The Incarnation Conundrum

Minister Caleb J. Lines, Senior Minister of University Christian Church, said some very interesting things in a recent Christmas sermon. Referring to Marry and the popular Christian doctrine that she was a virgin when Jesus was born, Caleb says we have it all wrong. “Mary was absolutely, positively not a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus,” he said. “That old concept of virginity is kinda culturally defined anyway. But we know biologically that is an impossibility.”

Now let me address that first. He is right. A virgin birth  is a biological impossibility. That is why it is called a miracle! A miracle is when God interjects into the normal course of life and does something that goes against natural law. Like making the sun stand still for a whole day (Joshua 10:12-14) or turning water into wine (John 2:1-11) or….RISING FROM THE DEAD! Which is not biologically possible, but spiritually necessary for us to be saved! Believing in the virgin birth is believing in God, not science.

Caleb continues, “But even beyond that, listen to this, Matthew is trying to fulfill prophecy in Isaiah, that he accidentally misinterprets.” Let's stop there. Matthew was not trying to fulfill a prophecy. If that is what he did, then it's not a prophecy! Also this shows that Caleb does not believe that the bible was inspired by God. For him to say that Matthew made a mistake, would mean something written in the bible was a mistake. This turns into  a slippery slope or a domino effect on how you believe in the bible. Because then that means the bible has mistakes,which then means it is not written by God (because God doesn’t make mistakes), which then means it is not infallible and therefore it is not the source of truth. So if we are to take Caleb seriously, why would anyone trust the bible? Why bother reading it? It has mistakes in it. This is a very brash and bold statement to make as a supposed minister of God.

Now, why does he believe Matthew made a mistake? Caleb says, “So Matthew is reading in the Greek. But the Hebrew word that Matthew interprets from Isaiah, as ‘virgin’, does not mean ‘virgin’. It means young woman. In the ancient world it was very common to say that someone was born of a virgin as a tool to foreshadow narratively that they were going to live an important life…the Roman emperor was said to have had a virgin birth. When Matthew and Luke are saying that Jesus was born of a virgin, they are putting Him at odds with the Roman emperor from the very beginning of the story.”

First of all, the Hebrew word in Isaiah’s prophecy is “al.mah”. This word means “maiden, young woman of marriageable age, virgin.” The inference of the word meaning young woman, means a woman that is young and has not been with a man yet, i.e. a virgin. So yes the word does mean virgin. But even if I were to concede for the sake of argument that Matthew made a mistake interpreting that word, then how do you get around the account that says “before they came together she was found to be with child from Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18) Even if Matthew did misinterpret the word, that previous verse puts it very plainly that she was still a clearly a virgin. As Kevin Deyoung puts it, “there are no clear references in the Old Testament where almah does not mean virgin. The word almah occurs nine times in the Old Testament, and wherever the context makes its meaning clear, the word refers to a virgin.”

But the biggest misunderstanding of all is not by Matthew, but by Caleb. The virgin birth was not some tool to combat against the Roman emperor. The virgin birth is essential for salvation! And if Caleb doesn’t believe in the virgin birth, then he cannot believe that Jesus can save him. Humans need a sacrifice that is pure and spotless, i.e. with no sin whatsoever. And the bible clearly teaches that Jesus was without sin. While yes, Jesus is God, He also is holy and pure because Mary was  made pregnant by the Holy Spirit and not Joseph. The bible teaches that we are all born of sin nature. That sin nature was passed down by Adam on through every single father after that for all of time (see Romans 5:12-14). So if you’re born of a man, which everyone is, then you are a seed of Adam. And if you are a seed of Adam, which everyone is, then you are automatically born with a sin nature. This is why It was essential for Jesus to be born through a virgin, why the Holy Spirit interjected into Mary’s life and why it is a miracle.

Kevin Deyoung again says, “Jesus was made like us in every way except for sin (Heb. 4:15; 7:26-27). Every human father begets a son or daughter with his sin nature. This is the way of the world after the fall. Sinners beget sinners (Ps. 51:5). Always. If Joseph was the real father of Jesus, or Mary had been sleeping around with Larry, Jesus is not spotless, not innocent, and not perfectly holy. And as result, we have no mediator and no salvation.”

This Christmas season it is important to believe that Mary was a virgin, that her being pregnant was a miracle, and that because of this we can look to Christ to save us. For He is the pure, holy, sinless lamb that was led to be sacrificed for our sins. Because He was born sinless and remained sinless, we have the perfect substitute needed to pay for our sins. Praise God for the miracle of the virgin birth!