THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION
The beginning of Jesus was not His wonderful miraculous conception and subsequent birth in Bethlehem. Jesus is eternal. Jesus is deity (John 1:1-3). The introduction to the Gospel of John sets forth His eternality (John 1:1-18). Paul wrote, “He [Jesus] is before all things” (Colossians 1:17). Jesus declared His eternality when He stated, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). The phrase, “I am,” is a reference to deity from Exodus 3:14. The miraculous conception of Jesus, often referred to as the Virgin Birth, is one of the most fascinating doctrines in the Bible.
The Birth Defined. By the Virginal Conception [Virgin Birth] we mean that Mary gave birth to a son without normal conception with man. Jesus had no human father. The Bible never states He had a human father! Mary’s conception was by the power of the Holy Spirit. The mystery, and indeed it is a mystery unexplainable by man, can be summed up by the words of an angel to Joseph, “[F]or that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). The angel said the same to Mary, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Holy Spirit shall overcome you; therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).
The Birth Fulfilled Old Testament Prophecy. Seven hundred years before Jesus entered the world, Isaiah prophesied, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (7:14, emp. added). Note that Isaiah emphasizes what the angel emphasized to both Joseph and Mary—conception was miraculous, not the birth. As the entrance of Jesus into the world was beginning to unfold, the angel refers to it as, “This is That,” meaning that this was occurring as the fulfillment of that which “was spoken by the Lord through the prophet [Isaiah]” (Matthew 1:22). God has prophesied these events through His prophet Isaiah and the subsequent birth of Jesus fulfilled the Lord’s prophecy. Inspiration does not say the angel applied the prophecy of Isaiah to the birth of Jesus, but “This is That.” There is a difference.
The Birth’s Importance. The unique conception (Virgin birth) of Jesus is one of the great doctrines of Christianity. One that we cannot and must not surrender to the doubters of God’s book, the Bible. The birth of Jesus carries with it great importance to the Christian and his faith.
First, the birth of Jesus explains the supernatural (deity’s) entrance into the world of humanity. Consequently, the birth of Jesus gives the time of the incarnation. The word incarnation means that God, who is a Spirit, became flesh. John calls Jesus the Word (John 1:1-3) and says that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among men” (John 1:14).
Second, the birth affirms Jesus as standing alone, unique, and supreme among both the millions in ages past and the millions in ages to come. No wonder inspiration said of deity, “To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be like?” (Isaiah 46:5).
Third, if we reject the unique, miraculous conception (Virgin Birth) of Jesus, we reject the historicity, inspiration, infallibility, inerrancy, and authoritativeness of the sacred book! We infer from the implications found in the Bible that one cannot be a faithful Christian and reject the miraculous conception (Virgin Birth) of Jesus!
Lessons from Jesus’ Conception
The phrase “the fullness of times” (Galatians 4:4), when used in reference to Jesus’ entrance into the world, says that God acted in prophecy and events of the history of the Old Testament, creatively and decisively, to bring forth the “desire of the nations” (Haggai 2:7), via the advent of our Savior—the Lord Jesus Christ! No other conception involved such important preparation and resulting in such consequences for the human race. Consider:
Jesus is Savior. The angel stated to Joseph, “And she [Mary] shall bring forth a son; and you shall call His name Jesus; for it is He that shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21, emp. added). Consider:
First, Mary “shall bring forth a son”—no doubts; no ifs!
Second, God named Mary’s son, Jesus. It is the best name Jesus can wear.
Third, “Jesus” is interpreted by the angel as, “He shall save.” “He” and “He alone” is the Savior of mankind (Acts 4:12). The name Jesus and its divine interpretation guarantees the success of Jesus.
Fourth, Jesus never gave Himself for man’s righteousness, but for man’s sinfulness. He did not come to admire the beauties and accomplishments of man, but to remove man’s sin!
Fifth, Everyone needs Jesus! You cannot be saved without Him! The wages of your sin is death (Romans 6:23). Jesus gives life (John 10:10). You can live “soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world” (Titus 2:12), with His help. He is indeed “the help of Jehovah” (Psalms 79:9; 121:2).
Jesus as Immanuel. “Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23, emp. added). Consider:
First, “The Word [deity] became flesh and dwelt among men” (John 1:14) and “He [Jesus] declared [“explained,” Rogers and Rogers 178] Him [the Father]” (John 1:18). In other words Jesus made God known to man! Study Jesus and you know what God, the Father is like. This is why Jesus said, “he that has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:6).
Second, God cannot and does not sin (James 1:13). Jesus as deity (God) lived among men and was subject to all temptations of man (Hebrews 4:15), yet He never sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5; Hebrews 4:15).
Third, all are under sin (Romans 3:9-10) and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). The wages of sin are terminal, lethal—death (Romans 6:23). Man was hopeless, helpless, and lost in sin, but God so loved man that He sent His Son to redeem us from sin (l John 4:9-10; John 3:16; Romans 5:8). Inspiration describes the death of Jesus as “He tasted death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9); i.e. to experience something to the fullest (Hughes, Hebrews 91). Paul explains “that through death He might bring to naught him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). What a paradox—the devil enticed men to sin and be subject to death and Jesus, by His death, defeats the devil and enables man to be redeemed!
Jesus’ Birth Place. “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king” (Matthew 2:1), we find Joseph “went up from Galilee . . . into Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem . . . to enroll himself with Mary” (Luke 2:4-5). Consider:
First, the journey to Bethlehem, in Joseph’s time, was about three days.
Second, Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem fulfills the prophecy of Micah as the birthplace of the “ruler of Israel” (Micah 5:2).
Third, is there significance? I believe so! Consider, Bethlehem means “the house of bread” and Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35).
W. Terry Varner
General Editor
Sufficient Evidence