“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.
The issue is that if the birth of the Son of God can be jettisoned, then His authority over mankind will be rendered meaningless. If the virgin birth can be disproved or dismissed as though it was but an ancient legend, then the need for God’s intervention for fallen mankind can be dismissed. Man will continue to remain seated on the throne of his own life, and the necessity for a Redeemer will have been refuted. However, we can’t escape the reality that something momentous occurred almost two millennia past. There was a birth unlike any other had ever been or has been since—a virgin brought a child into this world. One major evidence for the uniqueness of the virgin birth is that the primary proof presented by those who doubt the virgin birth is that such an event has never been otherwise observed in history! Of course, that is the point! The virgin birth of our Lord was unique, just as the One born of a virgin was unique!
During the Christmas season Christians recognise that Mary was the virgin chosen to bear the Christ child into this world. We sing hymns commemorating the birth of her firstborn child while she was yet a virgin; but throughout the world, churches tend to go either to one extreme or another when speaking of the virgin Mary. Our Catholic friends, and even some Protestant churches, exalt Mary to a position that is unrealistic. This teenage girl is not the “Queen of Heaven,” though we understand that she was chosen by God to bear His Son into this world. She was but a mortal, though apparently she was a pious young woman who graciously accepted God’s appointment to fulfil this divine assignment. At the other extreme are many evangelical churches that appear to ignore Mary, acting as though they are embarrassed at the thought that God would choose a young girl for this weighty responsibility. Though the Bible does not provide great detail, the Word does reveal Mary’s service to the Lord by bearing God’s Son. If we will honour God, we will seek balance in our treatment of what is written.
THE VIRGIN BIRTH IN PROPHECY — A virgin giving birth has never been witnessed, nor has it been claimed, save for the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. However, that unique birth was prophesied long before the prophecy was fulfilled. If it were to be demonstrated that this birth was foretold even a year or two before it happened, it would be convincing enough. However, if the birth of this child was prophesied millennia before He was born, it would be impossible to dismiss this birth as mere legend.
Many have pointed out that over seven hundred fifty years before the Christ was born of a virgin, Isaiah, spoke of His being brought into the world through the womb of a virgin. Isaiah wrote, “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” [ISAIAH 7:14]. Matthew cites this very passage as he writes of the birth of the Son of God. Thus, the virgin birth of the Son of God was prophesied from the earliest days of the race. To be sure, legends circulated among various religions that told of one god or another raping or seducing some woman and producing an heir. The one raped or seduced was always described in some detail to tell of her beauty as the reason the gods were unable to avoid her. The child resulting from these mythical relations was inevitably a demigod—neither god nor man though always possessing some attributes of a god. But the One born of a virgin was both God and man—He was uniquely the God-man, very God in human flesh. Isn’t that what John tells us when he writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men” [JOHN 1:1-4].
Adherents of multiple cults and infidels wishing to deny the Bible try to reinterpret what is written to deny the unique nature of this virgin-born Son of God. They bluster as though their ignorance of what is written can somehow disprove what the Spirit of God guided John to write. They make much of the fact that there is no definite article in the original language, claiming that the text should read, “the word was a god.” This only demonstrates the pronounced ignorance of what they think they know. Jude has accurately described such people when he wrote, “These men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend” [JUDE 10 NET BIBLE].
We needn’t wade too far into the weeds, but it is sufficient to note that scholars have studied this issue extensively, pointing to the Granville-Sharpe rule which states, “when two singular common nouns are used to describe a person, and those two nouns are joined by an additive conjunction, and the definite article precedes the first noun but not the second, then both nouns refer to the same person.” This principle of grammar holds true in all languages. Anyone reading the passage from John’s Gospel in the original language will note that the rule applies to this FOURTH VERSE. Hence, the Word, Jesus, was Himself very God. Jesus is the True and Living God.
Nor should we imagine that the birth of the Son of God to a virgin was eagerly embraced by those living in that ancient day. Even Joseph, to whom Mary was betrothed, was skeptical of her condition when he was made aware of what was happening. The Apostle Levi [see MATTHEW 9:9], has written of the inner turmoil Joseph experienced.
In Matthew’s Gospel we are informed, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel’
(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus” [MATTHEW 1:18-25].
Joseph could see that his betrothed wife was pregnant, and he was certain that he was not responsible for her condition. The only reasonable conclusion would be that Mary had been unfaithful—she had violated her pledge of purity to her betrothed husband. Perhaps she could concoct an explanation, but the evidence was stacked against any story she might create. Joseph, being sensible, could never accept the virgin birth of the child Mary carried if the angel of the Lord had not appeared to him.
A virgin bearing a child without sexual intercourse was preposterous. To even imagine such a thing could happen was crazy, unimaginable. However, after Joseph was convinced by a message from God’s angel, this good man—literally a boy of no more than perhaps sixteen years of age—would accept all the questions mirrored in the faces of those who knew him. He would tolerate all the ridicule that would undoubtedly attend the birth of this child so that he might honour the Lord God. Even until He presented His life as the sacrifice for fallen humanity, those who knew Jesus in that distant day were prone to cast into His face the presumed immorality of His mother. Here is one example of the unspoken ridicule that has been provided in the Gospel of John.
Jesus was confronted by the scribes and the Pharisees accusing Him of false testimony concerning Himself and His Father. After an extended back-and-forth, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father” [JOHN 8:34-38].
Angered, they blustered, anticipating that their retort would silence His challenge. “Abraham is our father” [JOHN 8:39a]. Their insistence compelled Jesus to caution them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did” [JOHN 8:39b-41a].
If the reaction of the religious leaders is any indication, Jesus’ words struck a nerve. Unable to formulate a cogent response, they blustered like school yard bullies. These religious zealots responded by giving voice to the charge concerning Jesus of Nazareth that had been bruited about from the days even before His birth. The religious leaders raged, “We were not born of sexual immorality” [JOHN 8:41]. Obviously, the slander about Jesus did not lie far beneath the surface as it bubbled up immediately. They couldn’t mount an argument containing any merit to the challenge that Jesus raised, so, like angry children on the playground they resorted to taunts. Their response was reminiscent of much of the political discourse of this day, or retorts that would be found on contemporary social media. Few people, even in an academic environment, are prepared to hear an intellectual challenge to their beliefs. So, those unable to enter into civil dialogue respond with choler, with vituperation, with unmitigated rage.
I will pause to note that this is one excellent reason for Christians to avoid all social media. The intellectual climate definitely goes down by multiple degrees each time an individual interacts with other “scholars” posting on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, on Tok-tok or whatever social platform is the flavour of the day. Such ignorance should never have a place in Christian discourse. The people of God must train themselves to state the facts, relying on God and His Spirit to speak to the heart of those to whom they speak. The mob may be enraged, and they may indeed stone you, but you are to rely upon the Spirit of Christ speaking through you, just as Jesus promised. His power will stand you in good stead in your interactions with the world.
The world has no argument to counter the work of God. This is especially true since the work of God is so public. Presenting the claims of the Risen Lord, the Apostle Paul confronted Festus, Governor of Judea, seated together with Agrippa and his wife, Bernice. Paul spoke of the manner in which God works when he said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner” [ACTS 26:25-26].
Because the work of God cannot be denied and because it is performed openly, those identified with this dying world can only resort to curses, to crude comments, to feeble attempts at ridicule and slander. That was what was done in the days when Jesus walked the dusty paths of ancient Judea, and it is what is done throughout Canada in this day. Lost people can mount no argument against a godly man or against a godly woman who quietly stands with the confidence born of the indwelling Spirit of God to assert, “Thus saith the Lord!”
All the slander in the world cannot change the truth that a history-changing event took place in a tiny village situated in an out-of-the-way part of the Roman Empire almost two millennia past. That dramatic event superficially was the birth of a child. To be sure, the birth of a child could possibly become world-wide news in this day; but such news will not long persist in this day. If a child should be born to a famous actress or some internet sensation, there will be multiple notices posted on multiplied sites. If the child is born into royalty, news sites will clamour for a picture of the child, or rush to be the first to publish the name of the child. However, the birth of Jesus caused no rush by reporters. In fact, the factor that was noteworthy was that the child was born without a human father. The child was born to a virgin, a teenage girl who was undistinguished from thousands of other teenage girls living in that small Roman-occupied region.
A child was born to a mother who lived under the most humble conditions imaginable. The announcement of His birth was delivered, not to eager reporters waiting to publish what had taken place, but to men engaged in the most humble, the most pedestrian occupation in that ancient day. Shepherds tending their flocks were startled by an angel who appeared to them, announcing, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” [LUKE 2:10-12].
As if an angel appearing to you with an announcement of God’s work wouldn’t be enough to startle anyone into some sort of action, as soon as the angel announced the birth of this child, there appeared with that divine messenger “a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.’
[LUKE 2:13-14]
You can be certain that these shepherds practically ran into Bethlehem. Nearing Bethlehem, every cave in that immediate vicinity was subjected to careful investigation until they discovered that one particular cave in which an infant was laid in a manger—a feed trough where untold generations of sheep had fed. Resting near the child, perhaps reclining in the straw, they witnessed a young mother and the young man who was her husband. The shepherds were granted a privilege, the significance of which not even they were like able to fully comprehend. They only knew that angels had announced something wonderful, and they had been granted this high privilege of being witnesses to something that revealed the glory of God in a way no one could have expected.
These shepherds may not have been reporters in the sense we think of reporters, but they faithfully “reported the message they were told about this child” [LUKE 2:17 CSB]. Well, what else would we expect these men would do? A throng of angels had appeared after the first angel had given them such a precise description of what they would find at that very time in the little village called Bethlehem. The angel had specifically informed them that this child whom they would find lying in a rude manger was Christ the Lord. An angel wouldn’t lie about such a thing, would he? And who among them would miss the opportunity to see the promised Messiah? No one of them would dare remain behind, missing this occasion.
I should imagine that each of those shepherds would speak of what happened for the remainder of their lives. And I am equally assured that everyone who heard what the shepherds said, wondered at what they heard. However, that young mother, watching her child lying in the manger, “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” [LUKE 2:19]. That is precisely what we would expect of her. As a young virgin, Mary had accepted the assignment divinely given her when Gabriel announced that she would bear a son into the world, but this would not be just any little boy. According to the Word of the Lord delivered through Gabriel, God’s holy messenger, the child Mary would bring into the world would be called “holy—the Son of God.” Now, the arrival of these shepherds provided additional verification of what she had received and believed nine months earlier. Perhaps she didn’t need verification, but it was verification, nonetheless.
We read, “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them” [LUKE 2:20]. We cannot doubt that their wonder, their praise of God’s grace, their worship of the Living God, was shared by all who heard their account. However, the vast number of people living at that time, even of those living in Judea during those days, never heard of this birth. Those that did hear would respond by either glorifying God because He was at work in the world and because He was fulfilling the promise He had given so many years in the past, or they would dismiss what was said as so outlandish that it surely never happened. That is what happens in this day whenever a follower of the Christ announces forgiveness of sin and life in the Beloved Son for all who look to Him in faith. People either believe the message of life and praise God for His grace and goodness, or they ridicule the message as fantastic while they continue living without God and without hope in the world.
The Word of God is not a science text, but it is scientific. No tenet of science is violated when we accept the Word of God as valid and vindicated. Science is but the discovery of truth, verification of the truth when it is discovered, and communication of that which is now verified. That is how it is for the Word of God. “We walk by faith, not by sight” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:7]. I will believe God and not contemporary philosophy.
THE VIRGIN BIRTH AS HISTORY — There is no question but that something momentous happened in an obscure village located in Judea two millennia past. The birth of a child changed the course of history. After His birth, the genealogical records of the Jews revealed that He was uniquely situated to fulfil the predictions concerning His presence. Those same genealogical records should have served to alert the nation to the fact that this child, and no other, must be the One prophesied for so many centuries as the coming Messiah. A few were anticipating His coming, but the most of the people were unaware of His coming. Religious leaders, especially, should have been looking for Him to come.
Remember, the genealogical records were meticulously maintained in the Temple. Had there been an irregularity in those records, you may be assured that those opposed to Jesus as the promised Messiah would have exposed that error. The fact that the religious leaders did not oppose Jesus on this basis indicates that they couldn’t do so. Moreover, if the religious scholars had but taken time to review the records, they would have known that Jesus must be the long-promised Messiah.
I am always astounded when I witness the response of religious scholars to the queries of a duplicitous king. Here is the account as Matthew gives it. “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
‘“And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.”’”
[MATTHEW 2:1-6].
Knowing what is written in Scripture and believing the Scriptures are two different things. These scholars knew where Messiah was born, and they should have known when Messiah was born, but they didn’t believe what was promised.
The identification of the Messiah was again something that should have been known to those present in Judea in those days. Levi gives us the genealogy of Jesus, tracing His lineage from Abraham to Joseph, who was the direct descendant of David through Jeconiah. Why is this important? Precisely because Jeconiah, identified as Coniah in Jeremiah’s writings, provided the legal lineage through which Messiah would have claim on the Throne of David.
Jeconiah was the last king to occupy the Throne of David. God said through Jeremiah,
“Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot,
a vessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
into a land that they do not know?
O land, land, land,
hear the word of the LORD!
Thus says the LORD:
“‘Write this man down as childless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
for none of his offspring shall succeed
in sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah.’”
[JEREMIAH 22:28-30]
No one who traced their lineage from Coniah would ever be seated on David’s Throne. Any individual attempting to lay claim to the throne of David could be exposed as a fraud in short order if their lineage was to be traced through Coniah. Either this is demonstrably true, or Scripture has perpetuated a lie. Jeconiah was the last descendent of David to be seated on the throne of Judah! This is a matter of record.
If no descendent from the lineage of Jeconiah can be seated as king on the Throne of David, then how is Jesus to be the One seated on David’s Throne? The answer to that seeming conundrum is revealed as we search the lineage of the Christ through Mary. As Doctor Luke provides that lineage, we note that he traces backward from Joseph through Nathan, the third of four sons of David by Bathsheba [see 2 SAMUEL 5:14; 1 CHRONICLES 3:5]. According to the meticulous records that were maintained in the Temple by Jewish scholars, Jesus of Nazareth had a legal claim on the Throne of David since He was the firstborn child claimed by Joseph who was a direct descendent of David through Jeconiah. Jesus is the legal claimant of the right to be seated on the Throne of David.
More than a legal claim, Jesus had a genealogical claim to the right to be the heir to the Throne of David as a descendent of David through Nathan. Because He could trace His lineage to David through Nathan, Jesus circumvented the curse that had been pronounced on Jeconiah. The scholars could have readily verified this claim through exerting even a modicum of effort by accessing the genealogical records maintained in the Temple. Jesus of Nazareth had both a legal and a moral claim on David’s Throne. No other individual could advance such a claim to this august title.
However, it appears to have been difficult, if not impossible, for the religious leaders to surrender power once they had tasted the heady elixir that fueled their hold on power. Whether Pharisees or Sadducees was immaterial, both alike hungered for power! They saw Jesus as a threat to their hold on power, and they could brook no threat to their power. It was the perceived threat to their position and the potential loss of power that fuelled their hostility toward Jesus. In their view, Jesus was a pretender to the Throne of David, not because the data excluded Him, but because of their own warped and twisted view of Him. They didn’t want to know whether His claim was legitimate. They wanted to ensure that this man didn’t spoil their power. Jesus had to be removed as a threat.
THE VIRGIN BIRTH AS THEOLOGY — If the Incarnation is a myth, then we who look to Jesus as Master have “mythed” the boat. If there was no Incarnation, no birth of Jesus to a virgin, then there is no basis for the Faith we have embraced. The testimony that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, rests solidly on the fact that He was born of the virgin.
World events in recent months should convince any rational person that humanity is broken, and there appears to be no remedy. Nations testing American resolve while the United States, weakened as the culture rushes toward internal tribalism, are a disturbing part of modern life. An American president who seems unable to think clearly or to unite an increasingly factitious nation gives evidence of continued turmoil. A novel virus bearing a “made in China” label and the seemingly endless mutations that virus spawns keeps the world in disarray as politicians seem incapable of doing anything except react in fear, always demanding that everyone surrender to fear. Without the Virgin Birth of the Christ, we appear hopelessly destined to extinguish the race, ending our lives in desperation and without a future. The manner in which God invaded history is designed to present His Son as the perfect sacrifice for broken humanity.
Allow me to take a moment to provide some understanding of the virgin birth as a part of Israel’s history. Ben Myers has pointed to Israel’s history as a statement of the necessity of the virgin birth. [2] He traces Israel’s story, beginning with the promise to Abraham and Sarah that Sarah would bear a child in her old age. The child was indeed born when Abraham was nearly one hundred years of age. They named that little boy “Laughter,” because Sarah laughed when she overheard the LORD tell Abraham that she would have a child.
Myers traces the story of God’s repeated interventions in history to Moses, noting that although Moses’ conception was not miraculous, his infancy is marked by a miraculous escape from danger. Delivered from murder at the hands of a scheming Pharaoh Moses was smuggled directly into the heart of Egyptian power where he would be raised as though born into Egyptian royalty. Moses would become the great Law Giver and Deliverer, delivering God’s people as he himself had been delivered as a baby.
After entering the Promised Land, God raised up judges to lead His people. Among these judges, arguably the greatest is Samson. We are told that the birth of Samson is another of those miraculous births. Samson’s mother was unable to conceive. However, she was visited by an angel who told her that she would give birth to a saviour who would triumph over the Philistines who were then oppressing Israel. Of course, it was just as the angel said, and Israel’s deliverance was set in motion with a birth.
Following the judges, we witness God raising up prophets and kings who provide guidance and deliverance for His people. This period in Israel’s history begins with Hannah, a grieving woman who is unable to conceive. In answer to her prayer, Hannah becomes pregnant in what can only be described as a miracle, and her child Samuel becomes the prophet who will anoint the first of Israel’s kings. Samuel is the first in the line of Hebrew prophets.
Israel turns from serving the Lord and is sent into exile. In their brokenness during captivity, the prophet of God speaks of the deliverance that God is sending to the joy of a miraculous pregnancy. Listen as Isaiah speaks of what is coming.
“‘Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
break forth into singing and cry aloud,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than the children of her who is married,’ says the LORD.
‘Enlarge the place of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,
and your offspring will possess the nations
and will people the desolate cities.’
…
“All your children shall be taught by the LORD,
and great shall be the peace of your children.”
[ISAIAH 54:1-3, 13]
Even a casual review of what has been written in the Word of God convinces us that pregnancy and childbirth played an important role in the history of God’s covenant with Israel. So long as Hebrew women continued to bear children, the promise would remain and hope would always burn in the heart of each member of the nation. Had the women ever ceased to bear children, then the promise of blessing for all people would have failed. Throughout the long years of Israel’s history, each newborn child served as a reminder of God’s promise to bless all peoples through the descendants of Abraham. Every male child was physically marked by circumcision as a reminder that their bodies were not their own, but that they were part of God’s promise to bless mankind through Israel.
Myers insightfully notes, “Against this backdrop it should come as no surprise to find Israel’s Messiah entering the world by means of a miraculous pregnancy. In the Gospel of Luke, the first character we meet is another faithful Jewish woman who can’t conceive: Elizabeth.” [3]
This, then, is the backdrop for the birth of Jesus to the young girl named Mary. Just as Samson’s mother was visited by an angel, so Elizabeth was visited by an angel who promised that she would bear a child. After Elizabeth had become pregnant, we are introduced to Mary, a cousin of Elizabeth. Mary, like Elizabeth, had been visited by an angel who told her that she would become pregnant, but her pregnancy would not be as the normal course for mankind. Mary would become pregnant despite being a virgin. God Himself, the Creator Who gives life to all, would create a child in her womb. This child would be the Son of God, for God would be His Father. That God could create a child in the virgin’s womb is not difficult to accept if we accept that He created our first father from the dust of the ground, and if we accept that He created our first mother from a piece of the side of the first man. God is the Creator, and He gives life to all.
Mary’s response is provided in her Magnificat [see LUKE 1:46-55]. This young girl responds with simple trust and humility at being entrusted to participate in God’s ongoing work of blessing mankind. Her joy is the same joy that made Sarah laugh. It is the joy that wiped away Hannah’s tears. It is Israel’s joy that God’s promise is fulfilled.
When we confess that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, we aren’t simply using words or mindlessly reciting some theological jargon. The virgin birth of Christ should not be thought of as a random miracle story. That a virgin should give birth to the Son of God is a reminder that our faith has deep roots in Israel’s story and Israel’s Scriptures. The coming of the Saviour was the culmination of the whole great story of God’s loving faithfulness to the people of Israel. The confession we Christians make that Jesus is “born of the Virgin Mary,” should allow us to see Him silhouetted against the backdrop of God’s promise to Abraham, the exodus from Egypt, the rule of the judges, the coming of the prophets, and the promised deliverance from exile. Our faith stands in the long lineage of the tiny nation that God chose so many millennia past.
Looking once again to the writings cited so frequently to this point, Myers observes, “The meaning of history is not power and empire, but promise and trust. The secret of history is revealed when a woman, insignificant to the eyes of the world, responds in joy to God’s promise and bears that promise into the world in her own body.” [4] Amen.
There is the Christmas story in a succinct statement. An insignificant teenage girl responds in joy to God’s promise, and all mankind is blessed. What blessing awaits our world when you and I rejoice in God’s blessing and goodness in our own lives? What grace awaits many people when you, or when I, accept God’s appointment to serve Him and to glorify His Name?
Of course, there will be no blessing until we receive the greatest blessing imaginable, the blessing of salvation. Until we are set free from condemnation and sin, there is no possibility of us ever being a blessing to others—not to our own family or to lost people. The call of God now delivered to each person is to receive His Son, crucified as your sacrifice because of your brokenness, and raised to life for your justification. Believe Christ now. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] These thoughts are provided from, Ben Myers, The Apostles’ Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism, Todd Hains Jeff Reimer, and Sarah Awa (ed.), Christian Essentials (Lexham Press, Bellingham, WA 2018) 50-54
[3] Myers, ibid.
[4] Myers, ibid.
