Video from Matthew Everhard
The Virgin Birth: Christianity Stands or Falls. Luke 1:26-38. [Sermon].
Does the Virgin Birth Really Matter?
"The Advent season crescendos with the birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary. Awkward conversations with children about the definition of “virgin” aside, this assertion — that Jesus was born to a young Nazarene woman, but not as a result of conjugal relations with her betrothed, Joseph, or any other man — is a central claim of Christianity.
It is confessed in the Apostles’ Creed (“conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary”) and the Nicene Creed (“he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary”). Yet the assertion goes even further back.
“Jesus — unlike any other human who ever existed — was born without a human father.”
Aristides (d. AD 134) attests that Christians in his day affirmed that Jesus “from a Hebrew virgin assumed and clothed himself with flesh” (Apology §2), and Irenaeus (d. 130) states, “The Church . . . has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith . . . [including] the birth from a virgin” (Against Heresies 1.10).
It is vital, then, that we have an opportunity each year to reflect on this staggering, foundational fact of Christianity: Jesus — unlike any other human who ever existed — was born without a human father.
‘Born of the Virgin Mary’
Where do we see this in Scripture? Let’s begin with the first part of the creedal phrase, “born of the virgin Mary.”
Though the New Testament regularly teaches the full deity of Jesus, we cannot overlook the emphasis on his humanity. Paul speaks directly about how Jesus was “born of woman” (Galatians 4:4) and “born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). He also affirms that Jesus is a second and greater Adam (Romans 5:14, 19), and that he is “the man Christ Jesus” who mediates between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5). John, Paul, and the author of Hebrews all similarly emphasize how the divine Son “became flesh” (John 1:14), “has come in the flesh” (1 John 4:2), “was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16), and “partook” of “flesh and blood” (Hebrews 2:14). The human birth of Jesus is essential to the New Testament..." from the article: Does the Virgin Birth Really Matter?
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