It is difficult for the modern mind to imagine how an “immaculate conception” could have taken place. For some it is easier to believe that both Matthew and Luke made the story up to add credibility to their biographies of Jesus. Following are some considerations which have helped me to understand this Miracle which Matthew and Luke tell, but which both Mark and John omit.
1. Neither Matthew nor Luke needed to add this story if it weren’t true. Each simply reports it. The evidence of the resurrection is “proof” enough of Jesus deity.
2. If Matthew and Luke had colluded in making the story up, one would think certain apects of their stories would match up better than they do.
3. The section of Luke that recounts this event is written literarily in obviously Jewish literary style, completely different to the rest of the writing in his Gospel. This leads one to conclude that he may have simply copied it from written records of the events, perhaps from Mary herself, whom he most certainly interviewed.
4. I concluded at the beginning of my Christian life that it is not necessary to decide a priori that miracles don’t happen. God is outside of/beyond nature. He’s the creator and sustainer of it. If this is so, then He can tweak and alter the “laws” of nature in any way He wishes and at any time.
5. Matthew also cites at least 53 Old Testament scripture references fulfilled by Jesus. This is astonishing. One of those is Isaiah 7:14. He must have been amazed as he did his homework and discovered how Jesus was the piece of the Messiah puzzle that pulled them all together.
6. Joseph certainly believed in a virgin conception. He believed his dream. He didn’t believe his fiancee’ would cheat on him and he knew he wasn’t the father.
To be fair, my first decision was to decide to believe in the virgin conception, before actually believing it deep down. However, as has been the norm in my walk with Jesus, God has provided more and more corroborating and compelling evidence to support my initial decision. And yes, this is a valid way to proceed on your faith journey.
Maybe it is easier to believe in the virgin birth when we recognise that the supernatural is God's "natural".
ReplyDeleteAnd isn't that just like Him, He honored your decision to believe the incomprehensible by giving substance to what you haven't seen. What a sweet reminder of His faithfulness. He makes it so easy to love Him.
Those alive in Jesus time would find this equally hard to believe. The only reason Joseph beleived it was because God showed him the truth.
ReplyDeleteOnly through faith can we also believe that Jesus is God's "only begotten son" and was born of a virgin. This same faith gives us hope of eternal life, and the joy of knowing God loves us and will take care of us as his adopted children.
I am thinking that maybe God did not even have to "alter" the "laws" of nature. After all, he spoke the world into being and created Adam and Eve from literally nothing, from our capacity to comprehend. Every year we, as humans, learn so much more about our world that I feel outdated about once an hour. But here we are talking about God who had to cover Moses's eye because no being could look on him and survive. Moses only got to see God's trail and this was enough to put a scare into everyone who looked at him. I like to think that in God's world, so to speak, that these laws are already set up and a making a virgin birth was as easy for him as boiling water for most of us. In fact, the way i see it God would have even yawned while doing it except for the pain of separation he would suffer from his Son because we screwed up so bad he had to rescue us for about the umpteenth time.
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