for nothing shall be impossible with God.
Gabriel has just told Mary that she will have a son, though she has no husband, and pointed her to her relative Elizabeth, who is pregnant in old age. His closing sentence is the ground under the whole announcement, and commentators read it as a word about God's power and as the base of Mary's faith.
The Answer to an Impossible Announcement
The words come at the end of a message that no ordinary birth could explain. One writer treats them as the settling of the whole matter:
This last statement from the angel "who stands in the presence of God" needs no comment. It drives away all doubt for those who will believe. The birth of the Saviour was miraculous, it was by God's power, it was God's work. No man had any part in it; the Son of Mary was holy and undefiled. He was the Son of God... Unbelief says it is against every law of nature, and impossible. Faith answers in the words of Gabriel, who knew God's power well: "nothing will be impossible with God."
Why This Is the Basis of All Belief
Mary had asked how such a thing could happen. One commentator says her faith was already there, and explains why the angel added the news about Elizabeth:
She already had God-given faith. To strengthen it, God sent Gabriel to tell her of His grace to her cousin Elizabeth. "For," he said, giving the unchanging basis of all belief, "nothing will be impossible with God." God would not be God if this were not so; and, as the Lord Himself taught, "All things are possible for one who believes." Mary had learned this deep in her soul. Her answer shows it: "Behold, I am the servant" (the bondservant) "of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."
The Wording of the Verse
Translations differ here because the Greek manuscripts differ. One writer, comparing revised versions with the older English text, notes the change at this exact point:
In verse 37 there is a bold change of reading in the Greek, which gives the wording "no word from God shall be without power."
Read that way, the promise covers more. God can do anything. And every word God speaks carries its own power to happen.
How Far "Nothing" Reaches
The word Gabriel used is not limited to Mary's situation. One writer applies it beyond the birth itself:
Admit superhuman power, and all difficulty vanishes. "Nothing," we read, "will be impossible with God" — "no thing," neither the virgin birth, nor the raising of the dead!
The same writer presses the point at the level of physical law: "His power is infinite, and no physical law is beyond that power. Nature is clearly subservient to the will of its Maker."
The Doubter Who Later Agreed
Gabriel had brought a similar promise to Zacharias earlier, and Zacharias had not believed it. He could not speak until his son was born. One commentator traces how that ended:
On the eighth day after the child's birth the father could speak again. He praised God, and prophecy through a human voice returned. It had been silent for ages. Now it burst out afresh as Zacharias blessed God for visiting and redeeming His people... His unbelief had vanished. Nothing will be impossible with God, Gabriel had said, and to that Zacharias added his Amen.
What This Means for Faith Today
If nothing is impossible with God, the practical question becomes how a person comes to rely on that. One writer connects the promise to the condition of the one who trusts it:
So faith links the believer to the almighty power of God and puts that power to work. We could even say it brings God Himself in to act for His people. That is why, in the words of our Lord, nothing is impossible to them. But never forget that faith is a real thing. It is a divine plant, and it only grows out of the soil of a broken will. First we must come to the end of ourselves and our resources. We must learn how helpless we are. Only then do we throw ourselves on God and depend fully on Him and His power.
Summary
- Power — Gabriel's sentence holds up the whole announcement. The birth "was by God's power, it was God's work." No human father had a part in it.
- Basis — One writer calls it "the unchanging basis of all belief," because "God would not be God if this were not so."
- Reach — The word is "no thing." Neither the virgin birth nor the raising of the dead lies outside it. Nature is under the will of its Maker.
- Reading — Some manuscripts give "no word from God shall be without power." Then the promise rests on what God has spoken, not only on what He can do.
- Response — Mary answered by calling herself the Lord's servant. Zacharias doubted first, then added his Amen. Faith like that grows only "out of the soil of a broken will."