12/5/11- Messiah to be Born of a Virgin

12/5- Day 9- Light the first 2 candles. Jesus was prophesied to be Born of a Virgin- Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18,24,25; (Lk. 1:26-35) 

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14) 

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. (Matthew 1:18,24,25)

(Annunciation- Ossawa Tanner 1898)

(Angel appears to Mary- Henry Ossawa Tanner)

Thoughts: “Born of the virgin Mary” is an important phrase in the Apostles’ Creed.  Virginity and purity are not as valued in our polluted and wavering society. But the idea was that God did not defile Himself when Christ was conceived and born.  The virgin birth also teaches us as the angel said to Mary, “Nothing is impossible with God.”  There is some debate about Isaiah 7’s use of the word translated “virgin” here (some others translate it as “young woman”).  In those days a young woman was very likely a virgin. 
   In Isaiah’s day, Ahaz had let the people down, even bringing an Assyrian idol/altar into the Temple, and later nailing the doors shut to the Temple.  The hope was not to rest on his skills and abilities, but on a child who was to be born and would bring hope.  Our hope does not rest in our abilities, or the government’s ability- but rather in the supernatural God.

Prayer: Help me to believe that nothing is impossible with you, Lord.  I put my hope in you today.

12/24/10 Mt. 1:22-25 The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sZLYj-q60I&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_921304
(Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing- "Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy" with nativity video)

(Gerard van Honthorst 1622)

Thoughts: Most who have problem with the virgin birth have problems with miracles.  It is out of the ordinary.  But as one person put it, "If God could create the universe, he could create an extra Y chromosome."  Matthew 1:16,18,20 and Luke 1:22-23,25,34,35 all point to the virgin birth.  Galatians 4:4 says "made of a woman" which may be an inference to it.  John speaks of Jesus "coming down from heaven" (6:38); "coming from the Father into the world (16:27,28) and being "sent by the Father" (5:36; 6:57; 10:36).  It was an unusual intersection of the divine with the human- yet Christ did not lose His humanity in the process (Heb. 2:15,17). 

Prayer: Lord you are extraordinary.  Your birth shows us that.  Do extraordinary things in our ordinary world once more.

John Calvin abridged: Isaiah tells of an Immanuel who delivers the city for King Ahaz (7:14).  So Jesus is the Immanuel who delivers us.  Paul speaks of God manifest in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16).  We are at enmity and alienated from God apart from Christ (Eph. 2:15,17).  But God came to dwell among His people bodily in all his fullness (Col. 2:9).