The doctrine of the Virgin Birth of Jesus has become a complex
subject since Biblical Critics over the last century and a half have
disputed the reliability of the accounts. In this first part I shall
only outline the two passages of Scripture in which the story is
unfolded and leave the disputes to a future study.
What the Scriptures Say
Luke Ch 1
26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to
Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a
descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
Luke wishes to make it clear to his readers that the birth of
Jesus was unique. As usual, Luke is meticulous in researching and
stating the facts.
Mary is a virgin.
She is "betrothed" or "pledged". That is, she is not yet
married but, according to Jewish custom of the time, promised in
marriage. This promise was so binding that it took a sort of
divorce to annul it.
Joseph, her betrothed, is a descendant of David.
The angel tells her that she will become pregnant and bear a son.
Luke 1:31 You will be with child and give birth to a
son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The
Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom
will never end."
The child's name is to be Jesus, which means The Salvation of
the LORD.
He will be called God's Son.
He will be Messiah. (An anointed King of David's line).
Mary objects that she is a virgin, so how can she become pregnant.
Luke Ch 1 v 34 "How will this be," Mary asked the
angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be
born will be called the Son of God.
37 For nothing is impossible with God."
Matthew also insists on the virginity of Mary at this time.
Matthew Ch1 v 18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ
came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but
before they came together, she was found to be with child through the
Holy Spirit.
Matthew agrees with Luke that Mary and Joseph were, as yet,
unmarried.
Mary's pregnancy is the work of the Holy Spirit.
19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not
want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce
her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared
to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid
to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her
is from the Holy Spirit.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name
Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
Although they were not actually married the betrothal was a
binding one and needed a divorce to annul it but Joseph tried to
work out a way of dealing with the problem gracefully.
The angel informs him that the pregnancy is a miraculous work
of the Holy Spirit.
Mary's son is to be called Jesus because he will be the
Saviour.
Matthew, being a Jew writing for a Jewish audience, desires to show
that all this is in line with the prophets.
22 All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had
said through the prophet:
23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and
they will call him Immanuel" - which means, "God with us."
What ever critics may say, therefore, it is evident that the
writers of two of the four gospel accounts were determined to assert
the belief that Mary was a virgin when she bore Jesus and that the
birth of Jesus was uniquely the work of God the
Father
through the
Holy Spirit
in order to bring about the
incarnation
of the Son.
(All full biblical quotations in this article are taken from the
New International Version and have been inserted into the text using "QuickVerse
for Windows" from