NEW TESTAMENT 41
beth will eventually give birth to a son, John, who will be-
come the prophet John the Baptist and spread the Word
of the coming of the Son of God. With God, Gabriel says,
nothing is impossible.
Mary responds that she is God’s servant and will do
whatever the Lord wishes. She says she hopes everything
Gabriel has told her comes to pass.
When Mary becomes pregnant before her marriage
to Joseph, he is embarrassed and upset, according to the
Gospel of Matthew: the child is obvi-
ously not his. He no longer wishes to
wed Mary, but he doesn’t want her to
suffer public humiliation, so he plans
to separate from Mary quietly.
Before Joseph can do so, he is visited
by an angel in a dream. “Joseph, son of
David, do not be afraid to take Mary as
your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy
Spirit,” the angel tells him. “She will bear a son, and you
are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from
their sins.”
Joseph is a devout man and recognizes the prophecy in
the angel’s message. He weds Mary as planned, though the
two do not live together as husband and wife while Mary
is pregnant.
Nine months later, Jesus Christ is born in a manger in
Bethlehem. Numerous divine signs
herald his arrival. Kings, shepherds,
and angels rejoice. As the years pass,
Jesus’ devoted mother will be present
for many of her son’s miracles. And
Jesus’ followers will go on to found a
religion that crosses the globe and in-
fluences the course of human history. ▪NOTHING WAS IMPOSSIBLE
Gabriel (opposite) heralded
the coming of the Son of God in
The Annunciationby Jan van den
Kerckhove (c. 1707).
Below: His humble birth was
depicted inHoly Nightby
Carlo Maratta (c. 1655).