An article titled “Where Is Your Faith?” from www.sundayschoolzone.com affirms that identical reports of the same event indicate that the parties involved got together privately and made up their story. However, similar reports of the same event—accounts that offer a variety of details and that reflect different perspectives—are quite likely authentic, as long as they don’t directly contradict one another.
As initially unbelievable as the idea of a virgin’s conceiving and bearing a son might be, people who are intellectually honest will have to admit that, taken together, Mary’s story regarding her claim to be pregnant and yet still a virgin (see Luke 1:26-56) and Joseph’s story regarding it (see Matt. 1:18-25) ring with authenticity. First, both Mary and Joseph were skeptical, or at least initially hesitant, regarding the idea in the first place (see Luke 1:34; Matt. 1:18-19). Second, as each one sorted through this issue, the details of their personal experiences indicate exactly the kinds of emotions and responses we would expect from a woman and a man grappling with the circumstances before them, yet willing cooperate with God as He carried out His plan.
Let’s briefly consider the challenge Joseph faced. He and Mary were “engaged” (v. 18). This engagement or betrothal was a stronger bond than is engagement in our culture today. Even though a betrothed man and woman did not live together as husband and wife, a divorce would be required to dissolve the bond. And now Mary was pregnant. She knew she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit (see v. 18), but that fact wasn’t obvious to Joseph. Joseph was a man of integrity (see v. 19) and compassionate, so he decided not drag Mary through a process that would make things even harder for her. He would “divorce her secretly” (v. 19).
Joseph needed confirmation that Mary had not been unfaithful to him. Wouldn’t you? Divine confirmation came when “an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream” (v. 20) and explained that the Holy Spirit had brought about the conception of the baby that now was growing inside Mary’s womb. The angel told Joseph not to be afraid to marry Mary. Indeed, she would “give birth to a son,” but this was all part of God’s perfect plan. The boy was to be named Jesus, “because He will save His people from their sins” (v. 21).
Matthew went on to cite Isaiah 7:14 as a prophecy that was being fulfilled in Mary’s pregnancy. Although the Hebrew term translated virgin in Isaiah 7:14 means “a young woman of marriageable age” who may or not be a virgin (making it possible for this prophecy to have both immediate and ultimate fulfillments), the Greek word used by Matthew in his quotation of Isaiah 7:14 (see Matt 1:23) means “virgin, a woman who has never had sexual relations with a man.” Matthew’s language is absolutely clear and unmistakable: Mary was pregnant with a child who had no human father. (Note Matthew’s careful wording in verse 16 as well—and his unambiguous statement in verse 25 that Mary and Joseph did not have intimate relations until after Jesus was born.) Thus, the names Jesus (“Yahweh is salvation”) and Immanuel (“God with us”) could not be more fitting. God was and is Jesus’ Father; and Jesus is God’s Son—indeed, He was God Himself in the flesh (see John 1:1,14).
Copyright © 2015 B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations in this article are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.