The
basic belief held by Christians for two thousand years is that Jesus was born
of a virgin. The passage from the Bible that underscores this belief is primarily
taken from Matthew 1:18-23. “The birth of Jesus took place like this.
His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the
marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit,
but he didn’t know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care
of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced. While he was trying to figure
a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of
David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived.
God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph,
will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their
sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic sermon to full term: Watch for
this—a virgin will get pregnant
and bear a son; They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for ‘God is with us’).” (The
Message translation of the Bible throughout this article).
The
passage from Matthew references another passage from the Prophet Isaiah which foretells
this bit of divine prophecy: “A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She’ll bear a
son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us).”
Now here’s where I enter with what I
call the “So What Factor.”
The “So What Factor” is the question
I ask myself when I’m wrestling with truths, principles and life values. It
goes something like this: Does it really matter whether I believe this certain
thing or not? If not, then I don’t sweat the details. Let me give you an
example. There are Bible scholars and theologians who spend their lives studying
the Scriptures in an attempt to determine when Jesus is coming back; or put
another way, when the Tribulation will take place; or yet another way, when the
Millennium period will begin. The question I then ask is, “Does the answer to
any of these theological conundrums really matter, or do they have any effect
on my relationship with Jesus? If the answer is No, then I don’t trifle with it
further.
In the case of Jesus being virgin
born – well now . . . this is a big “So What Factor.” The Savior of the world,
the Son of God cannot be just any ordinary two-legged homo sapien. This
personage must be of a quality and character that eclipses any other human
being who lives, has lived, or will live. It simply would not make sense for
salvation to come through someone who is flawed.
So then, how would God present
himself to a world that has fallen into a state of chaos and anarchy? What
could God possibly say or do that would make an impression on any one of us
where we might be inclined to say, “You know, that makes sense.”
Consider the irony of God’s choice
in revealing himself to us. God, who is the Eternal One, created everything
that exists by speaking it into existence. He is awesomely powerful. He could
snuff us out like the flame of a candle. If he were to simply withhold a couple
of seconds of oxygen, every last one of us would be dead in moments.
On the other hand, God did not come
down on us in a heavy-handed manner breathing threats if we didn’t straighten
up and fly right. He did tell us of the blessings if we turned from our wicked
ways. And conversely, he spelled out the troubles we would bring upon ourselves
if we ignored his council and warnings.
Instead, the most powerful being in
all creation chose to present himself to us as a baby, helpless, yet perfect. Only
in this way could God identify with us.
This baby would grow to manhood just
as we all strive to do. He would endure and tolerate abuse, criticism and
insults his whole life. This same Jesus is the one who made each and every one
of us. Yet, the Bible in Isaiah 53 says we despised him. “Who believes what we’ve heard and seen? Who would have thought God’s
saving power would look like this? The servant grew up before
God—a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was
nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was
looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One
look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our
pains he carried—our
disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing
him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped
and tore and crushed him—our sins! He
took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost. We’ve all done our
own thing, gone our own way. And God
has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on him, on him.”
So where do you stand with Jesus? Have
you experienced your sins carried by him to the cross?
Jesus has to be God in order to take
care of the sin problem. I can’t take care of my own sin. Neither can you do a
thing about your sin. Only Jesus can do that. This is why I believe in Jesus,
the perfect Son of God, my Savior.
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