The Virgin Shall Conceive

The question of how the birth of Jesus came about is common at this time of year. I don’t mean the King James version from the Gospel of Matthew, “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.” The idea that Mary was pregnant without the cover of marriage is not hard to believe. People generally have no problem with the idea that Matthew and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem to partake in the census. Government intervention in private family events is well understood. What troubles some of us who believe that Mary was a virgin is precisely how the pregnancy was initiated.

First, I want to confirm that it is absolutely necessary that Mary be a virgin. If Joseph or any other human male was the sperm donor, Jesus’ mission would have been doomed from the beginning. Since the Father had sent the Son to pay the ransom price for the entire human race, the Son could not have sin of His own to pay for. Every human born since the Garden of Eden is born in Adam’s lineage. What that means is that all humans are under the curse of Adam which is separation from God. So, if Jesus were born in Adam’s line, He would not be the spotless lamb, the sinless man to take others’ sin.

This situation necessitated a unique birth. The subject who was to take the punishment for the sin of all mankind could not be born of Adam. However, the subject had to be a representative human to pay the human price for Adam’s disobedience. This is the dilemma: how could there be a human who was not “human” for the purposes of sacrifice? We are told that God accomplished this with language that is open to interpretation.

When Mary asked how she could be pregnant, never having “known a man” meaning she was a virgin, the angel from God said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” That is Luke’s version. Matthew has the angel from God tell Joseph, “that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Mark doesn’t mention it and John simply says, “The Word [the eternal Son of God] became flesh.” None of these explanations satisfies the curious mind. Not mine anyway.

Given the necessity that Jesus be outside Adam’s line, I am compelled to ask how God accomplished that when He used Mary, clearly a human from Adam’s line. Two explanations arise. Commonly, theologians have declared that since lineage was accounted through paternity (the father’s line), Mary’s lineage was not important if she was a virgin. The Holy Spirit was the “father,” and Adam’s line was interrupted. This is satisfying for most people.

I am more inquisitive than most people. I have always wondered if the Holy Spirit introduced a non-Adamic sperm into Mary’s egg thus avoiding Adam’s parentage. This could work legalistically, but it is not fully satisfying. Mary’s Adamic nature is still in half the Messiah’s DNA. There is a second possible explanation. I admit I am far beyond biblical confirmation, but I propose a possible alternative. What if the Holy Spirit did an “in vitro” fertilization, placing a fertilized egg or an embryo into Mary’s womb? In this way, God would have completely avoided the cursed Adamic line.

I find possible support for this in the Greek text that explains what happened. The Gospel of Matthew comes closest to describing what happened. Joseph is told that, “Mary was found to have [something] in her womb from the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:20) The simplest explanation of this is that Holy Spirit deposited in Mary’s womb a creation from God which met the requirements of being human yet not being from Adam’s corrupted line. Paul calls Jesus the “second Adam.” Since God formed the first Adam of earthly materials (the dust), could He not form the second Adam from whatever materials met the criteria?

All of this may have dulled your happy Christmas spirit, but I hope not. God’s ways are not our ways, clearly. Yet, He wants us to know that what He does is righteous, holy. God did not violate His justice when He placed the sin of all mankind on His only-begotten son. The Son had to be a spotless sacrifice. The sacrifice had to be something special.

I could be wrong. I am not presenting this theory as a biblical fact. I am suggesting what I have reasoned could be a way to reconcile the need for a sinless Savior with the fact that He was born of a human parent. When you look at the manger this Christmas, bow in reverence to a God who accomplished for us what we could not do ourselves. That is the message of Christmas. I don’t know how He did it, I simply rejoice that He did. Hallelujah! And Merry Christmas.