MARY & THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS

                                             

The virgin birth is the teaching that Mary, the mother of Jesus was a virgin during conception and during the birth of Jesus.  The source of this teaching is three-fold:

1   1)  Matthew 1:18-35.  Here we see that before Mary and Joseph came together in marriage “she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.”   An angel told Joseph, “Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” 

     2)  Luke 1:36-38.  An angel told Mary that she was favored by God and that she would “be with child and give birth to a son.”  She asked the angel how this could be since she had never been with a man and was a virgin?  She was informed that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her and that the child to be born would be called the Son of God.

     3)  Isaiah 7:14 (Repeated in Matthew 1:23 as a fulfillment).  “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

From these passages, it is certainly clear that Jesus’ birth was the result of the Holy Spirit working within Mary’s body. The immaterial (the Spirit) and the material (Mary’s womb) were both involved. Mary, of course, could not impregnate herself, and in that sense she was simply a “vessel.” Only God could perform the miracle of the Incarnation.

However, denying a physical connection between Mary and Jesus would imply that Jesus was not truly human. Scripture teaches that Jesus was fully human, with a physical body like ours. This He received from Mary. At the same time, Jesus was fully God, with an eternal, sinless nature (John 1:14;1 Timothy 3:16;Hebrews 2:14-17.)