December 12 Christmas Devotion
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. Luke 1:34-28 NIV
What is Christmas about? It is how God keeps His Word in the coming of the God-man to bring us salvation by the forgiveness of our sins. Christmas is preparation for Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost, for rescue from sin.
That God keeps His word and does so in His timing and in His way is a central truth that surrounds the incarnation in Luke 1-2. Jesus’ birth is shown to be part of a divine plan that involves both John the Baptist and Jesus. The account presents two unusual births: on the one hand, an old couple, and on the other, the virgin birth. And that God will keep his word is central to these two accounts. Further, Jesus’ birth is shown to be superior to John's. John is a prophet, while Jesus is the Son of God. “Nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).
Luke presents the virginal conception as part of “an orderly account” of actual history from eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1-4). It is important to note that while Christ’s birth was like other births, the reader can easily observe the significance of the virginal conception in the early chapters of Luke. In the first account in Luke 1:57-66 (see also the prediction in 1:5-25 and after birth response 1:67-80), Elizabeth is helped by the Holy Spirit because she was beyond childbearing years. In the second account in 2:1-21 (see also the prediction 1:26-56 and after birth response 2:22-40), Mary’s conception and birth of Jesus are significantly different from that of Elizabeth. In the account of Mary, Luke describes the unique virginal conception and birth. It is not presented as a myth or as having been borrowed from pagan birth stories.
Today, some see in the virgin birth pagan mythologizing. What is the big deal for Christianity? There are significant differences between pagan mythology and the Gospel writers’ accounts. A careful reading of the NT demonstrates that Christ’s birth was truly unique. Similarity does not mean sameness. Pagan mythologizing is profoundly different from what Gospel writers are asserting.
It should be noted that some so-called pagan virgin birth stories are not virgin birth stories. For example, Dionysus was born when a god (Zeus) disguised himself as a human and impregnated a human princess. This is not at all parallel to the role of the Holy Spirit in the Gospels. Mithra was born of a stone, not a virgin. The cult of Mithra in the Roman Empire dates to after the time of Christ. Mithraism is dependent on Christianity and not the other way around. The so-called pagan virgin birth stories are not even stories of virginal conceptions. They are not parallel to that of the New Testament.
When evaluating these “parallel” texts, keep in mind that the New Testament was in circulation by the late first century. If the so-called “parallel” accounts were written later than the first century AD, the New Testament writers could not have borrowed from them. It is also clearly necessary to read the actual ancient texts that describe pagan practices. These primary texts are the primary source on which to evaluate possible parallelisms. For the most part, they do not show parallels. In addition, there are patterns of Christian worship or Christian celebrations that developed later than the New Testament, which have nothing to do with whether the New Testament accounts of the life of Jesus are historically accurate.
The New Testament presents the virginal conception as true history, and Jesus’ birth is part of God’s divine plan. Since God kept His Word, we have hope.