Sermon
The Virgin Birth
December 16-17, 2000
Pastor Leighton Sheley

I'll invite you now to take your Bibles and open to Matthew chapter 1. If you're using a pew Bible it's probably around page 649. If you're a new Christian and new to your Bible, the Bible is really a library of books and it does have a table of contents at the beginning which can direct you to Matthew. Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. We're going to be reading today from Matthew chapter 1:18 and following. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Biblical history records some rather amazing births. Isaac was born to a woman nearly 100 years old. Sampson the great judge of Israel with great strength, Samuel the great prophet, and John the Baptist who announced the advent of Jesus were all born to what the Scriptures describe as barren women. But there is no biblical birth that compares to that of Christ. Outside of biblical history, fantasy and mythology have counterfeited the virgin birth of Christ. The Romans believed that Zeus impregnated Semele without contact and she conceived Dionysus lord of the earth. The Babylonians believed Tammuz was conceived in the priestess Semiramis by a sunbeam. At the conception of Buddha his mother claims to have seen a great white elephant enter her belly. Hinduism claims that the divine Vishnu after reincarnations as a fish, tortoise, boar, and lion descended into the woman Devaki and was born as her son Krishna. Satan has created many counterfeits to undermine the uniqueness of the birth of Christ, but the Bible is absolutely clear that Jesus Christ's birth, life, death and resurrection were unique. Jesus Christ was conceived by God. Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life.

Now religious studies in recent years reveal a lack of biblical knowledge and teaching in these and other matters essential to the faith. For more than a decade now Barna Research has been providing reliable information and studies concerning the health of the church across America. And according to information that's available from their web site, www.barna.org (not .com), they provide us with some information. I'm going to give you a national perspective, and the reason I do this is because we're from the Bay Area and we may have a tendency to think that the environment that we live in culturally here represents the rest of the United States. It doesn't. We live in a very cosmopolitan and diverse culture here in the Bay Area. I have been told that two-thirds of our nation's cults are founded or headquartered here in the Bay Area to give you an example. But let's look at it from a national perspective. Eighty-five percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians, 85%. Seven percent of Americans identify themselves as atheists or agnostics. Two percent of Americans identify themselves as Jewish. Less than 1% of all American adults associate with the Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu faiths.

As to the Bible, 38% of Americans believe strongly that the Bible is totally accurate in all of its teachings. Only 38% believe that the Bible is inherent. And then it breaks down in statistics; 69% of the Baptists, 63% of non mainline attenders, 36% of mainline attenders, and 19% of Catholics believe that the Bible is totally accurate. As to God, 95% believe in God. Which is probably why it's politically correct to go ahead and talk about God. But when we talk about a definition of God it becomes a wee bit more refined. Sixty-eight percent, a little more than two-thirds, believe in God when He is describe as the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect creator of the universe who rules the world today, 68%. Eleven percent believe that God represents a state of higher consciousness, 1 out of 10. Seven percent believe that God is the total realization of personal human potential, that is, they believe that they themselves are God or have the potential of being God. Fifteen percent say that God is no longer involved in their life.

With regards to Jesus, relatively few people are aware of Jesus' lineage. Just one-third of adults, 36%, are aware that Jesus Christ was related to King David. Three-fourths of all adults, 74%, believe that the forgiveness of sins is possible only through faith in Jesus Christ. Three-quarters of Americans, 74%, believe that forgiveness is possible only through faith in Jesus Christ. And yet, only 40% of Americans believe that Jesus lived a sinless life while He was here on earth, only 40%. One out of three born-again Christians, 34%, believed that when Jesus was here on earth He committed sins like other people.

As to Mary, the mother of Jesus, her role is secure in the minds of most Americans. In fact, 85% believe that Jesus Christ was born to a virgin, 85%. Even 75% of those who do not believe or embrace Jesus as their Savior believe He was born to a virgin. Isn't that interesting? Eighty-five percent of America and 75% of those who don't even espouse or embrace Jesus believe that He was born of a virgin. Now what does that indicate? It indicates that Mary the mother of Christ has more credibility than Christ Himself. When I originally sat down to prepare this sermon I was thinking, well, we're going to need to underscore the virgin birth. And I think that I've missed it if we don't underscore the uniqueness of Christ and His sinlessness.

Verse 18, This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Now the previous 17 verses that we looked at when we were last together we found an earthly lineage, and in that lineage were several names of those who had been chosen who were not of the chosen people. They were Gentiles not Jews. They came from simple backgrounds and yet God in His sovereignty chose them to be part of Christ's lineage. Now in verse 18 in this one verse we have Christ's divine lineage. The word there 'birth' is from the same Greek root as genealogy which is found in verse 1. So what verse 1 through 17 is is Christ's earthly lineage, and verse 18 is Christ's divine lineage. This Mary the descendant of King David and Abraham would be the mother of God's only begotten Son.

Now this one verse is expanded for us in Luke 1:26 and following, which read: In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the named Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never and." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elisabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

You know, my daughter is now 13 years old. This last year she's become quite a beautiful young lady. It's hard for me to imagine that Mary when she was betrothed to Joseph was about the same age as my daughter Christal, about 13 years old. At most she would have been 16 years old, and Joseph would have probably been between the age of 18 and 20. Now a Hebrew marriage involved two stages the kiddishin, the betrothal, and the huppa which is the marriage ceremony. The marriage contract would have been arranged between the parents and sealed by a payment of mohar, or a dowry, paid by the groom or his family. The dowry served to compensate the bride's family for wedding expenses and also provided an insurance policy of sorts in case the groom was dissatisfied with the bride and returned her to the family. The betrothal was considered legally binding and the couple considered married even though the marriage ceremony itself might not occur until a year later. In fact, it was considered so much binding that if one of the partners were to die between the betrothal and the marriage ceremony, the surviving partner would be called a widow or a widower even though the marriage had never been consummated. Premarital privacy was frowned upon in Galilee and it's probable that Joseph and Mary had no time together at all. It is obvious that there was no sexual contact as the Scriptures indicate the phrase, before they came together.

You know, it's remarkable how little we know about the people who surrounded Jesus in His life. We know very little about the most recorded apostles Peter, James, and John. And for most of the apostles we have enough information to perhaps fill one paragraph. It's remarkable how little we know about the people who surrounded Jesus, and yet these were the people that transformed the world. It reminds me of a song that was written by Danniebel Hall a number of years ago, 'Little is much when God is in it.' We know very little about Mary, the mother of Jesus. It's likely that she was a native of Nazareth, came from a relatively poor family. From Matthew 27:56, Mark 15:40, and John 19:25 we learn that she had a sister named Salome who was the mother of James and John the apostles, and that made the apostles James and John Jesus' cousin. We know that Elisabeth the wife of Zechariah was somehow related. She was a relative of Mary and that would mean that John the Baptist was somehow related to Jesus Christ.

It's obvious that Mary was a godly woman of great faith. After the announcement by Gabriel that she would be the mother of the Son of God, Mary said, behold the bond slave of the Lord. Be it done to me according to your word. That was quite a statement of obedience and submission considering that one of the possible results of being with child before the marriage ceremony was being put to death by stoning, which is what the Old Testament called for. Another possible result would have been divorce by her husband to be, and in the culture of her day that would have been probably the most common course and it would have been very difficult for her under the circumstances to find another husband. That would have meant that she would have grown old as an old maid, and when her parents died she would have had no means of supporting herself or her child. And yet, despite the difficulties ahead Mary did not respond to God's instruction like so many believers do today. Mary didn't say things like this; You know God, what You're proposing to do here is socially unacceptable. You know God, carrying a child and giving birth to a child is nine months of hard work. You know God, this doesn't fit my life plan or my schedule. You know God, what You're proposing here is going to have a negative impact on my relationship with family and friends. Mary didn't say any of these things. Mary said, in effect, if this is what God wants so be it.

Mary didn't question the ability of God to fulfill His word. She did wonder how the child was going to be born since she was a virgin. Mary herself declared that she was a virgin, and the phrase before they came together also makes it clear that at some point after the birth of Jesus Joseph and Mary did come together. That is, contrary to some traditions, Mary was not perpetually a virgin. The Scriptures even give us the names of some of His brothers and indicate clearly that He had half-sisters as well. Matthew 13:54 and following read: Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" They asked. "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all of his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" They took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor." And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

We know that at least one of his half brothers became a believer in Jesus Christ because that was James who was the leader of the church in Jerusalem, and who wrote the book in the Bible bearing his name. You know, the knowledge that Jesus was raised not as a single child but in a family situation sometimes gets the imagination rolling, and sibling rivalry is probably one of the most universal characteristics of home. It doesn't matter what era or what culture you're from there is this thing about sibling rivalry. And I can only imagine some of the conversations that must have taken place in the home in which Jesus was raised. Can you imagine some of these conversations? Mary saying to James, James, what's the problem here? What's wrong with you? And James responding something like, oh it's Jesus. He thinks He so perfect. (Congregation chuckles) Now traditional responses wouldn't work, you know. What's Mary going to say? Well He is, you know. Imagine growing up the younger sibling of a perfect child. I'll bet you that God gave Joseph and Mary more wisdom than to say something like, why can't you be like your brother Jesus? (Congregation chuckles)

Verse 19 and following: Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph Son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her us from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to his son, and you are to give him the named Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Now again, we know very little about Joseph. His father's name was Jacob and he was of the royal lineage of King David. Joseph was probably a middle-class family has according to Matthew 13:55, the passage that we just referenced. Jesus' childhood neighbors identified Him as being the son of a carpenter or a construction worker, a tekton. And according to the historic records in the time of Christ there was much construction taking place in Galilee. The most important thing that we know about Joseph is that he was a righteous man. And because he was a righteous man he knew that he could not go through with the marriage because the evidence suggested that Mary had been unfaithful to the marriage contract. But he did not want to expose her to shame, much less demand her stoning. You know, in this passage there is no indication of any concern for Joseph's own shame. It's only that of Mary. Because he did not want to disgrace her publicly he determined to put her away secretly, and put her away is divorce or divorce her secretly.

Now you might want to, if you've got your Bible, circle that word after in the passage, after he had considered this. Isn't it interesting that God would send the angel after Joseph had agonized over his response to this disappointment in life? It was after he had come to the conclusion in what course he was going to take. God has often been called a cliffhanger God. He seems to wait until the last minute, the very last minute, to come to our aid. There must have been some reason why the Holy Spirit chose to record this phrase, and perhaps, it is to give us some insight into the gracious care if this godly, righteous man Joseph. Remember that it was Joseph whom God chose to model manhood to the Christ child. Joseph wasn't concerned about his own pride, or his own shame, or his own stature. He wasn't concerned about justice or retribution. He graciously wanted to protect Mary from shame. Now the angel identified Joseph as the son of David, and though he was not the biological father of Jesus according to the provisions of God the royal authority of the divinic line was passed to Jesus through Joseph.

The phrase, what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit, gives the ultimate testimony to the virgin birth, as it is a testimony of an angel or messenger sent from God Himself. It also clarifies the essential connection between Jesus' divine conception and salvation. What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. He will save his people from their sins. It is God who provides salvation. Without divine conception Jesus would have been just another man, and just as much in need of salvation as any other child of Adam. Verse 22 and following: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." The phrase, to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet, gives a very clear indication and definition of biblical inspiration. It is the word of God coming through human instruments. Matthew uses the phrase, that it might be fulfilled, many times in his narrative to indicate the many ways that Jesus fulfilled messianic prophecies. The prophet here that Matthew is referencing is Isaiah, and the scene is found in Isaiah chapter 7. Now over the centuries there's been a lot of theological debate on the word choice in the original language that's been translated virgin. Do not be distracted by any such debate. You see it's made irrelevant by the very clear statement Mary makes about being a virgin - and the angel's declaration the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit. So the debate is pointless.

Christ being called Immanuel is not so much a proper name as it is a title or description. Verse 24: When Joseph woke up, he did with the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her and she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the named Jesus. Now there are numerous examples of God speaking to mankind while they sleep. In fact, some scholars have suggested that for some that may be the only time when they're quiet enough to hear the still small voice to of God - while they sleep. There's a passage in Numbers in which God Himself declares that He sometimes speaks through dreams. It's found in Numbers 12:4 and following: At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, "Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you." And so the three of them came out. Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; and he stood at the entrance of the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, he said, "Listen to my words: "When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord." And so in this we find the contrast between the way God deals with His prophets and God deals with Moses. Moses was dealt special. Moses wasn't dealt in visions and dreams. Moses got to speak with God face to face, but we also find in here that God Himself says that I speak to My prophets in visions and in dreams.

Now should be noted that not all unusual dreams are from God. As Scrooge observes sometimes they are the result of indigestion, we do need to be aware and sensitive when God does speak to us in a dream. We know nothing about Joseph's reaction to or feelings of the words of the angel. It doesn't say that he was excited. It doesn't say, it doesn't tell us anything about that, but it does tell us that he immediately obeyed and did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him. There was another occasion when the angel spoke to Joseph in a dream and said flee to Egypt, flee from this place. And the indication there was that he got up immediately and obeyed, and so we know from these two indications that Joseph responded immediately and obediently to the word of the Lord. Outside of Joseph being an obedient and righteous man we don't know an awful lot more. We know that Joseph took Jesus to the temple for dedication. That would have been on the 8th day of Jesus' life, and he took Jesus and Mary to Egypt as he was warned in the dream, and he brought them back to Israel after the death of Herod the great and settled in Galilee. We know that he took the family to the Passover celebration in Jerusalem when Jesus was 12, because Jesus was left behind for three days teaching the preachers in the synagogue.

We have no knowledge of how or when Joseph died, but it was probably before Jesus' public ministry began. We do know that Joseph was not alive when Jesus was crucified because when the father passed away the responsibility for caring for the mother went to the oldest son, which would have been Jesus. And as Jesus was hanging on that cross and death was moments away He passed that responsibility to the apostle John. As the angel of the Lord had commanded him Joseph brought Mary home but he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And though it required a great deal of self-control on the part of Joseph and Mary, it was important that the divine conception of Jesus be protected. Now as I mentioned earlier, studies indicate that 85% of people believe that Mary was a virgin, and yet, only 40% believe that the child conceived in her was sinless. In effect, people have more faith in the credibility of Mary than the credibility of Jesus, and that may be one of the reasons why many feel more comfortable praying to her than to Jesus. Yet the Scriptures are clear there is only one mediator between us and God, and that is Jesus. He is our High Priest. It was the function of a priest to be the mediator between man and God.

The book of Hebrews identifies Christ as our perfect High Priest. Hebrews 4:14 says: Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 7:23, Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of his people. He sacrificed for their sins once and for all when he offered himself. You notice it doesn't reference Jesus making any sacrifice for himself? Because none was required. Because Jesus was sinless.

The apostle Peter declared Jesus to be sinless in 1 Peter 2:22. "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth." The conception by the Holy Spirit and the virgin birth are great mysteries to mankind. They cannot be fathomed and yet they are absolutely essential to mankind's salvation. And so, the question should be asked and answered, how then should we treat those who revere, highly revere, Mary and pray to her? I think the appropriate answer is to treat them with proper respect. Jesus Himself is our model in how He treated people, and He always treated people with respect. It's the sinlessness of the Christ child and not the virtue of Mary that salvation is based upon. I'll say that again. It is the sinlessness of the Christ child not the virtue of Mary that salvation is based upon. One great theologian has written this: Had Jesus been conceived by the act of a man, whether Joseph or anyone else, He could not have been divine and could not have been a Savior. His own claims about Himself would have been lies, and His resurrection and ascension would have been a hoax, and mankind would remain forever lost and damned. It's the sinlessness of the Christ child not the virtue of Mary that salvation is based upon.

I'm going to invite you now to bow your heads and close your eyes for a personal moment, a reflection upon the lessons that we can find in this particular passage. I think one of the questions that you might wish to ponder in your heart is how you respond to God's initiative in your life. Do you respond as Mary did? Or do you respond with excuses like; you know God, what You're proposing is socially unacceptable, or politically incorrect, or a lot of hard work, or doesn't fit my life plan and my schedule. What You're proposing is going to have a negative impact with my relationships with family and friends. Or is it - as Mary said, in effect, if this is what God wants so be it. Is it disbelief or unbelief? This is not possible. It's too big. Because the angel said nothing is impossible for God.

Lord we thank you for Your Word and the great many truths and treasures that we find herein. And Lord as we go about the business in which You placed us this coming week, we ask Your Holy Spirit to patiently work within us taking Your truth and transforming our life by it that we might better reflect the image of Jesus Christ, Your only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior. Thank you Lord for Your Word and Your Spirit, in Jesus' name, amen. God bless you.