Why Did Mary Have to be a Virgin?
The Christmas narrative contains many miracles – The supernatural appearance of
the Star to the Magi in the east that led them to the Christ-child, The thousands of
angels that announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, And one of my favorites, the
announcement by the angel Gabriel to Mary that this teenage Jewish girl would
conceive the Son of God in her virgin womb.
But why did God choose a virgin to bear His Son? Why couldn’t God just bring a
Savior out of the physical union between Joseph and Mary? There are a few
reasons, and each one is critical to God’s plan of redemption for mankind.
Let’s examine them quickly.
First, Scripture predicted that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14),
and Scripture had to be fulfilled.
Next, since the Messiah would be Immanuel, “God with us,” (Matthew 1:23)
Joseph could not have been the father of Immanuel because he could only have
passed on to the child a sin nature. God had to be Jesus’ Father so that He would
possess God’s divine nature.
But we need to understand that Jesus was not created in the womb of Mary in
the same way we are. Rather, in a miracle only God could perform, the Holy Spirit
would come on her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her, so
the preexistent Christ would take on human flesh as a baby in Mary’s womb.
Furthermore, the Savior had to be without sin in order to be an acceptable
sacrifice to pay for mankind’s sins. The only way for the Savior to be without sin
was if God Himself was His Father. This is why Scripture is clear in Matt. 1:25 that
Joseph had no sexual relations with Mary until after Jesus’ birth, so there would
be no doubt as to the fact that God was Jesus’ Father, not Joseph.
The virgin birth is the supreme miracle of Christmas. All glory be to God!