The Virgin Mary

November 11

(Luke 1:26-27 NIV) "In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, {27} to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary."

(Matthew 1:19-25 NIV) "Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. {20} But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. {21} She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." {22} All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: {23} "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us." {24} When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. {25} But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus."

(Isaiah 7:14 NIV) "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."

The virgin birth is an essential ingredient of the Christian faith. Isaiah prophesied three things about the birth of the coming Messiah: a virgin would become pregnant, the child born to her would be a male, and that child would be called Immanuel, which means “God with us”. The power of the Most High overshadowed Mary, and the Son of God was conceived in her. It brings back the imagery of “the Spirit of God hovering over the waters” in the first chapter of Genesis. God speaks a word, and Light comes to the world. God speaks, and Life happens. The virgin birth was a necessity if Jesus was to be “the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. If Mary was not a virgin, and Jesus had a human father, He could not have been “God with us”, and He could not “save His people from their sins”. But it is true, and because it’s true, we can be saved. Believe! -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day