Introduction:
A. Once there was a Sunday school teacher who asked her class of kindergarteners to draw a picture of the manger scene when Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
1. All the children went to work immediately on their pictures.
2. As the teacher moved from student to student looking at their pictures, she noticed something interesting in the corner of one of the student’s pictures.
3. In the corner of one student’s sketch was a very plump, jolly-looking fellow.
4. As the teacher pointed to the portly character, she asked: “Tell me about this person.”
5. “Oh,” replied the young student, “that’s Round John Virgin.”
6. I can see how a child might think the song was saying “round John virgin” … “silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright, round yon virgin mother and child.”
7. It’s easy for all of us to get confused about things!
B. Today, I want us to explore the question: “Does the Virgin Birth Matter?”
1. I prefer to refer to it as the “virgin conception,” because it was the conception and not the birth itself was the real miracle, but either way, it’s a miraculous thing.
2. The Bible reports that Mary was a virgin at the time she conceived Jesus and that she continued to be a virgin until Jesus was born.
3. Mary and Joseph were married between the time of the miraculous conception and the birth in Bethlehem.
4. But let’s ask the question: Does it matter that, Jesus, the Son of God was conceived without the aid of a human father through the divine action of the Holy Spirit?
C. As you can imagine, the virgin conception and birth of Jesus is something that skeptics like to make fun of.
1. The virgin conception and birth is one part of the Jesus story that skeptics love to try to shoot holes in because it sounds so outlandish to them.
2. For example: Bernard Katz, a biophysicist & Nobel Prize winner, refers to the virgin birth as an “immaculate deception.”
3. Atheist Richard Dawkins says the virgin birth and the resurrection of Jesus and Lazarus and the Old Testament miracles are “religious propaganda which is very effective with an audience of unsophisticates & children.”
4. Thomas Jefferson said: “The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.”
5. These comments aren’t surprising considering that they come from an unbelieving Jew, an atheist, and a deist.
D. But there are also some believers who struggle with the virgin birth and find it embarrassing and wish it weren’t part of the story.
1. There are Christians who believe that the virgin birth is something that we could dispense with, without it affecting the overall message of the gospel.
2. For example, Rob Bell, the controversial author of “Love Wins,” former pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in the U.S, who was once named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, wrote, “What if tomorrow someone digs up definitive proof that Jesus had a real, earthly, biological father named Larry, and archaeologists find Larry’s tomb and do DNA samples and prove beyond a shadow of doubt that the virgin birth was just a bit of mythologizing the gospel writers threw in to appeal to the followers of the Mithra and Dionysian religious cults that were hugely popular at the time of Jesus, whose gods had virgin births? Would you still be a Christian? Is the way of Jesus still the best possible way to live?”
3. In other words, we could still have Christianity without a virgin-born Savior.
4. People who believe that would say that the manner of His birth contributes nothing to our salvation or to the proclamation of the gospel.
E. Advocates of the view that the virgin birth doesn’t matter often point out such facts as these:
1. We have 4 Gospels, but only 2 (Mt. & Lk.) explicitly say He was born of a virgin.
2. The apostle Paul, in all of his 13 NT letters, never once makes a direct reference to the VB.
3. Likewise the letters of Peter, John, James, & Hebrews don’t mention the virgin birth.
4. When the Gospel was preached in the Book of Acts, it was preached without reference to the virgin birth and they would suggest that therefore it can be preached that way now.
F. So, back to our original question: Does the virgin birth really matter?
1. Is the virgin birth important to our faith, or can we just ignore it, especially since it is an idea so hard to “sell” to non-believers?
2. I want to suggest that it does matter - in fact, that it matters a great deal and that we should not so easily give it up, even though non-believers find it hard to accept.
I. What the Gospels Say about the Virgin Birth.
A. So, as I mentioned earlier, only 2 of the 4 gospels present information about the virgin birth.
1. Luke tells us about the message from the angel Gabriel that was given to Mary.
2. Matthew tells about the message from the angel that came to Joseph.
B. Let’s start with the message given to Mary: 26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. 30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”
34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?”
35 The angel replied to her, “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. 36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:26-38)
C. Now let’s look at the message given to Jospeh: 18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her 25 but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-25)
D. These passages are very clear and leave no doubt about the miraculous conception of Jesus in the virgin Mary.
1. Let’s spend the rest of our sermon time discussing why the virgin birth matters.
II. Why the Virgin Birth Matters
A. First, it matters for our confidence in Scripture.
1. It is true that only 2 of the 4 Gospels tell of the virgin birth, but that means that half of them do and that testimony is hard to ignore.
2. Since so much in the Gospel is verifiable history, we should be very cautious about saying something isn’t true.
3. Only 1 Gospel tells anything about Jesus’ childhood, but that doesn’t suggest He was never a child, does it?
4. Paul wrote that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).
5. That means we had better be careful about disregarding parts of it that we find hard to grasp or that don’t appeal to us – otherwise, there might not be much left!!
6. If we can’t believe the part referring to the virgin birth, how do we believe the part that says we’re saved by grace or that we can be saved at all?
7. To reject the virgin birth - or any other part of Scripture - leaves us with a piece-meal Bible, and the parts that are left are more likely to reflect our thinking rather than God’s.
8. Earlier in the sermon, I quoted from Thomas Jefferson, and previously, I’ve mentioned the book Thomas Jefferson wrote that is called The Jefferson Bible.
a. Jefferson took the Bible and cut out from it all references to the miraculous.
b. Why did he do that? Because he was a rationalist and he, therefore, automatically rejected anything miraculous.
c. He was a big fan of Jesus’ life and moral teachings, but he did not believe that Jesus was God.
9. The Bible is either inspired Scripture worthy of our trust - or it is not, but we can’t pick and choose what parts we will believe.
B. Second, the virgin birth matters for our concept of God.
1. Here’s the question: Do we believe in a God of infinite power, or don’t we?
2. If God created heaven and earth, Adam and Even and everything else, as Scripture says He did, then what’s the big deal about causing a virgin to conceive a baby?
3. It’s really of no degree of difficulty where God is concerned.
4. So, when people doubt or question the virgin birth, then they’re really doubting and questioning the power of Almighty God.
5. Doesn’t Scripture teach us that “With God all things are possible?” (Mt. 1:37; 19:26)
a. Do we believe that? Do we believe that “all things” are possible with God, or do we believe that only “some things” are possible with God?
b. Or maybe we believe that “most things” are possible with God, but not “all things.”
6. Denying or questioning the virgin birth raises a huge problem: If God couldn’t cause Mary to conceive and give birth without the help of a human husband, then how do we know He can do anything?
7. Either God is Almighty God, or He isn’t and if He isn’t, we have much bigger problems than the virgin birth.
8. The virgin birth matters because it touches directly on how and what we think about God.
C. Third, the virgin birth matters for our understanding of Jesus.
1. The virgin birth brings us face-to-face with a foundational principle of our Christian faith - the Incarnation of Christ.
2. “Incarnation” literally means “enfleshment” - what the Gospel of John describes in the opening words of his Gospel: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men…14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Jn. 1:1-4, 14)
3. It’s obvious that this “Word” who was “with God” in the beginning, and who “was God,” and who became flesh is Jesus, the Song of God.
4. The New Testament presents Jesus as both God and man - God in the flesh.
5. The apostle Paul explained: “11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works. (Titus 2:11-14)
a. Notice what all is contained in that phrase “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ”: Jesus, the man, is also God, also our Savior, and He is also “the Christ,” the Messiah of Israel.
b. And He “gave himself for us to redeem us” – to purchase our freedom and salvation.
6. In the letter to the Colossians, the apostle Paul explained:
a. “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (Jesus) (1:19).
b. “For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ (2:9).
c. In other words, everything that is true of God, is true of Jesus.
7. So, let’s ask this question: How did Jesus get that way? How did Deity become a man?
a. How did the Word become flesh?
b. How is it that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine?
c. The answer is: the virgin birth – it was the union of deity with humanity that produced a unique Being, Jesus the Son of God.
8. Some people argue that the virgin birth was “necessary” for that to happen.
a. I don’t know if that’s true or not, since Scripture never says that, and I want to be careful about making claims Scripture doesn’t make.
b. Maybe the Word could have become flesh in some other way; but that’s way above my pay grade to say.
9. The point is, that’s how the Word did become flesh, according to both Matthew and Luke. a. Whether it was the only possible way or not, I don’t know.
b. But it had to happen some way, and Scripture says the virgin birth is the way it happened.
10. So. we can’t really appreciate the nature of Jesus without it, can we?
a. If we’re questioning it or doubting it, then we really have no way of knowing exactly Who Jesus is.
b. The virgin birth matters for knowing who Jesus is!
D. Fourth, the virgin birth matters for our sense of Wonder.
1. It would be a huge mistake to turn the question of the virgin birth into some sort of clinical or philosophical discussion, because that’s not what Scripture emphasizes.
2. What it does emphasize is the majesty and wonder of it all, and we desperately need that sense of wonder.
3. The virgin birth reminds us that what we’re talking about is so much greater than we are, so much greater than we can even imagine.
a. We can only believe it or not believe it, but in no way we can comprehend it.
4. Can you imagine the wonder Mary had as she learned she was to give birth to the Son of God?
a. Can you imagine the wonder Joseph had, as he learned that his fiancée had not been unfaithful to him, but rather that God had intervened, and was going to use both of them to bring the Savior of the world into the world. (Mt. 1:20-21)
b. Imagine the wonder of Mary and Joseph as both of the angels basically said to them, “Don’t be afraid, this is a God thing.”
5. Imagine their wonder as they realized that the birth of their child would fulfill words spoken by Isaiah, the prophet of God, 800 yrs. earlier, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
6. Imagine the wonder of realizing that “Immanuel” didn’t just mean “God is on our side,” but rather it meant that “God is present with us, here, right now, in the person of this child.”
7. Finally, after all these centuries of waiting, the Savior had come - Mary would soon give birth to Him!
8. Madeleine L’Engle, was an American author of fiction and non-fiction who died in 2007 at 88 years of age.
a. She is best known for writing “A Wrinkle in Time” and its sequels.
b. Her works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in modern science.
c. Here’s an interesting quote from her about the virgin birth: “The virgin birth has never been a major stumbling block in my struggle with Christianity; it’s far less mind boggling than the Power of all Creation stooping so low as to become one of us.”
10. I believe that we need to share in that wonder today.
a. I want to encourage us to marvel at the fact that God did all this to give us the Savior we so desperately need because of our sins.
b. Let’s marvel that God was “with us” in the person of Jesus and that God is now “with us” in the person of the Holy Spirit who is in us.
c. And let’s marvel that this same God, who made the universe, still rules the universe, and the same God, who brought Jesus into the world the first time, will one day send Him back a second time to take us home to heaven.
Conclusion:
A. So, does the virgin birth matter?
1. The virgin birth matters only if Scripture matters.
2. The virgin birth matters only if God matters.
3. The virgin birth matters only if Jesus matters.
4. And the virgin birth matters only if our sense of wonder means anything at all.
5. So, when you hear someone say, “I don’t think the virgin birth matters all that much,” ask them, “Really? Really? How could something that wonderful NOT matter?”
B. I want to encourage us to put our whole trust in God and in God’s Word.
1. If we believe in the God described in the Bible, then we must believe that our God has all power and wisdom and goodness.
2. And if we believe in the God described in the Bible, then we must believe that what God tells us in His Word is true and we must not doubt it or question it.
3. If we don’t trust in God and God’s Word fully, then our faith will lack assurance and power.
4. If we don’t trust in God and God’s Word fully, then we are by default creating our own God and putting our own words in his mouth.
5. In the end, if we don’t believe in who Jesus really is…God in the flesh, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world…then we will die in our sins.
6. That’s what Jesus said in John 8: “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” (Jn. 8:23-24)
7. Let’s put our faith in Jesus: Who is God in the flesh, born of a virgin, died on a cross, buried in a tomb, raised on the 3rd day, and coming again.
8. What a wonderful and marvelous Savior is Jesus – Have you put all your trust in Him?
Resource:
Sermon “Does the Virgin Birth Matter?” by Tommy South
