A Virgin Birth? Really??

One of the key doctrines often listed among the "essentials" to biblical Christianity is coming up for "review" this week. Jesus, they tell us, was "born of a virgin." Yeah, right. And I saw a unicorn just the other day. So there are not a few people who protest this virgin-birth concept. It is in the category of "not scientifically possible" and, therefore, not possible at all. So they either simply deny it or they go to lengths to explain things like, "Well, sure, Isaiah predicted a 'virgin birth' (Isa 7:14), but what he really meant was a 'maiden' and the term has been mistranslated ever since." Or something like that. Because, as we all know, just because we worship a Creator does not mean that He has the capacity or will to violate His own created order, right?

That's all well and good, I suppose, if you want to deny God's capabilities while trying to exonerate God, but is our only real evidence that Jesus was born of a virgin that text in Isaiah? The term used by Isaiah -- and, subsequently, Matthew (Matt 1:23) -- is perhaps more accurately "maiden," but "maiden" refers to an unmarried woman and "unmarried" strongly implies a virgin in the language and culture (see Deut 22:13-21, for instance). Mary was baffled when she was told she would bear a child because "I am a virgin" (Luke 1:34). If she meant "I'm a maiden who has had sex," it's a nonsensical objection. So in the NASB, for instance, every use (but one) is translated "virgin" (and that exception is "chaste"). And Isaiah's prophecy was intended as "a sign" to Ahaz. What kind of sign is it if a young woman has sex and bears a son? But let's not dicker over words. What else do we know? We know that Jesus was referred to as "the son of Mary" (Mark 6:3) instead of the standard "son of" his father because everyone understood that Jesus's parentage was "in question." Jesus's opponents sneered at Him. "We were not born of fornication" (John 8:41) because his parentage was in question. Joseph was not His father. And when Joseph was engaged to Mary and found out that she was pregnant, what was his response? He "planned to send her away secretly" (Matt 1:19) because he knew he was not the father. Why didn't he do it? Because an angel of the Lord told him that she had conceived "of the Holy Spirit" (Matt 1:20). Joseph believed in the Virgin Birth.

People have been trying to dismiss the Virgin Birth since its Advent (small play on words there). But it really isn't a question of science or rationality. If there is a God, He can do what He wants and we rightly refer to those things as "miracles." No, the question here is not the Virgin Birth. The assault here is on God. Because if Jesus was not born of a human mother and divine Father, He couldn't save us. He was the promised answer to our sin problem way back in Genesis 3:15, where Eve's Seed would defeat Satan. And Adam's sin nature was not passed on to Jesus, essential to His sinless life. The Virgin Birth is, indeed, essential. It is essential in terms of a reliable Bible, in terms of fulfilled prophecy, and in terms of our means of salvation. Make no mistake. Those who deny it are not denying a story; they're denying God Himself.