The doctrine of the virgin birth is central to the Christian gospel, yet many find it odd that Christians believe something that is so clearly at odds with basic science. God designed humans to procreate through intercourse, so how could Mary give brith to Jesus if she was still a virgin? The Bible certainly doesn’t shy away from the claim that she did (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:26,27, 34) and there are two primary reasons why this claim is important:
The first is that Jesus being born of a virgin affirms his eternality. The New Testament speaks of Jesus being sent to earth from God, which tells us that he existed before he was born as a human baby. The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 4:4: “God sent His Son, born of a woman.” John 1:14 says that Jesus’s birth was the means by which the Word (John’s name for Jesus), which was already in existence, became flesh. In other words, Jesus was no ordinary baby and his existence didn’t begin in Mary’s womb. So it makes sense that he didn’t need to be conceived in the same way that normal babies do.
The other reason for the virgin birth is Jesus’ divinity. Jesus was God’s Son, and as such, he didn’t have a human father in the way the rest of us do. Luke says in his gospel that Jesus was “the son (as was supposed) of Joseph” (Luke 3:23, ESV). When Matthew is describing Jesus’ family tree, he doesn’t speak of Joseph as Jesus’ father; instead he writes: “Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah” (Matthew 1:16). The fact that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary proves that He really is God’s Son.
Furthermore, because Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father, Jesus didn’t inherit Joseph’s sinful nature (Hebrews 7:26). Rather, he retained his sinless, divine, eternal, holy nature that he had had from all eternity past while receiving a proper human, physical body from his mother, Mary. The virgin birth meant that the Incarnated Christ could be fully God and fully man at the same time.
The virgin birth may seem unscientific (as might all of Jesus’ miracles mentioned in the gospels). But why is it so ridiculous to believe that the God who created the entire world and wove the laws of science into the fabric of the universe could operate outside those laws on certain occasions for his own special purposes?
In this case, the virgin birth shows God’s initiative in the salvation story. Jesus’ birth was entirely a work of God’s power, which is completely consistent with the Bible’s teaching on how God works in people’s lives today. Anyone who comes to faith in Christ does so as a result of God’s gracious and powerful initiative. There has never been any other way.
The virgin birth tells us a lot about Jesus. It also tells us a lot about salvation and the way God works throughout history. And if you would like know more about either of those things, we would love for you to visit one of our Sunday services.
