Advent: The Virgin Birth
Doctrine
Across Christian denominations, the virgin birth is a doctrine that is virtually uncontested. If you read any church or Christian organization’s doctrinal statement, you will likely see “born of a virgin” in the paragraph describing Jesus’s identity. This doctrine comes from the two accounts of Jesus’s birth found in the first chapters of Matthew and Luke.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
Matthew 1:18-24
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary…. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus…..And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
Luke 1:26-27, 30-31, 35 (ESV)
These scriptures are abundantly clear on two things:
1. Mary was a virgin
2. Jesus was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit
This doctrine is so pervasive and widely acknowledged, we even sing about it at Christmas time! (Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing)
Catholics have a few additions to this doctrine: they believe that Mary was without original sin and that she remained a virgin after Christ’s birth. Generally, those in Protestant denominations reject these ideas based on verses like these: Romans 3:23, Matthew 1:24-25 , Mark 6:3, Matthew 12:46-50.
Regardless of which aspects of this doctrine you hold to, may you be filled with wonder during this third week of Advent as you contemplate the miracle and the fulfilled promise of the virgin birth of Jesus!