Jesus Foretold: Born Of A Virgin (MP 73)

There was in Israel a one-time wonder, A baby was born of a virgin maid; But, wonder of wonders, all fall under— That Babe was God who in the manger laid! The decree of death on the human race, Caused by Adam, needed to be undone; God, or Jesus, came to earth through His grace, And died for sins, though sinless was the Son! In his time Man has had gods unnumbered; None but Jehovah has loved Man so much, His Son giv’n, that Man be unencumbered, And His righteousness, Man’s eternal crutch! To a world dark with sin, God gave it light; He gave up His Son to get rid of night! Scripture Quoted (NIV) [Brackets added] Prophecy Made: Isaiah 7:13-14—“Then Isaiah said, ‘Hear now you house of Israel! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God, also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel [“God with us”].’ “ (Written in the 7th century B.C.) Prophecy Fulfilled: Matthew 1:18-25—“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 [that is, before sexual intercourse], she was found to be with child [pregnant] through the Holy Spirit[God]. Because Joseph her husband [betrothed] 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 [descendant of king David], do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is contained 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.’ ,,, When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave him a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” (Written in the 1st century A.D.) (Also, Luke 1:16-35) Commentary On: Jesus Foretold: Born Of A Virgin Jewish religious and cultural practices concerning marriage in the time of Jesus were very strict and vastly different from the U. S. in 2011 A.D. Mary was a 13 or 14 year-old virgin, which had to be verified by the priest. A couple who wished to marry were betrothed a year before the actual marriage, but betrothal was considerably closer to being married than is an engaged couple of today. To be separated required a divorce. If the bride does not retain her virginity for her husband-to-be, he can divorce her publicly, and the girl can, and usually was, stoned to death for adultery. Every Jewish girl in that time and many years before dreamed of being the mother of the Messiah promised by God to be born of Israel who would come and save them. There was a problem with their interpretation of “saving” Israel, however. It was a part of God’s Master Plan to come to earth as a man (Jesus) and save men and women from condemnation that had fallen upon them by the first man’s (Adam’s) sin, as well as the sins committed by each and every person that ever lived. That is, the Messiah was to be a Savior of people from their sins. The citizens of Israel, however, understood their “saving” or “salvation” differently: They thought the Messiah would be a conqueror, one who would overthrow the Roman rule, or whatever empire controlled them at the time He came. Nevertheless, I suppose Jewish girls always thought that the Messiah would have an ordinary man for a father; they probably didn’t consider that God’s Plan was that the girl would be a virgin and unmarried—that she would be impregnated by God Himself, so that the Son would not be guilty of Adam’s sin, as all other babies were. It had to be that way, or the Son would not be sinless, thus He would be ineligible to take upon Himself the sins of Mankind. When Mary was approached by the angel Gabriel, the enormity of the pressure brought upon the publicly unmarried mother of Messiah flooded upon her. He asked her if she would be willing to bear such a Son; she quickly agreed, and the world, all of us, owe her a huge debt of gratitude; without her willing cooperation, there would be no release from condemnation. Don’t forget Joseph; had he been unwilling to keep Mary as his wife while she had God’s own Son, she probably would have been stoned to death, together with her unborn Baby. There’s a technicality unresolved in the theology regarding the sinlessness of the baby Jesus. If we accept that His Father was God, the Holy Spirit, not Joseph the husband, that means that His half of Jesus’ blood was innocent of Adam’s sin; what about Mary’s half of Jesus’ blood? Wasn’t Mary guilty of Adam’s sin? We must answer, Yes. That is, unless Mary’s parents, Joachin and Ann, were also conceived outside of Adam’s bloodstream. It’s not in the Bible, I believe, but the Roman Catholic Church has a belief that Mary’s parents were miraculously declared sinless at the instant of Mary’s conception by God. That is just one of quite a few things we’re going to have to ask God about when we see Him. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not die, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)