12.1 The miracle of the virgin birth is one of the most wonderful and greatest of all God's miracles recorded in his Word; second only to the resurrection itself. The apostle John and the rest of the early church always pointed to this as one of the proofs of Jesus' divinity: Proof that He was the Son of God, as He said He was.
12.2 Matthew makes it clear in his gospel that Mary was a virgin, and that she was "found with child of the Holy Spirit" before she had known any man, and months before she was, (physically), married to Joseph. Matthew 1:18
12.3 It is worth at least one lesson in our study of the Life of Christ, to take a look at this special miracle. We must begin our study of the virgin birth by being very careful to observe exactly what the Bible says. The Bible is the only primary source of accurate information from eyewitnesses who were there. However, we also have secondary sources, outside the Bible, that confirm the Biblical account. We shall look at this secondary evidence as well.
12.4 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. Luke 1:26-27
These verses tell us plainly that Mary was a virgin. They also tell us that she was betrothed to a man named Joseph. That means she was engaged to him. In those days this was the same as being legally married. A marriage covenant had been made. A legal document had been drawn up and signed. This is important information for our study because it proves the virgin birth, as we shall see.
12.5 Note carefully that the Bible also says that it was the sixth month when the angel Gabriel came to Mary. This would be the sixth month of what? The sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist!
12.6 Observe what the angel told Mary...
"Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren." Luke 1:36
12.7 So Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy with John the Baptist when the angel Gabriel came to Mary to announce to her that she would be the mother of the Christ, the Messiah.
"Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:38
12.8 Now the Bible says that when Mary had heard the good news that she was to be the mother of the Messiah, she arose with haste and went to Judea to see Elizabeth. This would make sense since the angel had told her that Elizabeth was pregnant, and it was impossible for Elizabeth to be pregnant! This was a sign the angel Gabriel was giving Mary! "For", he had said, "Nothing shall be impossible with God." Elizabeth was a relative of Mary's. If there was anyone Mary would want to see, it would be Elizabeth. So she arose and went with haste. If she found Elizabeth pregnant as the angel had said... the one miracle would confirm the other. If Elizabeth could be pregnant in her old age, Mary could also be pregnant, though a virgin. Mary, of course, already believed this, but it is nice to have confirmation. Besides, Mary would have wanted to share her great joy with someone, who would understand, and not doubt. Who else but Elizabeth? So she went with haste. Who knows if she told Joseph. It seems from the narrative that she did not. She was in too big of a hurry. She may have left on the same day the Angel had come.
Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. Luke 1:39-40
12.9 The next verses in the gospel of Luke also give us important information that we must be careful to observe.
And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? "
12.10 Notice, (observe), that Elizabeth called Mary, "the mother of my Lord." This means that Mary was already pregnant with the Messiah! Elizabeth knew it because she herself was pregnant with Jesus' forerunner, John the Baptist, and he had leaped for joy in Elizabeth's womb, when Mary came near. (By the way, this is a good Biblical argument against abortion.)
12.11 The Bible tells us that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then went home. In other words Mary stayed with Elizabeth until close to the time of John the Baptist's birth, and then went home. (It would make sense for Mary to stay with Elizabeth until after John the Baptist's birth. We'll never know, but that seems likely.)
And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house. Luke 1:56
12.12 Now I think we can draw some conclusions based upon our observations: First; Mary returned to Nazareth at least three months pregnant. Second; While she was at Elizabeth's house, Mary had no chance to have any contact with Joseph, (remember that she was engaged to him, that is legally, but not physically married to him), and so the child she was carrying could not be Joseph's. Mary had left Nazareth with haste in order to see Elizabeth. In any case Joseph's reputation was kept good. But what of Mary's?
12.13 When Mary got back to Nazareth she was obviously pregnant. She could not hide it from Joseph. This upset him very much of course, until an angel appeared to him and told him the truth.
Then Joseph her husband (Joseph was legally her husband by Jewish law because of the betrothal, but he had not yet consummated the marriage. How could he? Mary had been in Judea.), being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
12.14 Before the angel appeared to him, Joseph had wanted to put Mary away quietly and secretly so that there would be no public scandal of her. There was a good reason for this:
12.15 According to Jewish law, adultery was punishable by death. A Jewish rabbi by the name of Edersheim, who later became a Christian tells us that...
From the moment of her betrothal a woman was treated as if she were actually married. The union could not be dissolved, except by regular divorce; breach of faithfulness was regarded as adultery;
From "Jewish Social Life in the days of Christ" by Edersheim.
12.16 So if Mary was found pregnant before her marriage to Joseph was consummated, she would be considered guilty of adultery, and could be stoned to death. Unless she was pregnant by Joseph, in which case the public would probably overlook. But the Bible makes it plain she was not pregnant by him. Otherwise why would he be minded to put her away privately?
12.17 The Jews had safeguards against mistakes however. Before a wedding feast, they would check the bride to make sure she was still a virgin. This check most likely took place before Joseph's and Mary's wedding feast, (given the gravity of the case). If this check was performed it would prove that Mary was, pregnant, though still a virgin! I can hardly imagine the wonder, the awe, the amazement, and the worship of the bride's and groom's relatives at the wedding feast as they realized that they were indeed looking upon the mother of the Messiah!!!! who (though so obviously pregnant), was still a virgin in fulfillment of the prophesy spoken by Isaiah. I say this check must have taken place, otherwise there would have been a scandal, and Mary would have been stoned to death. But there is no record that her character was ever questioned by anyone.
12:19 I have a several special reasons to believe that the check took place. First of all it would have been the custom among the relatives of Joseph and Mary. But secondly there is this. The early church sited Jesus' virgin birth as proof that he was the Son of God. They could not have used this as a proof unless they could prove it.
12.19 It must also be pointed out that Joseph did not come together with Mary physically until after Jesus was born.
Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus. Matthew 1:24-25
12.20 The Biblical record is conclusive. Jesus was born of a virgin. This was in fulfillment of Old Testament prophesy.
Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
12.21 The apostle John and the rest of the early church always thought of this as proof that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah.
And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three are one. I John 5:8
John says that there are three witnesses. All three witnesses agree. All of them agree that Jesus is the Son of God.
The first witness is the Holy Spirit who descended in the form of a dove at Jesus' baptism, when a voice was heard from heaven saying, "You are my beloved Son, in You I am well pleased." Luke 3:22
The second witness is the water, meaning human birth, for when a child is born, the water breaks. This is the beginning of the birth proccess. We know that this is what John meant when he said one of the witnesses was the water, because in another place John wrote about human birth as being "born of water", (see John 3:5). This second witness is the virgin birth of Christ: The second witness that proves that He is the Son of God.
The third witness is Jesus' resurrection from the dead. John calls it the blood, referring to Jesus' redeeming work on the cross -- which would mean nothing if He did not also rise from the dead.
12.21 John goes on to say,
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I John 5:12
In other words John was using these "three witnesses" to prove that Jesus was the Son of God!
note: Others would say that the "water" of 1 John 5:8 refers to water baptism, and the "blood" refers to Jesus' redeeming work. But water baptism doesn't prove anything; the virgin birth does, especially since the virgin birth had been prophesied by Isaiah.
12.22 In this lesson we have learned the important Bible study technique of observation. We were careful to observe exactly what was said, and what happened. Then we were able to come to some conclusions based upon our observations. There are other Bible Study techniques such as comparison, and analysis. In future lessons we will learn these as well.
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