In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] Luke 1:30-31 English Standard Version. All further quotations from the Holy Scriptures are from the ESV.