Matthew 1:22,23 - It was a virgin birth

1:22,23 (b)

Let me now say some general things about the virgin birth.

I want to say first of all that I absolutely believe in the virgin birth, and I have no problems whatsoever in doing so. In this short post I want to briefly explain why.

The virgin birth makes perfect sense to me, in fact I think it is a theological necessity. You and I are fully human, and that is it. Jesus is both fully human and fully God. So He is unique, and therefore it is not surprising at all that His conception (actually it is His conception, not the birth, that was unique!) was different from ours. Indeed, I think it is essential that Mary was a virgin, and it makes perfect sense to me.

Then people say that “virgin births don’t happen, so how could it happen”. This is the weakest argument against the virgin birth, and the silliest. It was a miracle, and miracles are by definition highly unusual events.Then we need to remind ourselves who God is. He is the creator of all things. He created everything on earth, He created the solar system, He created the galaxy, He created all the billions of galaxies (100 billion is apparently the latest estimate). Now if God can create all that I am sure that a virgin birth is well within His capabilities.

There is one argument that does seem, at least superficially, to have some substance to it. That argument is that apart from Matthew and Luke, there is no direct reference to the virgin birth in the New Testament preaching. They preached about the resurrection all the time, but not the virgin birth. So the argument goes that the virgin birth was just a piece of mythology added on later. However, a little thought shows that there is a perfectly rational explanation for this. Suppose you are Peter preaching on the first Pentecost and you start proclaiming that Jesus was born of a virgin, then someone in the crowd shouts out “don’t be ridiculous, you don’t get virgin births. Prove it!”. What is Peter going to do? There is no proof or evidence that he can offer. But now suppose someone in the crowd shout out “don’t be ridiculous, people aren’t raised from the dead. Prove it!” The situation is now quite different. First, Peter could say “if Jesus is dead, then show us the body! Oh, you can’t can you, the only tomb you have is an empty one!”. Then he can point to the five hundred plus people who saw the risen Christ. He, and all the apostles, could present clear evidence for the resurrection. And, contrary to the arguments of some sceptics, the gospel is evidence supported. So there is a perfectly good explanation of why they preached the resurrection all the time, but not the virgin birth. Moreover, it is the death and resurrection of Jesus that have an immediate impact on our lives, the virgin birth makes perfect sense, but is not in the same category.