When Gabriel explained to Mary that she would become the mother of God’s Son, he said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).
The Greek word translated overshadow appears in just four other places in the New Testament, three of which are verses in parallel Gospel accounts of Jesus’ transfiguration. The English word representing the Greek word is underlined in each instance below.
- “While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said: ‘This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him. Listen to Him!’” (Matt. 17:5).
- “A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud: ‘This is My beloved Son; listen to Him!’” (Mark 9:7).
- “While he was saying this, a cloud appeared and overshadowed They became afraid as they entered the cloud” (Luke 9:34).
The remaining appearance in in Acts 5:15. Here is that verse in its context: “Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers—crowds of both men and women. As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them” (Acts 5:14-15).
The Greek term means “to envelop,” “to cast a shadow upon,” and, of course, “to overshadow.” In all of these passages the word means this—but in Luke 1:35 it also means more. The power of the Holy Spirit surrounded Mary in such a way as to bring about the conception of a baby boy within her—without any involvement of a human male. Not only that, but the baby conceived in her did not begin to exist at conception; He rather existed from eternity past and took up residence in Mary’s womb as a result of the Holy Spirit’s work.
The word often used to denote God’s becoming a man without ceasing to be God is the term incarnation. God became incarnate in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. From the various uses of the Greek word meaning “overshadow” in the New Testament, and from unique meaning of the term in Luke 1:35, we see the mysterious element of the incarnation. We will never fully understand how God could become a human being and live among people as a man without forfeiting His deity. Even so, we can be eternally grateful that God took the initiative to make this happen.
Copyright © 2015 B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations in this article are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.