The Virgin Series

“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!’ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’

“And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’

“And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.” [1]

God broke into history to fulfil His gracious promise delivered following the fall of our first parents in Eden’s Garden. God set the stage for restoration of His fallen creation by sending His angel to announce to a teenage girl that she would deliver a Son. That Son would be called “Immanuel,” meaning “God is with us.” God chose what is to us a stunning means for bringing His Son into the world—stunning because the event is so pedestrian, so ordinary, so common. And yet, the means was anything but routine, for the Son of God was born of a virgin with God as His Father.

God didn’t devise some spectacular event such as having his Son descend from Heaven on a golden staircase, nor did God present His Son in a dramatic fashion such as having Him float down out of the heavens on a brilliant shimmering cloud while bluebirds twittered in the background with doves soaring overhead. Though His Son would share our humanity, even entering into the world out of the womb of a young woman, God didn’t send His Son to be born into royalty, laid on satin pillows and cuddled in the arms of a princess. God seemingly ensured that His Son would be born in the most humble fashion imaginable. It was as if God was determined to ensure that His Son had no particular privilege. God’s Son would be born to a teenage girl with no particular prospect other than to marry a young man and live a quiet, unspectacular life.

We do not worship Mary as do some communions within Christendom. Mary should not be considered to be anyone other than a gracious teenage girl who was submissive to the revealed will of God. She was the vessel chosen to bring the Son of God into this world, but she was not exceptional. This truth bears repeating—Mary was chosen, but she was not exceptional.

It should not be surprising that those who seek to detract from the Word of God, those who would depreciate the message of life presented in the Word, attack this teaching of the virgin birth. For example, adherents of the Mormon cult ridicule the thought that a virgin could become pregnant. Their “prophet,” Brigham Young, wrote, “When the time came that His first-born, the Saviour, should come into the world and take a tabernacle, the Father came Himself and favoured that spirit with a tabernacle instead of letting any other man do it,” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, p. 218). Again, the Mormon prophet writes, “The birth of the Savior was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood—was begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers.” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 8, p. 115). That this view continues as Mormon doctrine is evident from the words of the late Bruce McConkie, who wrote, “There is nothing figurative about his paternity; he was begotten, conceived and born in the normal and natural course of events…” (Mormon Doctrine, by Bruce McConkie, p. 742). In this, Mormons do no better than liberal Christians who likewise reject the thought that God could superintend the birth of His Son by a virgin.