I love the question that God asks in Genesis 18:14, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Some questions in the bible are worded in such a way as they expect a positive answer! Others are worded in such a way that the answer could be yes or no, but this question is worded in such a way that God expects Abraham to answer it with a resounding “NO, nothing is too hard for God.” In the last chapter God had revealed himself to Abraham with the name “El Shaddai.” That name means “God Almighty.” There is nothing too hard for God. We can’t miss the parallel here with the miraculous birth of Jesus. Hughes notices this and writes, “There was no way that Sarah could give birth apart from God’s power—which was precisely the situation that later faced Mary, the mother of our Lord. Her response to Gabriel’s announcement was, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ (Luke 1:34). And Gabriel’s answer—’the power of the Most High will overshadow you’ (v. 35)—was parallel to what God said to Sarah. But whereas aged, barren Sarah became pregnant by Abraham, young Mary would be with child without ever knowing a man sexually! Why? Because nothing is too hard/wonderful for the Lord!”1
Even the Prophet Isaiah, prophesying about the coming of the Messiah made an allusion to this question about anything being too hard for God. Guzik catches that and writes, “Hard is the same word for wonderful in Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given … And His name will be called Wonderful. Jesus is our “wonderful” One, and He isn’t too hard or wonderful for God to give unto us.”2 When the Angel Gabriel announces the birth of Jesus to Mary he appears to be quoting from this verse in a loose way. He says to Mary who asks him how it can happen since she’s still a virgin. He say in Luke 1:37, “ For nothing will be impossible with God.” My favorite Prophet in the Old Testament, Jeremiah, echos the same idea when Jeremiah speaks back to God and says in Jeremiah 32:17, “Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.”
Believing that nothing is impossible with God is an easy thing to say but when it involves something that’s readily perceived as impossible by all human standards it become a little more difficult to have faith. You have to admit that when Sarah laughed when she heard the Angel say at 99 years of age she was going to have sexual relations with her 100 year old husband and they were going to conceive a child we can understand it. I’m 75. My wife is 70. We would laugh if we heard that we were yet to conceive and have a child! Ross and Oswalt observes, “The Bible is filled with stories of how God did the impossible, worked miracles, overcame seemingly great odds, and finally conquered death. And God expects the believer today to take him at his word, even though it may seem to be laughable folly.”3The resurrection of the dead and life beyond the grave from all appearances is a laughable suggestion. Yet, that’s what God promises to all believers in Jesus.
1 R. Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 258.
2 David Guzik, Genesis, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Ge 18:13–15.
3 Allen Ross and John N. Oswalt, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: Genesis, Exodus, vol. 1 (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2008), 125.