On the Road to Bethlehem #11: Born of a Virgin, Pt. II

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”—Isaiah 7:14

Why was it necessary for Jesus to be born of a virgin? Here we come to holy ground. God doesn’t give us a direct answer, but we know that He had to identify with us, and yet not have any sin. But how? To be born as a descendant of Adam and Eve meant to share in what theologians call original sin. Since He couldn’t have sin, and had to pay the price necessary to satisfy God’s righteous requirement, He had to be virgin born. He had to be able to identify with man, and with God at the same time. Which is why He was given the title “Immanuel,” which means “God with us.” This can only be accomplished in and through the incarnation—God becoming man, without ceasing to be God.

Allow me to explain. When we sin against God, we must receive the penalty for that sin according to who He is. For example, if I were to punch a homeless man, what would happen to me? How much trouble would I get into? Probably not much Now imagine I were to punch a Chicago police officer—how much trouble would I get into then? Quite a bit, because I am not just punching a person, but a police officer, the guardian and enforcer of justice and in some respect the entire police department. My penalty would be much steeper. Continuing the illustration, what if I were to punch the Mayor of Chicago? I am now guilty of punching the representative of an entire city, which means that the penalty I would receive would be in due proportion to the value placed upon him. And in a similar way to punching the police officer, I am punching all of the citizens of Chicago. Imagine I were to take it a bit further and were to punch the President of the United States. The penalty for my action would be much greater, because he is the elected representative of the people, and to hit him would mean that I am in some respect hitting every American.

Taking the illustration further, let’s look at what it would mean then to punch God in the face, which is what sin is. It is saying to God, “I don’t need You and I don’t want to do what You want me to.” What would be the penalty for sinning against God? It must be in proportion to who He is and the value He has. Because He is God, then we understand that He is love, justice, mercy, and eternal, etc. He is also infinite and the most valuable and supreme Being in the universe. So, to sin against God means to receive a penalty in proportion to who He is—which means an infinite and eternal penalty, full of justice.

So, the only conclusion would be that the only one who could qualify to pay the required price for sin, had to be able to pay an infinite price in the sight of God along with identifying with man. Jesus’ baptism is a dramatic illustration of how far He was willing to go to identify with us. When He approached John the Baptist about baptism, John responded, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?"—Matthew 3:16. Jesus’ response is enlightening: “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness"—Matthew 3:15. Jesus didn’t need to be baptized because He didn’t have any sin that needed to be repented of. He was baptized because by doing so, He fulfilled the righteous requirement necessary in the sight of God.

And because of Jesus’ virgin birth, He was able to escape original sin, still identify with man, and satisfy the wrath of God by offering Himself up—as God in flesh. He became our intercessor, advocate, and priest,  

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin”—Hebrews 4:15.

He alone was able to pay the infinite price required by God’s justice and He alone was worthy enough to procure our salvation. As the book of Revelation says,

“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."—Revelation 5:9-10.

Jesus, the divine Son of God, was virgin born and had to be so. He is our Savior, our Lord, and the one who gave Himself for us. He paid the price for sin. How could the Son of God assume flesh for us? And why would He do so? Why would God take upon Himself the skin of His creation? Why would the great, big, infinite, divine Son of God, who knows no bounds, make Himself susceptible to the common cold? How could the Son of God, who transcends time, be rooted in a specific time and place? Because of His love for us (see John 3:16). God, in His love, took on the flesh of a baby boy, was born to a teenage, middle eastern girl, so that we might have life in, through, and with Him. May this Advent season be a time of wonder all over again, as we fall in love with Jesus, the divine Son of God, who came near to us, sinful men and women. May His name be praised both now and forevermore. Amen.