Incarnation; (latin, in carnis; “in the flesh”) Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man in one person, and is eternally so. Though the Scripture does not explicitly use the term, the church has historically used the term incarnation to refer to the fact that Jesus was God and human in the flesh. It is the act of God the Son whereby he took to Himself a human nature (not a fallen, sinful human nature like ours, but one like that of Adam). In Jesus Christ, God became a human being without ceasing to be God. Scripture sets this out most explicitly in the Gospel of John.
John 1:1-5, 9-14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
How did this happen? Obviously, Jesus’ birth was different than ours!
The Virgin Birth;
Jesus’ birth was different than ours in that His mother conceived and bore Him without the agency of a human father.
Many people today have tried to deny the historicity of the virgin birth. Interpreters of the Bible view the text not as accounts of an historical event, but as theological interpretations of the person of Jesus set forth in story form. Such a view runs counter to the plain sense of Scripture.
Bible;
Specifically, neither Matthew nor Luke say anything which relates the virgin birth of Christ either to His deity or His sinlessness. They make no theological interpretation at all. The reason is that they are more interested in accurate history than in promoting any theological idea.
History;
The early church saw these virgin birth accounts as historical and not primarily theological. Just one generation after the apostles (around 110 A.D.) Ignatius described Christ as “Son of God after the Divine will and power, truly born of a virgin . . . “
The virgin birth was part of the confessional statements of the early church from 190 to 381 A.D.
This shows, very importantly, that those closest to these events in history never questioned the historical nature of the accounts. So, while the Gospels clearly declare that Jesus was born of a virgin, they do not specify why, probably because it has so many theological implications.
Throughout Church History, theologians have tried to answer the question, “why?” Their answer usually relates the purpose of the virgin birth to some aspect of Christ’s nature and character. For example:
1. Tertullian, around the turn of the 3rd century, argued that Christ had to be virgin born in order to be divine. This may be true, but John 1:1 bases His divine nature on His preexistence, not the virgin birth, because He was already God.
2. Augustine, over 100 years later, taught that the virgin birth accounts for the sinless nature of Christ. This, I believe is true. However, the NT makes no specific link between the virgin birth and the sinlessness of Christ (though it may imply it in Luke 1:35).
So, while the virgin birth can be connected to many aspects of the nature and character of Christ, there is no necessary connection between it and any specific doctrine about the nature of Christ. These are matters of theological inference. Again, they may be true, but Matthew and Luke give us no clear evidence, since they are not primarily theological, but rather historical narratives.
Therefore, a more promising solution to the question, “why was Jesus born of a virgin?” may lie in the virgin birth’s role as a sign of grace in God’s history of salvation. That is to say that both Matthew and Luke may be less concerned here about His nature and more about His function.
Matthew;
Matthew interprets the virgin birth as a sign that God had fulfilled His promise to save His people.
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel"(which means, God with us).
24When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
The fact that Matthew quotes directly from Isaiah 7:14 is an indication that he saw Jesus’ birth as a direct fulfillment of the prophecy concerning ‘Immanuel.’ In its original context, Isaiah 7:14 refers to Isaiah’s own son who would be born within a few years of his speaking to King Ahaz of Judah. This child was to be a sign to King Ahaz that Judah would be saved from the impending threat of conquest by Israel and Syria. Matthew sites Isaiah’s prophecy of Israel’s imminent deliverance as an event foreshadowing an even greater salvation, the coming of the true Immanuel to save all nations from the captivity of sin. So then Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this typological earlier saving event, which is a picture of a future saving event which surpasses it in greatness. In this sense the virgin birth fulfills Isaiah 7:14 as a sign of God’s saving activity towards His people.
Luke;
Luke interprets the virgin birth as the greater of two extraordinary births; First, the birth of John the Baptist as a sign that the promised messianic age was to come in his lifetime. Second, the birth of Jesus as a signal that the messianic age had arrived!
John the Baptist:
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."
18And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." 19And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." 21And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. 24After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25"Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people."
The fact that John had elderly parents who had been childless strikes a parallel between John’s birth and the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah in Gen 21. Thus confirming the idea that the age characterized by God’s promise of future blessings to all nations was coming to a close with extraordinary births at both its beginning and end. This parallel marks the end of the age of promise!
What sort of sing, then, would signal the arrival of the messianic age? An extraordinary birth? Another child born to elderly, barren parents would merely duplicate the signs of the age of promise.
Jesus:
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" 29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
34And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"
35And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God. 36And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God." 38And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
The virgin birth was a sign that went beyond the amazing births of Isaac and John. The Messiah, the fulfillment of God’s promises throughout the Abrahamic covenant, would end the patriarchal system by being born without the agency of a human father. In this, the virgin birth testifies to the fact that the age of promise is now past, and the age of fulfillment is upon us.
Conclusion;
Taken together, Matthew and Luke testify that in Jesus God sent salvation greater than anything that was done during the age of promise, thereby fulfilling all the promises given during the age of the old covenant. The coming of God as a man, through the virgin birth, is a sign that God is to fulfill all of His promises by bringing His blessing to all nations.
This witness of the virgin birth to Christ’s function within the redemptive history anticipates the manner in which the entire New Testament addresses the question, “who is Jesus Christ?” and to all of the theological interpretations it makes about Him.
At the end of this long discussion, it may be easy for us to lose sight of what is actually taught is Scripture. It is by far the most amazing miracle of the entire Bible - far more than the resurrection or even the creation of the universe. The fact that the infinite, omnipotent, eternal God the Son could become a man and join himself to a human nature forever, so that the infinite God became one person with finite man, will remain for eternity the most profound miracle and the most profound mystery in all the universe.
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