A STUDY BY
GARY RAY BRANSCOME
Lesson 8
Since the circumstances leading up to Christ’s birth
are basic to our understanding of who He is and why He is unique, God saw to it
that all of the pertinent facts surrounding that birth were recorded in His
Word (Matthew 1, Luke 1&2). From that Word, we learn that Christ was
conceived by the power of God and born while His mother was still a virgin
(Luke
In the book of Luke we are told:
In
the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of
Since Jewish custom required a man to be established in a
trade and able to support a family before he took a wife, Joseph could have
been thirty years of age or more while Mary could have been as young as twelve
(although their ages may have been closer). Moreover, it was not their custom
for a man and woman to date, go steady, get engaged, or even spend time alone
together before marriage. Instead, the respective families arranged the
marriage. Once all of details pertaining to the marriage contract (such as the
amount of the dowry) had been agreed to, and (to use modern terms) the marriage
contract had been signed by both parties, witnessed, and notarized; the man and
woman were legally man and wife. However, because they had not spent time
together and may not even have met prior to becoming man and wife, it was
customary for a couple to observe a period of espousal, during which they got
to know each other while still living apart and refraining from sexual
intimacy. The espousal ended with a wedding feast. In other words, they did not
begin to date until after they were legally man and wife.
Because of this custom, Mary and
Joseph were regarded as man and wife even though they were not yet living
together and had never had sexual relations. For that reason, there was never
any shame connected with Christ's entry into the world, and Mary's pregnancy
was never regarded as sinful. Joseph was the only one who was upset about
Mary’s pregnancy, and he was planning to divorce her privately without
making the matter public (Matthew
But
while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto
him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee
Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she
shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:20-21).
By telling us that Joseph was a “just man,” the
Bible tells us that he was saved, for only those who have placed their faith in
God’s promised messiah are “just” in the sight of God
(Matthew 1:19, Romans 3:19-28, Galatians 3:6, 22). Moreover, because Joseph was
aware of his own shortcomings, he had no desire to shame Mary publicly. When
God chose a man to care for His son, He chose a man of faith.
Likewise, through Mary’s own
words, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?”, as well as
the words, “before they came together, she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost, // And [Joseph] knew her not till she had brought forth her
firstborn son” the Bible makes it clear that she was a virgin (Luke 1:34,
Matthew 1:18, 25).
Those who refuse to accept the
historical facts concerning Christ’s virgin birth, do so, not on the
basis of what they know, but on the basis of what they do not know. In other words,
their opinion is based on ignorance. What they fail to realize is that no man
could possibly know that Mary remained a virgin, apart from Divine revelation.
Even if Mary had been locked in a cell for two years prior to the birth of
Jesus and you were the jailer, you would have no way of actually knowing she
remained a virgin. So here we have one of the greatest signs that God ever gave
to mankind, and no one can even know that it took place apart from God's Word.
How humbling! How revealing!
For that very reason, God could not have been speaking of another virgin when
He told King Ahaz (through Isaiah) that the virgin
birth would be a sign unto him (Isaiah
The plain truth is that Christ
alone, of all men, was born of a virgin. The Bible makes it clear that He was
born of a divine miracle without a human father, and the proof of His virgin
birth is to be found in His resurrection from the dead. In other words, if
Christ was not who the Bible claims that He is, then He would never have been
able to triumph over death. Yet, His victory over death is one of the
best-established facts of history. God raised Christ from the dead because He
was without sin, and He was without sin because of the virgin birth (John
1.
Whose image was Christ conceived in?
2. Who was Joseph a descendent of?
3. How old might Joseph have been at the time of his marriage?
4. Were an espoused couple legally man and wife?
5. Why was Joseph thinking about divorcing Mary?
6. Did the wedding feast come at the beginning or end of the espousal?
7. Could any man know that Mary remained a virgin, apart from divine
revelation?
8. What does the fact that Joseph was “just” tell us about him?
9. On what basis do some people reject what the Bible says about Christ's
virgin birth?
10. How do we know that Isaiah