PDF - Monergism Books

The Birth of Jesus (1:18–25) 23
birth—were integral to the faith of the Christian church of the early centuries.
Jesus’ conception was extraordinary, not natural but supernatural,
accomplished by the divine work of the Spirit, and as a result a baby born
to a virgin.
Perhaps no assertion of biblical Christianity fell under greater attack
by nineteenth-century liberalism than the account of the virgin birth. For
some reason more attention was given to that than to the resurrection.
Because the story is so blatantly supernatural, it became a stumbling block
to those who tried to reduce the essence of the Christian faith to all that
can be accomplished through natural humanity.
When Mary’s pregnancy was discovered, Joseph, being a just man—
one who was also kind and gave detailed attention to the observance of
the law of God, not wanting to make her a public example, was
minded to put her away secretly (v. 19). He was not willing to call
down the wrath of the courts upon his betrothed, and he decided to deal
with it from a spirit of compassion. After he thought it over deeply and
carefully, he decided to divorce her or put her away in a private manner, so
as to save his betrothed from total public humiliation.
While he thought about these things, behold, an angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of
David” (v. 20). The New Testament makes so much out of the fact that
Jesus is the Son of David that it’s almost amazing to find Joseph being
given that same title, but this is also important for the lineage of Jesus.
For Jesus to be a Son of David in Jewish categories, legally His father also
had to be a son of David. That is why the angel gives this honorific title
to Joseph when he addresses him, saying, Do not be afraid to take to
you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the
Holy Spirit (v. 20). This is the second time in this brief narrative that the
conception of Christ in the womb of Mary is attributed to the work of the
Holy Spirit.
In Luke’s version, when the angel Gabriel told Mary that she had conceived
the child and would bring forth a baby, she was stunned and said,
“How can this be since I know not a man?” (Luke 1:34). The angel replied,
“With God nothing will be impossible” (v. 37).
Then Gabriel explained to Mary how the birth would take place. The
Holy Spirit would overshadow her so that the child would be born as a
result of this supernatural work. Luke uses the same language that is used
at the dawn of creation: “In the beginning God created the heavens and
the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was