Month: December 2019

Kenosis?  Is that a disease.  It’s actually a Greek word that is found in perhaps the best incarnational verses in the Bible, Philippians 2:1-11:

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

This beautiful passage has caused angst among Christians.  What does it mean that Christ emptied Himself?  Did Jesus lay aside His divinity, or did He somehow step into the human realm but retain His divine self-consciousness?  There is much false doctrine about what it means for Jesus to have emptied Himself, so it is critical to understand and understanding helps better define Christmas for us.

Prelude (1-4)

In the Greek grammatical structure Paul is writing “since there is” rather than “if there is.”  He assumes there is encouragement, consolation, etc.  Paul is appealing to the fellowship.  There is encouragement, comfort from love, participation in the Spirit and affection and sympathy.  Paul asks the Philippians to make him joyful by making these things real in their lives.

Being of the same mind and having the same love and being in agreement stresses unity, not a lockstep mentality.  The church at Philippi had problems and needed to come together. Every church needs unity. Unity is from within; uniformity is forced on people by others.

Verses 3 and 4 tells us how to act, not out of ambition but in humility.  Always count others as more important than yourself – it’s not about you.  Certainly consider your interests, but also the interests of others.  Jesus said it clearly: Love your neighbor as yourself.  This introduction sets the stage for the verses we’ll focus on.

Hymn (5-8)

Paul offers instruction in what it widely considered to be one of the earliest Christian hymns.  Everything that follows is keyed to Paul wanting believers to have the mind of Christ – all of these concepts are rooted in the mind of Jesus. Keep in mind, this is Paul’s goal in the succeeding statement.

In verse 6 we see Jesus relinquishing His position.  The King James Version provides an interesting translation: Jesus thought it “not robbery to be equal with God.”  The root of the word is “plunder or prize.”  Other translations, like the New American Standard, state that Jesus did not count that equality as something to be grasped or held onto.  One of my favorite translations is the very literal one by Wuest, which reads “who did not after weighing the facts, consider it a treasure to be clutched and retained at all hazards.”  In other words, Jesus did not think His equality with God as something to selfishly hold onto, but to use to accomplish His mission of salvation.  It ties in beautifully with the preceding verses about looking out for the interests of others.  In 2 Corinthians 2:8-9 we read, “that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”  Jesus did not change, but His type of existence did.

Jesus emptied Himself.  The word for empty is from the Greek root kenoo, from which we derive the concept of kenosis.  This is also translated as “made himself of no reputation,” but that doesn’t seem to fully indicate what a monumental thing Jesus did.  The mistake many make is thinking that Jesus emptied Himself of something, rather than it being a statement of His character and identity.  The key is that He humbled Himself.  It wasn’t until the late 1800’s that some theologians began saying Jesus gave up some of His divine attributes in becoming human.  Since the Council of Chalcedon in 451, no one in the church taught this.  Liberal theology crept in denying the divinity of Jesus.  The essential meaning is that He emptied himself of His positional equality with God and adopted human form – the rest of the verse explains it: He took the form of a bond-servant.  Jesus became something He had not been before – human.  He did not give up His deity, only His place in Heaven, and that just for a while.  We’ll come back to this.  In context Paul is saying be like Jesus.  He is not telling the Philippians to discard their attributes and powers (abilities and talents), but to submit them to the will of God for the good of the church.

Verse 8 continues the downward path.  Christ has left heaven, taken on the form of a man, become a slave.  Now His further humiliation results in death on a cross – a shameful form of execution, reserved for the lowest of the low.  It is complete humiliation.  The translation of the entire passage from Wuest, while a bit difficult to read, captures these ideas fully: His mind be constantly having in you. which is also in Christ Jesus, who has always been and at present continues to subsist in that mode of being in which He gives outward expression of His essential nature, that of absolute deity, which expression comes from and is truly representative of His inner being , and who did not after weighing the facts, consider it a treasure to be clutched and retained at all hazards, this being on an equality with deity , but himself He emptied, himself He made void, having taken the outward expression of a bondslave, which expression comes from and is truly representative of His nature , entering into a new state of existence, that of mankind. And being found to be in outward guise as man, He stooped very low, having become obedient to the extent of death, even such a death as that upon a cross.  The key is that Jesus is God (being on an equality with deity) and then He took on the form (outward expression) of a bondslave.  The emptying was not a divestiture of deity, it was an expression of deity, and the deity descending to serve.

Postlude (9-11)

No one is more important than Jesus, yet He humbled Himself.  He is exalted and bears the most wonderful name of all.  He has completed the descent, but now He is on a very steep upward slope.  Everyone will bow their knee to Jesus – EVERYONE!  Those who don’t believe will be compelled to bow.  Wouldn’t you rather do it now than be forced to when it’s too late?

Kenosis

Kenosis itself is not a bad word; we should be a kenotic body of believers, emptying ourselves of ourselves to serve.  But to say He gave up attributes is wrong.  Let’s look at some of the divine attributes and see how Jesus exercised them on earth.

• Omniscience – John 11 – Jesus was at least fifty miles away from Lazarus and told the disciples he was dead.  John 2:24 – But Jesus on His part did not entrust himself to them, because He knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for He Himself knew what was in man.  John 6:64 – But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him.
• Omnipotence – He raised the dead! Lazarus, the young man in Nain, and Jairus’ daughter. John 10:17-18: For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord.  I have the authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.  This charge I have received from my Father.
• Omnipresence – a little more difficult given his earthly body. Matthew 18:20 – 2 or 3. John 1:49 – He saw Nathaniel under the fig tree.

We referred to Colossians 2:8-9 above. He gave up external glory of his riches, but not ownership.  1:19-20 – For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross; this was His earthly ministry.

Jesus willingly gave up the exercise of His glory and sometimes chose not to use His other powers, but He did retain them.  There is danger in thinking that Jesus left his powers and attributes behind.  If that were true, we as believers are as much an Incarnation of God as Jesus.  Arthur Pink said, “There is no other possible alternative between an absolutely supreme God, and no God at all.”  There is no middle-ground; no halfway or almost. In a sense, it’s like pregnancy – no one is kind of pregnant or almost pregnant, you either are or you are not.

Jesus was our redeemer, our substitute.  When He was living in the flesh claiming total dependence on the Spirit, He was doing it out of His human nature. But because He was God, he could pay the price no man could.  Because of His dual nature we can say the following about Jesus:

• He existed from all eternity and He was born in Bethlehem.
• He is David’s Lord yet David’s son.
• He is the Ancient of Days and He was an infant.
• He is I AM and the son of Mary.
• He upholds all things yet He grew weary with his journey.
• He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, yet He increased in stature.
• He knows the Father perfectly yet He increased in wisdom.
• He is the Prince of Peace, yet His soul was troubled in the garden.
• He is King of Kings, yet He was sentenced to death by a Roman governor.

Jesus did reveal His power and glory at times, e.g, in raising the dead, on the Mount of Transfiguration, and when He spoke the words, “I AM” in the garden and the soldiers collapsed.  But He made a choice to limit that power and become a sacrifice for our sins.  As the old hymn says, He could have called 10,000 angels, but He died alone for you and me.

Conclusion

Let’s go back to Paul’s context: Have this mind which was in Christ Jesus.  For us, the way up is the way down.  We must mirror Christ’s humiliation.  We must descend, with Christ, into total humility where everyone is more important than us, where we have been emptied of self, which means emptied of ambitions, selfishness, even self-preservation.  We must be obedient to everything God requires, even to the point of death.  We must recognize that no one is more important than Jesus.  We will be exalted, not above Jesus, but we will live eternally in the presence of God.

This is how you celebrate Christmas.  This is how you embrace the Christmas spirit, because the Christmas spirit is kenosis.  It’s not about you, it’s not about gifts, and it’s not even about family and celebration – it’s about Jesus.

Michael Spencer wrote, “… without the incarnation, Christianity isn’t even a very good story, and most sadly, it means nothing. ‘Be nice to one another’ is not a message that can give my life meaning, assure me of love beyond brokenness, and break open the dark doors of death with the key of hope.”  Incarnation simply means the Biblical understanding that Jesus took on human nature.  This concept has puzzled people throughout history and led to many false doctrines being put forward about the nature of Jesus.  However, it was part of God’s beautiful plan to become Immanuel – God with us.  Rather than a sad little story, it is the grandest story told.

Pre-existence of the Son

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.   In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  John 1:1-5

The first five verses in the Gospel of John are some of the most beautiful and profound words ever written.  John does not need to prove the existence of God; he assumes it.  The way verse 1 is constructed conveys the idea of no beginning, but a continuous existence.  The word for “word” in the Greek is logos.  The Word is the manifestation of God, here the physical manifestation.  The Hebrew word memra was translated into the Greek as logos and was used for the manifestation of God in the Old Testament. John was writing to Greeks and Jews so this concept would have meaning to both groups.  In Greek thought of the time, logos referred to the principle that controlled the universe. Stoic philosophers thought of the logos as the soul of the world or the mind of God. They understood the term and the concept much better than we do.

In verse 2 we see that the Word is a separate and distinct personality within the Godhead.  The word “with” can also mean “toward,” so the Word (Jesus) was with God and was oriented toward God in union and harmony, which really should also describe us as believers.  The Word was a “He,” a person, not a nebulous idea.  Jesus did not become an entity when He was born, but did become human.  He was also the Creator, as we see in verse 3, not a created being. He was present at the foundation of the world and well before.  Finally, in verses 4 and 5 we see He was and is the source of life.  John 10:10 tells us that Jesus came to give abundant life.  The Word, the Creator, is the source of life, both physical and spiritual.  And He is also light.  Light obviously illuminates and Jesus came to illuminate the world.  Unfortunately, the darkness of the world cannot comprehend the Light.  It requires the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal the Light to us in order to pierce the darkness of our sin and bring about regeneration.

Jesus as Creator (and not created) is echoed in Paul’s writings in Colossians 1:16-17:  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  Just before this in verse 15 we read that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.”  That’s the incarnation in a nutshell.

Sending of the Son (Isaiah 11:1-5, John 3:13-17)

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.  Isaiah 11:1-5

Isaiah gives us a prophecy about the Messiah using Jesse, David’s father. The word “stump” refers to a remnant.  Isaiah has prophesied the fall of the kingdom of Judah and that there would be no king on the throne.  He now states what other prophets had declared –  the line is  not ended.  A new and glorious king would arise from the stump.  And what would this king be like.  He will have the Spirit of the Lord with Him.  His qualities will include wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord.  These qualities were missing from the kings in Isaiah’s time, but would be evident in the Messiah.

In addition he will delight in the fear of the Lord – we’ll see this later – but remember everything Jesus said about doing the Father’s will and that He listened to the Father.  While He will be a human, He will judge with perfect righteousness because He is divine.  Jesus is the ideal person (obviously) to govern the earth because of his righteousness and faithfulness – He was sent to rule and to judge.

No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  John 3:13-17

In verse 13 Jesus mentions his “descent from Heaven,” i.e., He came down … He was sent.  Jesus got down to the hard truth in verses 14-15 Jesus, although no one would have understood it at the time.  He would be lifted up – crucified – so that those who believe might have eternal life.  Verse 16 is one of the most well-known verses in Scripture.  The incarnation happened because God loved His creation, the beings He made in His image.  I don’t know that we can ever gain an understanding of this kind of love – it is truly astounding.

The phrase “only begotten” is the Greek word monogenes.  The best translations of this word are “one and only; one of a kind; unique.”  There is only one Jesus, the Creator who entered His creation to rescue those He created, who could do nothing to save themselves.  The gift He offered was escape from death into eternal life with God – a return to the Garden, if you will – a return to the right and intended perfect relationship with the Creator.

In verse 17 we have a bit more than Isaiah gives us, but it’s really a matter of timing.  Jesus was not sent to condemn the world, but to save the world.  How does that jibe with the judgment of Isaiah?  He is righteous.  Only because He is righteous are we saved.  Ultimately (final judgment), He will judge and condemnation will occur, but as 18 tells us, it is for those who have not believed.  People condemn themselves by not accepting who Jesus is and what He did for them.

Jesus was sent to us because of love.  Love is not passive, it is active.  If your love for someone becomes passive (wife, husband, children, God) you need a wake-up call. Sam Levenson said, “Love at first sight is easy to understand. It’s when two people have been looking at each other for years that it becomes a miracle.”   God’s active love resulted in the Incarnation. Do not take it for granted.  Do not become too used to the ideas of God’s love and grace that you lose awe for the enormity of the gift.

Two Natures of the Son

We’re going to bounce around Hebrews for a bit because the author of Hebrews has excellent insights into who Jesus is.

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.  Hebrews 2:17-18

Jesus had to be made like us in every respect, that is, human.  Therefore He was able to become the ultimate high priest offering the ultimate sacrifice in payment for sin – Himself.  Because He was like us, He was tempted, and He can therefore help those who are tempted.  Jesus is fully human!

In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.  Hebrews 5:7-9

“In the days of his flesh” obviously means when He walked the earth as a man. Jesus offered prayer that was heard because of His reverence, the fear of God Isaiah spoke of.  He was a son, the Son, but He learned obedience.  Jesus was already perfect, but after death and resurrection, He was salvation to those who obey/believe.  So He was pre-existent and God, and then became man AND He was a human.  Hebrews 1:3 says:

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

This is a powerful verse.  Jesus is the very radiance of God’s glory and bears God’s exact nature (hypostasis), to the point that He upholds the universe simply by a word.  But, He was a man who sacrificed himself (purification for sins) and ascended.  Jesus had a dual nature, but what does is it mean to be God and man?  Let’s look at who Jesus is as well as some of the false doctrines about Him.  I won’t go into a great deal of detail, but feel free to Google these terms and go into the wormhole of the internet to learn more.

• Hypostatic Union – The theological description of the union of the two natures of Christ. Christ is one person who exists forevermore in two complete natures: God and Man.  It is mysterious and profound and at the heart of our belief as followers of Christ.
• Many false beliefs in the early church that still rear their heads even now.  Council of Chalcedon in 451AD to put to rest false doctrines and stress the dual nature of Jesus as fully God and fully man.
  • Docetism – Jesus only seemed to have a body, because anything material was inherently evil.  This is holographic Jesus.
  • Ebionism – Jesus was the natural son of Joseph and Mary who assumed title “Son of God” at his baptism.
  • Arianism – Jesus was not eternally God, but created by God before the creation of the world.
  • Apollinarianism – Jesus possessed a human body but not a human mind.  The Word became flesh, but was not invested with an evil human mind. This is “God in a bod.”
  • Nestorianism – Fully God and fully man and loosely united in person, but not in a body. In other words, when Jesus was entered our world His divinity was associated with a body.
  • Monophysitism – Jesus had only a divine nature that was integrated into His human body, that is, the human nature was eliminated.

I wish I could explain the nature of Jesus better, but it is impossible for my simple mind to fully grasp it. People have used the example of light, because it exists in particles and waves.  John Calvin compared Jesus’ nature to having two eyes, yet one vision.  I must simply accept what Scriptures tell me – Jesus was God and man.  It boils down to faith.

Why the Incarnation?

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. Hebrews 2:14-15

We have already spoken of God’s love for us and these verses from Hebrews provide an excellent statement of why Jesus came and shared that love.  He came to offer revelation and restoration.  God never gave up on us; God never gives up on us.  I cannot explain the incarnation, but I can understand the beauty of a simple birth.  I can understand the love of a parent for a child and the wish to rescue that child from danger.    I can grasp a bit of the grand story of creation, loss, despair and hope that has played out over the span of time.

We had a need for forgiveness because we betrayed our Creator.  He didn’t have to meet that need, but because of His love for us He chose to.  There might have been other ways to accomplish this, perhaps a simple decree that all are forgiven, but He recognizes us as beings made in His image who are capable of action … so He sent Himself.  Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer once said “The best way to send information is to wrap it up in a person.”  God sent His love, Himself, as a person.

Certain lyrics from Silent Night have often been misunderstood: people have heard “round young virgin” and “run young virgin.”  In the Christmas classic Olive, the Other Reindeer, there is a character named “Round John Virgin.”  It would seem the beautiful carol Silent Night has caused some confusion about the virgin birth of Jesus.

The virgin birth is a foundational, non-negotiable belief and is a part of all Christian creeds.  It is certainly a mystery and considered a scientific impossibility.  Yet in a poll conducted by Pew Research in 2013, 73% of American adults believe Jesus was born of a virgin, including 1/3 of Americans with no specific religious affiliation.  97% of evangelicals believed, but only 70% of mainline Protestants.  According to Pew Research, in 2017 the percentages for evangelicals and mainline Protestants dropped just a bit,  but there was a decline among the religiously unaffiliated with only 17% believing.  Interestingly, according to the Pew data, only 83% of Catholics believed.

The Prophecy – Isaiah 7:10-17

Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”  But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”  Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?   Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.  For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken. The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria.” 

The year is approximately 734BC and Ahaz is king over Judah.  Judah’s northern brethren (Ephraim) have been attacking Judah with Syrian allies.  Jerusalem was making a sort of last stand and had allied itself with the Assyrians in Nineveh, rather than trusting God.  Ahaz was not a good guy.  2 Chronicles 28:19 tells us that Ahaz was wicked, even sacrificing some of his own children. Ahaz was worried that Jerusalem would be overrun, but Isaiah told him it would not happen, even stating that Ephraim would cease to exist in 65 years.

So if Ahaz was such a bad guy, why was God showing mercy via Isaiah’s prophecy? God made promise to David about his kingdom and Israel was conspiring to usurp the Davidic kingdom.  God keeps His promises. Therefore, He told Ahaz to ask for a sign.  Ahaz did not utter a noble proclamation here even though he was quoting Scripture (Deuteronomy 6:16).  Ahaz was trying to justify a decision already made about the alliance with Assyria.  Also, if Ahaz had faith he would not have needed a sign. He was actually offending God, which was ultimately a test of God, anyway: Would Ahaz’ continued sinfulness keep God from acting?

But God did give a sign through the prophet.  Charles Spurgeon called this one of the most difficult passages in the Bible.  The Hebrew word for virgin is almah, and it is used seven times in the Old Testament.  It can mean virgin or maiden.  The Greek Septuagint (the early Greek translation of the Old Testament) was created by seventy Hebrew Scholars in the first century when Hebrew was very much a spoken language.  They translated the word “virgin,” which is parthenos in Greek.  However, it still could have carried the meaning “maiden.”  It could have both meanings because, like many Old Testament prophecies, there could have been an immediate and a future fulfillment. 

We don’t know what the immediate fulfillment was.  Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, had already been born. Isaiah had another son after this, Maher, but his wife was not a virgin or young maiden.  Perhaps a young princess married and gave birth as a sign that the dynasty would continue.   Ahaz and his contemporaries would have recognized the immediate fulfillment when they heard this prophecy.  The prophecy states that the boy would know right from wrong.  There are debates about the “age of accountability,” but within twelve years the northern coalition was defeated, certainly enough time for a boy to grow to know right from wrong.  However, there was still much devastation wreaked on Judah as it was caught between Assyria and Egypt.  Eating curds and honey may have been all the food they had as the land was ravaged (v. 21-22).

The long-term fulfilment is, of course, the birth of Jesus, which we’ll discuss below from the passage in Matthew.  This was not a new prophecy.  As early Genesis 3:15, God tells us there will enmity between the serpent and the woman, between your seed and her seed.  There is no reference to Adam or a man, which carries implications of a virgin birth, but certainly presages God’s action to redeem people.  Additionally, we find a confusing verse in Jeremiah 31:22: How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encircles a man.” This can be literally translated as “a woman encompasses a man.”  Many scholars believe this refers to the Incarnation when a woman, Mary, enclosed in her womb, “the mighty one” or “warrior” which is the translation of the word “man.”

The Announcement – Luke 1:26-38

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. 

Gabriel an archangel and seemingly the primary messenger God uses, appeared to Mary, a virgin. Joseph was descended from David, but so was Mary, as we see in Luke’s genealogy in chapter 3.  Mary was betrothed to Joseph, which was much more binding than a modern engagement.  It was a legal contract between families that essentially considered the man and woman to already be joined, although not yet formally married.

Gabriel referred to Mary as “O favored one.” This is not literally the “full of grace” reference we see in the King James but means “encompassed with favor.”  Mary was greatly troubled – ya think?  Angels always seem to say “Fear not!” when they appear so they must be pretty imposing figures.  But there was more to this – it’s an unusual greeting and indicates something else is coming.

Mary was, if nothing else, a very practical girl.  She was troubled but also puzzled.  She basically asked Gabriel, “Who are you and what do you want?”  The angel repeated that she is favored, that she has found favor. He went on to give her the completely unexpected and seemingly impossible news:  You will conceive in your womb.

This is critical as it points to Jesus’ humanity.  But His name, which means “Jehovah is Savior” points to His divinity.  He will be great (seems like an understatement), Son of the Most High (again, pointing to His divinity), and will occupy David’s throne (He is royalty, in fact, He is the King of Kings).  He will rule forever and there will be no end to his kingdom.  That’s a lot to take in.  The pregnancy alone is significant news, but Gabriel told her so much more. 

In all of that glory, Mary heard, “You’re gonna get pregnant.”  Here’s our practical girl.  She asked not a question of doubt, but of faith.  She accepted what Gabriel said, but asked about the how.  The answer is overwhelming.  The Holy Spirit will cause her to become pregnant – the power of the Most High.  Therefore, he will be holy, set apart, without sin.  He will be the Son of God.

Then Gabriel provided news about Elizabeth and a simple statement – nothing is impossible with God.  Do you believe that?  Mary did.  Do I believe that?  Good question.  If a virgin can bear a baby, if men can be raised from the dead, if my sorry sinful self can be saved, then NOTHING is impossible. But we don’t always have faith Mary did.

I absolutely love Mary’s response: “Okay, I am the Lord’s servant. Whatever you say, Lord.”  What a lesson for us!  You’re in the Word, in prayer, you receive clear impressions from God.  Maybe it’s “Go to Africa,” or maybe it’s “talk to your co-worker,” or maybe it’s “start tithing.”  How do you respond?  With excuses?  To God? Really?  Now there is something here we can’t overlook – Mary had an angel standing in front of her.  You think, “of course I would have great faith, if an angel were standing before me.”  I get it, but you can have encounters with God minus angelic visitations.  And you know what?  Two of those three examples are already spelled out in the Bible (talk to you co-worker and start tithing, in case you’re taking notes).  I would venture to say that 90% of God’s will for you is in His Word.  You want Gabriel?  You’re stuck with me and this blog right now.  I’m not shiny or imposing like Gabriel, but I can tell you, as Gabriel would: His Word is true.  Heed and obey it.

The Christian author, Madeline L’Engle wrote a beautiful little poem about Mary’s faith:

This is the irrational season

When love blooms bright and wild.

Had Mary been filled with reason

There’d have been no room for the child.

Back to the virgin birth … Luke was a physician and probably should be the most skeptical of the gospel writers about this, but he accepted it in faith and wrote about it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  It is the annunciation of the prophecy of Isaiah which was to be fulfilled soon.  And so ….

The Fulfillment – Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.” And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. 

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way…” This is a signal that something is different from the normal births indicated by the genealogy in the preceding verses.  Matthew wrote “with child from the Holy Spirit,” which is exactly what Luke wrote.  Joseph was a good man; he was willing to disassociate from Mary, but not see her punished/stoned as she would have deserved had she been unfaithful and broken the contract of betrothal.  But an angel came to him in a dream and assured him conception was from the Holy Spirit.  This baby was coming to ”save His people from their sins.”

The next two verses are key to our belief in the virgin birth. Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, quotes Isaiah’s prophecy and says this is the fulfillment of it.  So, we can question what the verse in Isaiah means if we want to, but here is God, through Matthew, telling us Jesus’ birth is its fulfillment.  You either accept the entire Word or you don’t.  Jesus will be born of a virgin.  The beauty of this verse is that it very simply ties the old covenant to the new.  The law is fulfilled in the coming of the King.  The prophecy was fulfilled and validated.  In fact, Paul wrote in Galatians 4:4, “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman…” The virgin birth was accepted as fact in the early church and should be accepted by believers now.

And, once again, we encounter obedience.  Joseph obeyed; it’s that simple yet it’s that hard.  Matthew records no push back from Joseph.  He took his wife, he did not consummate the marriage, and he named the boy Jesus.  I have no doubt Joseph was a wonderful father because he was obedient to God.

So why the virgin birth?

• To fulfill prophecy.
• To point Out the uniqueness of Jesus – only begotten; one and only; no one else like him.
• To substantiate Jesus’ divinity – Psalm 5:15 tells us, “Behold, I was brought for in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”  While each of us makes the choice to sin, it is an inherited predisposition.  The virgin birth, brought about by the Holy Spirit, makes null the argument that Jesus was just a man.  God could have brought divinity into the world in another way, but the virgin birth validates Jesus’ divinity and speaks to the new and unusual second birth that believers experience. Read the words of Paul Colossians 1:15-20:  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.  For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross through Him, I say, whether things on earth or in heaven.
• To substantiate Jesus’ humanity – Perhaps God could  have produced a sinless human without the virgin birth, but the birth through a woman, a sinner, to one who knew no sin and became her Savior makes Jesus  human.  He was the perfect sacrifice, fully God and fully identifying with us as a man.  Could any of us come up with such a phenomenal plan? 

To call yourself a Christian and not believe in the virgin birth is disingenuous.  You are calling Mary promiscuous and Jesus a liar.  There are a couple of important points at play here that we must consider: Mary is not co-redemptrix with Jesus, nor is she a perpetual virgin.  We should never worship Mary.  The main person in the story of the virgin birth is Jesus, not Mary, however, all believers should exhibit the faith and obedience of Mary and Joseph.

What does it mean?  Jesus is who he says He is – Son of God/Son of Man.  If we believe that, we can believe everything about Him.  Jesus lived supernaturally by performing miracles, He was raised from the dead supernaturally, and He ascended into Heaven supernaturally.  Why would we not think He was born supernaturally?  The virgin birth sounds impossible, but so does every miracle in the Scriptures.  The virgin birth is foundational to Christian believe because it goes to the heart of the gospel, that God loved us so much that He sent His Son to pay the price for our sin that we cannot pay.  The Incarnation, the birth of Jesus to a lowly virgin in a stable, is part of the purest and sweetest love story in existence.  And the wonderful thing is that a believer is part of that love story and a non-believer can be.  Like Mary and Joseph, it requires an exercise of faith.

I haven’t blogged since June.  I am ashamed.  I could blame the pressures of work, family (two new grandbabies!) and “stuff,” and the fact that the blog site disappeared for a while, which I still can’t explain, but I also know I could have made time to write.  I’ve missed it as have my immense number of followers (at last count I was approaching double digits).  For better or worse I’m back.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be blogging based on a sermon series I created several years ago that examines some of the theological issues we encounter at Christmas:

• The Virgin Birth
• The Incarnation of Christ
• The Glory of God
• The Self-Emptying of Christ (Kenosis)

Please join me in this journey to and beyond Christmas as we consider the wonder of God’s love and His amazing gift to us.