Overshadowed!

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:26-38

What Is That to Me?

Way back in 1964, four years before I became a Christian, a devoted Christian brother, the famous band leader / songwriter Ralph Carmichael, wrote a song titled, “He’s Everything to Me.” In the second verse of that song, he asks an important Christmas-related question:

I will celebrate Nativity
For it has a place in history;
Sure, He came to set His people free—
What is that to me?²

Especially in light of the second Christmas name we discussed in the last chapter³ — Christian — we each need to have that question answered: What is that to me?

Mary asked an important question, too: “How can this be?” How is God going to do all that you said, Gabriel?

Gabriel had a very profound answer for her. And, as it turns out, his answer addresses our question as well. He shared with Mary the means by which Jesus would be conceived in her womb. But why is this in the Christmas story for us to read? What is that to me? Why do I need to know this? Because in the same way Mary’s baby was formed in her womb by God’s Holy Spirit, that same Spirit forms Christ in our hearts by means of the transformation we call the New Birth.

As Christians we should know and experience and proclaim the Good News of a New Birth. But how many of us actually have the fullness of what God promised in the New Birth experience? And how much do we really know about how God brings it about? We can understand something of God’s miraculous working in New Birth by following the description given to Mary in Luke 1:35 about the First Birth.

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you.”

Consider Gabriel’s first statement: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.” This is the work of God’s Holy Spirit, the creating, life-giving Spirit who brooded over the waters at the beginning of creation (Genesis 1:2). How fascinating that this Third Person of the Trinity who helped to birth an entire universe also created just a single, fertilizing cell in the virgin’s womb!

It’s no surprise, then, that this same Spirit is responsible for making “new creations” by means of a New Birth in the hearts of unregenerate sinners.

And as for “coming upon,” consider the direction of the action. For something to “come upon,” it has to originate from above and descend. In the case under our consideration, this direction is downward from Heaven to earth, and from God to men.

New Birth: Born Again or from Above?

When we speak about the New Birth, we “lose something in the translation,” because we have settled for the less-than-precise phrase “born again.” There actually is a New Testament Greek verb which means precisely born again. Only Peter uses this word, anagennáō (ἀναγεννάω), and only twice, both times in the first chapter of his first epistle:⁴

Peter’s word anagennáō is made up of two parts:

• gennáō (γεννάω), the Greek verb meaning to be born; along with the preposition / prefix…
• aná (ἀνά), which gives us the again;

hence, quite properly and exactly, we have born again.

But the Apostle John, to whom we usually attribute the phrase “born again” in chapter 3 of his Gospel, uses a more precise, two-word phrase: gennáō ánōthen (γεννάω ἄνωθεν).

Now we’ve already seen Peter use gennáō in his compound verb. Gennáō by itself means to be born. What about ánōthen, used by John; does it mean again?

Yes, sometimes. But ánōthen is primarily an adverb of location, coming from a shorter adverb of location — ánō (ἄνω) — which means above, upwards, heavenwards. So the real thrust and implication of gennáō ánōthen is born from ABOVE.

When we take that bit of “directional information” into John 3, we can watch the interplay and interchange of two equivalent and complimentary phrases — born of the Spirit and born from above:

• v. 3 — Jesus: You must be born from above [gennēthẽ ánōthen / γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν] to see the kingdom.
• v. 4 — Nicodemus: Born a second time (i.e., born again)?
• v. 5 — Jesus: No, born of water [ex húdatos / ἐξ ὕδατος; i.e., repentance (John’s baptism)] and born of the Spirit [kaí ek pneúmatos / καὶ {ἐκ} πνεύματος].⁵
• v. 6 — Jesus: That which is born of the Spirit is spirit [tó gegennēménon ek tou pneúmatos pneûma estin / τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος πνεῦμα ἐστιν].
• v. 7 — Jesus: You must be born from above [deĩ humãs gennēthēnai ánōthen / δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν].
• v. 8 — Jesus: So is everyone who is born of the Spirit [hoútōs estín pãs ho gegennēménos ek toũ pneúmatos / οὕτως ἐστὶν πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος].”

Do you see how the two phrases — born from above / born of the Spirit — parallel each other in that passage? Let’s simplify that last list:

• v. 3 — born from above
• v. 5 — born of the Spirit
• v. 6 — born of the Spirit
• v. 7 — born from above
• v. 8 — born of the Spirit⁶

Because it’s a second birth, we may use the phrase born again. But it’s only true new birth from above when it’s initiated and accomplished by the Holy Spirit. As with Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,” and create new life.

We have no record in Scripture that Mary saw or heard anything when the Holy Spirit came on her. One of the most spectacular events in this history of God’s interaction with mankind occurred without any noise or hype or fanfare, so far as we know. And yet a fertilized egg appeared in Mary’s womb, the Embryonic Emmanuel, and she knew that another Life was in her womb.

There is an old, familiar Christmas carol which applies this silent, but life-altering change to our own regeneration. Do you remember the words?

How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given!⁷

In context, the words speak of the Birth we celebrate at Christmas. But the phrase might be equally applied to the Spirit-wrought Conception nine months earlier. And as the poet proceeds, he connects “the “wondrous gift” to God’s new-birth work in our hearts:

So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
The dear Christ enters in.⁸

“The power of the Most High will overshadow you.”

Going back to Gabriel’s explanation to Mary in Luke 1:35, let’s consider the second half of God’s operation, not only in the virgin’s womb, but in the heart of an unregenerate human being — “the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”

Overshadow is the translation of the dynamic Greek verb episkiázō (ἐπισκίαζω). Like many such verbs, it’s a compound of two parts:

• epí / επί — a preposition which often means on or upon. In our verb episkiázō, epí becomes the prefix.
  • The skiázō portion of our verb derives from the Greek noun skiá (σκιά), which can mean shade (as in Mark 4:32) or shadow (like in Luke 1:79) or even foreshadow (a sort of archetype, as in Colossians 2:17).

So overshadow — a shadow coming upon or over — is an excellent rendering.

Besides Luke’s use of the verb episkiázō in reporting Gabriel’s words, we encounter this verb four more times in the New Testament. Three of those appearances are in the Synoptic accounts⁹ of the Mount of Transfiguration. Since we’ve already quoted from Luke and John and Peter, let’s give Matthew the honor of sharing his account of that glorious event:

Peter, James, and John, there on the mountain with Jesus, were overshadowed by the presence of God and His glory. When that overshadowing happened, everyone and everything disappeared from view, leaving a single focus: “They saw no one except Jesus Himself alone” (Matthew 17:8).

We encounter the final use of episkiázō just a year or two later; one of the men present at that event wound up being… how shall I put this?… an overshadowed overshadower! That is to say, he became the means, the physical channel of the Holy Spirit’s overshadowing.

Peter had been through the events of Calvary and the Resurrection. He received the New Birth and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. He was raised up by that same Spirit as one of the leaders of the infant Church. And now walking in his new nature, he sees a new manifestation of overshadowing:

Where is the word overshadow in the passage? It’s obscured in the majority of modern translations.¹¹ Luke has a wordplay here, focusing on the theme of shadow. Let me share the literal word order in the Greek:

• hina erchoménou Pétrou kán hē skiá episkiásē tiní autõn (ἵνα ἐρχομένου Πέτρου κὰν ἡ σκιὰ ἐπισκιάσῃ τινὶ αὐτῶν); or, in stilted, jumbled, and confused English…
  • “…in order that [the] coming [along] of Peter at least the shadow might overshadow some of them.”

Steamlining that a bit, we get “in order that Peter’s shadow coming [along] might overshadow some of them.” Do you see the wordplay in “Peter’s shadow overshadowing [skiá episkiáse]?” Strangely and wonderfully Peter himself became the means of God’s overshadowing.

That’s an example for those of us in the New Birth to consider. Is the power of the Most High still overshadowing us, and perhaps overshadowing others through us? The One conceived in the womb by the overshadowing power of the Most High is also the One who decreed the necessity of a new birth from above, and promised His followers, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” God’s overshadowing — as with Mary’s womb at Jesus’ conception; as at the Mount of Transfiguration, when only Jesus was left in view; and as through Peter being used to overshadow others — produces Spirit-birthed men and women.

Another Thought: Partaking

We saw the word skía (shadow) doing some interesting gymnastics as Peter’s shadow overshadowed the sick. The English verb partake has its own interesting little secret. The word is back-formed from the noun partaker. Given our centuries-long penchant to shorten, condense, and contract English words, it should come as no surprise that partaker is a shortened compression of two separate words — part taker. (Try verbalizing “part taker” while carefully pronouncing both “t’s” distinctly. Now keep repeating that two-word phrase, speeding up your vocalization each time. You’ll soon see how that second “t” wound up on the unemployment line!)

At this point, you might be asking our opening question: “‘Part taker.’ ‘Partaker.’ What is that to me?” Well, the Logos, the Second Person of the Trinity, partook of human nature. He didn’t just appear as a man; He actually became a human being, “the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5), fully sharing our “flesh and blood.”
Hebrews 2:14 presents this truth, and I’ve always thought that the old King James translation renders it most clearly:

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers [koinōnéō / κοινωνέω] of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part [metéchō / μετέχω] of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil….

I have bracketed the two bolded phrases so that the reader can see that there are two separate Greek verbs (koinōnéō and metéchō). Why did the translators render them the same way in English? Because they carry a very similar meaning.¹² Consider:

1. koinōnéō (κοινωνέω): Most of the Greek words from the koi-family carry the idea of intimate sharing. Probably the best-known word to Christians is koinonía — fellowship. What could convey the idea of intimacy better than the word koítē / κοίτη — the marriage bed (a word used in Hebrews 13:4)?
2. metéchō (μετέχω): If koinōnéō has to do with intimacy, then here’s a word that speaks of permanence. This verb consists of two parts.
3. The root verb echo / ἔχω means to have, to hold.
4. The preposition metá (μετά) usually means with or after. When metá is used as a prefix (as it is here), it carries the idea of a permanent change. (Think of its use in metánoia, that is, repentance, a change of the nous / mind; and in metamorphosis, the permanent change of morphē /body through which, for example, a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.)
5. Compound those two pieces into metéchō and it produces a verb meaning to share in the possession of, belong to, to eat or drink something. (In this latter food-consumption idea, what you eat and drink becomes part of you permanently.) Since Jesus’ conception, when the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and the power of the Most High overshadowed her womb, He has shared in possession of humanity and belongs to the human race. He is, and always will be, the God-Man, permanently, fully human, as well as divine. The Logos still partakes of our flesh and blood.

Very well. So God now partakes of human nature. “What is that to me?” As though almighty, eternal God sharing our nature were not miraculous enough, stop and consider the import of Peter’s inspired words in 2 Peter 1:3-4. The God who partakes of our nature offers a partaking for us!

³…His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. ⁴For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature [génēsthe theías koinōnoí phúseōs / γένησθε θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως], having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Human beings who receive the Savior and the New Birth which He offers can become partakers (yes, permanent sharers in) the nature of God Himself! And that leads us to the real point of God’s Christmas saga.

What Is That to You?

I will celebrate Nativity
For it has a place in history;
Sure, He came to set His people free—
What is that to me?

As you come to the Christmas season and story again, what is it to you? Just an annual, feel-gooey, sentimental tradition? God means for it to be so much more to you!

Since the moment of conception in Mary’s womb by the overshadowing work of the Holy Spirit, the Logos has “been a partaker of human nature,” sharing everything we have and are (except our sin nature).

In the same way, by the transforming, overshadowing work of that same Holy Spirit of God, we can be born ánōthen — from above — born by the direct interaction of God’s Spirit.

Maybe you once “prayed the sinner’s prayer,” but don’t have much to show for it. Does your so-called “‘born again’ experience” leave you asking, “What is that to me?”¹³ If “praying the sinner’s prayer” hasn’t brought an ever-growing sense of God’s presence and reality, and an ever-growing measure of God’s nature in you, causing you to become more like Jesus, that “holy One which is born” in you, then I would challenge you to seek God for the ultimate, very personalized gift He offers because of events of that first “Christmas.” I am in no way minimizing the gifts of:

• the Baby in the manger;
• forgiveness of sins;
• escape from the judgment, God’s wrath, and eternal punishment;
• and especially not Jesus’ atoning death on the cross!

All of those are extraordinarily wonderful blessings from God! But we still have to answer the “what is that to me” concerning God’s purpose: The Logos became a permanent partaker of human nature so that we could become partakers — sharers — of His divine nature.

How does it happen? By the work of God’s Holy Spirit: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you,” so that you can be born of God, born from above, and thus share His nature!

The question is no longer “What is that to me?” Rather, we need to answer this question: What will it take for God to do this in me?

The answer is: complete submission to God, His will, His timing, His ultimate purpose for your life. It takes a simple, no-strings-attached surrender like the one offered by that teenage girl in Nazareth two thousand years ago — “Behold, the bond-slave of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.”

Oh holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us we pray!
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us today!
We hear the Christmas angels
Their great glad tidings tell.
Oh, come to us, abide in us
Our Lord Immanuel!¹⁴

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