December 10
In vivo
Luke 1:35
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
So Gabriel, back in the business of zipping around delivering God’s direct messages to specific people, pulls up to the young virgin girl Mary in her home town of Nazareth.
Mary, in the complex social arrangements of her time, is engaged to a man named Joseph. For all intents and purposes she is considered to be his wife, his betrothed, but there is, of course, no consummation.
Gabriel, having startled her by his sudden appearance tells this young virgin that she is about to be pregnant with a child. Mary, like Zacharias recently, challenges his declaration, insisting that she has not had the kind of activity with a man that would, under normal circumstances, result in a pregnancy, Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” Luke 1:34.
Somehow, Mary did not suffer the same fate as Zacharias, she was able to continue to speak and to even retain her voice after this angelic encounter.
A few days ago, as we reflected on Gabriel’s encounter with Zacharias we said, that childlessness or barrenness, more familiarly called infertility today, is difficult for the fertile to understand. For those for whom the natural systems work, have no idea of the emotional, psychological, social, cultural, medical, ethical, and spiritual burdens and pain carried by the infertile who keep trying and praying.
Modern science and medicine have provided some responses, one of which is in vitro fertilization (IVF), in vitro is Latin for “within the glass.” When something is performed in vitro, it happens outside of a living organism. What is often called a “test tube” baby, even though the process actually takes place in a petri dish and not in a test tube.
Today we are not going to debate the moral, ethical, or theological issues related to infertility and fertility and the scientific response. And there are many issues to be discussed there. But let’s just recognize, for now, that there is a problem and there has been a response that has benefitted many women and families.
At the time that Zacharias and Mary had their encounters with Gabriel there were infertility issues but no treatments. God intervened for Elizabeth and now, Mary who had no identified problem was also going to receive intervention for a pregnancy. Zacharias had to go home and figure things out. Mary had nothing to figure out, her pregnancy was going to be without the participation of a man and yet be in vivo. In vivo is Latin for “within the living.” It refers to work that’s performed in a whole, living organism.
The miracle work of God’s redemption had started in a womb of a young unmarried woman. This in vivo conception is critical to our faith. Wrapping our minds around it is necessary to move forward. Of course, many over the centuries have taken this matter of Mary’s conception to a place clearly unintended by the scriptures, an example of this is the Roman Catholic teaching of the Immaculate Conception, one of the four Marian Dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church.
What we do know is that the conception and birth of Jesus Christ were unique events, for the world. Even though this was prophesied from early the details were never shared. The detail clearly took everyone by surprise.
Again, Mark and John didn’t touch it. Matthew quickly passed over it saying, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:18, and then he moved on to the reaction. Luke, in our text today, gives us some greater details of events.
Isaiah told us this, For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; Isaiah 9:6 and this, Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14. There are other prophecies in Isaiah and other parts if the Old Testament, However, nowhere in the prophecy did we expect this in vivo drama.
Think on these things:
- Have you or anyone you know anyone struggled with infertility, how do you pray about that matter?
- How do you share the birth narratives in the scripture with that person (or how do you read them yourself) in the context of the struggle with infertility?
- How could we offer hope in this season to those who are in a seemingly hopeless situation with fertility?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today for families that are struggling with faith in God because of their personal struggles with fertility.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
