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The Virgin Birth of Christ |
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(1) Its importance |
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The truth that Christ was born of a virgin is one of great importance. On it hangs the fact that He was Son of God. Had he been simply born as other men as the result of normal sexual relations he could at most have been a great and good religious teacher or prophet. However, both the Gospel writers, Matthew and Luke, make it clear that Christ was more than that. Matthew refers to the name given to the virgin's child in Isaiah 7:14 - Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, 'God with us' (Matthew 1:23). Luke on the other hand quotes the angel Gabriel as saying that because Christ was born as a result of the action of the Holy Spirit the child would be called Son of God (Luke 1:35). Putting these two thoughts together what we have effectively is what it stated in Hebrews 1:1/2, "God... in [the person of the] Son". All the writers in the New Testament state either expressly or by implication that Jesus is the Son of God. The only two writers that say it by implication are James and Jude, the former referring to the Lord and Father (Father implies a Son) and the latter saying: "God the Father and... Jesus Christ" (again, the use of Father implies a Son). No writer expressly or by implication says that Jesus is not the Son of God. |
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On the fact that Jesus was the Son of God hangs a good deal. Who He was gives authority to his word and value to his work. It was said of him that he spoke as one "having authority" (Matthew 7:29) and "with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him" (Mark 1:27). He did not have to say "In the name of" or even "The scripture says" (Romans 10:11), but rather "I say unto you" (Matthew 5:18). Had Christ been no more than a man of Adam's race would his blood have cleansed from sin ? Would such an one have been able to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29) ? Could anyone trust in such an one ? Besides this, because of who He is He has been established heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2). Would God have given such a place to anyone who was no more than a man of Adam's race ? The angels have been subjected to him (1 Peter 3:22) and all power has been given to him in heaven and upon earth (Matthew 28:18). Is this to one essentially no greater than ourselves ? The church is to be the bride of Christ; not just one individual. Is this not because it needs the whole church to be an adequate complement to Christ ? Would the judgement of the whole world have been committed to one who was less than the Son of God (Acts 17:31) ? |
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Matthew and Luke both write of Christ's nativity; Matthew from Joseph's point of view and Luke, Mary's. Matthew tells of how Christ was protected from the enemy without. The little child Jesus was taken to Egypt because Herod sought to destroy him. Luke rather tells us of the godly character of the persons into whose care God had entrusted Jesus. Christ was not brought up by persons who had no place for God in their lives. |
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Mark does not speak of the virgin birth of Christ, but then he does not write of Christ's nativity at all; rather he begins his narrative with the ministry of John the Baptist leading onto Christ's public ministry. He certainly says nothing at all to suggest that he did not believe in the virgin birth of Christ or suggest any alternative version of his nativity. In chapter 6 of his Gospel it is to be noted that Christ is spoken of by some of the public as son of Mary, perhaps indicating that there were those that recognised that he was not the natural son of Joseph. However, in Luke 4:22 and John 6:42 others of the public refer to him as son of Joseph, which was in fact the apparent position because Joseph was living with Mary at the time of his birth and thereafter. Had the conception been subsequent to the time when Joseph started living with Mary it would have been made much more difficult for anyone to believe that Christ was divinely conceived. It may also be noted that in John's Gospel Philip refers to Christ as son of Joseph (John 1:43-45) and in Luke 2:48/49 Mary refers to Joseph when speaking to Jesus as "thy father", perhaps because Joseph apparently held that place at the time, but in his reply Jesus effectively reminded them of who his Father really was. Incidentally, if he were not born of the virgin the alternative would be that he was a bastard child. In John's Gospel there is again no account of the nativity of Jesus, but the Pharisees are quoted as saying to Christ: "We are not born of fornication; we have one father, God" (John 8:41); perhaps insinuating that Jesus was born of fornication. Had they heard of the circumstances of his birth, but not believed it was a birth without a man being involved, they would no doubt have assumed that |