Every Christmas season our thoughts turn to the birth of Christ
and to his mother, Mary. To some extent, we all take nativity
for granted. But why was Jesus born of a virgin?
One answer, of course, is to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14:
"Behold the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall
call his name Immanuel."
But that's more descriptive than causal: why was it necessary
in the first place? There are, of course, many profound theological
issues inherent in the virgin birth. One way to view this issue
is to address one of the problems it solves.
God announced very early that His plan for redemption involved
the Messiah being brought forth from the tribe of Judah (1),
and specifically from the line of David
2. The succession
of subsequent kings proved to be, with only a few exceptions,
a dismal chain. As the succeeding kings of Judah went from bad
to worse, we eventually encounter Jeconiah (also known as Jehoiachin),
upon whom God pronounces a " blood curse" : "Thus
saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that
shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper,
sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah."(Jeremiah
22:30)
This curse created a rather grim and perplexing paradox: the
Messiah had to come from the royal line, yet now there was a "blood
curse" on that very line of descent! (I always visualize
a celebration in the councils of Satan on that day. But then I
imagine God turning to His angels, saying, "Watch this
one!")
The Solution
The answer emerges in the differing genealogies of Jesus
Christ recorded in the gospels. Matthew, as a Levi, focuses his
gospel on the Messiahship of Jesus and presents Him as the Lion
of the Tribe of Judah. Thus, Matthew traces the legal
line from Abraham (as any Jew would) through David, then through
Solomon (the . royal. line) to Joseph, the legal father of Jesus (3).
On the other hand, Luke, as a physician, focuses on the humanity
of Jesus and presents Him as the Son of Man. Luke traces
the bloodline from Adam (the First Man) through to David --
and his genealogy from Abraham through David is identical to Matthew's.
But then after David, Luke departs from the path taken by Matthew
and traces the family tree through another son of
David (the second surviving son of Bathsheba), Nathan, down through
Heli, the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus (4).
Zelophehad
One should also note the exception to the law which permitted
inheritance through the daughter if no sons were available
and she married within her tribe (5).
The daughters of Zelophehad had petitioned Moses for a special
exception, which was granted when they entered the land under
Joshua.
I believe it was C.I. Scofield who first noted that the claims
of Christ rely upon this peculiar exception granted to the family
of Zelophehad in the Torah. Heli, Mary's father, apparently had
no sons, and Mary married within the tribe of Judah.
Jesus was
born of the virgin Mary, of the house and lineage of David and
carrying legal title to the line, but without the blood curse
of Jeconiah. [I believe that every detail in the Torah -- and
the entire Bible -- has a direct link to Jesus Christ. "The
volume of the book is written of me." (Psalm 40:7)
[For a more detailed discussion, see the book, Cosmic Codes
-- Hidden Messages from the Edge of Eternity.]
Earlier Glimpse
This was no afterthought or post facto remedy, of course.
It was first announced in the Garden of Eden when God declared
war on Satan: " I will put enmity between thee
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."(Genesis
3:15)
The "Seed of the Woman" thus becomes one of
the prophetic titles of the Messiah. This biological contradiction
is the first hint -- in the early chapters of Genesis -- of the
virgin birth.
John also presents a genealogy, of sorts, of the Pre-Existent
One in the first three verses of his gospel (6). The Prophet
Micah also highlights this: " But thou, Bethlehem
Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands
of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto
me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been
from of old, from everlasting."(Micah 5:2)
Notes:
1. Genesis 49:10. 2. Ruth 4:22; 2 Samuel 7:11-16.
3. Matthew 1:1-17.
4. Luke 3:23-38.
5. Numbers 26:33; 27:1-11; 36:2-12; Joshua 17:3-6; 1 Chronicles 7:15.
6. John 1:1-3