Virgin Birth or just a Myth?
- Terry Sweeney
- Dec 5, 2010
Second Sunday of Advent
December 5, 2010-11-29
Luke 1:26-33; Hebrews 10:5-10; Micah 5:2-4
The Rev. W. Terry Sweeney
“She struck the angel Gabriel as hardly old enough to have a child at all, let alone this child, but he’d been entrusted with a message to give her, and he gave it. He told her what the child was to be named, and who he was to be, and something about the mystery that was to come upon her. “You mustn’t be afraid Mary”, he said. And as he said it, he only hoped she wouldn’t notice that beneath the great golden, wings he himself was trembling with fear to think the whole future of creation hung now on the answer of a girl.” Frederich Buechner, Peculiar Treasures.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and till our hearts with the power of your Holy Spirit. Soften the hard spots, remove the refuse, make them good soil for planting and growing your word. In the Name of God: + Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
An inquisitive five year old asked his mother where babies came from. The mom looked into the innocent child’s eyes and began to give a lengthy, detailed yet nuanced scientific answer. When she finished she looked into his now glazed over eyes and said, “Do you understand?” The child nonchalantly shook his head and replied, “Oh, I thought they came from your tummy”.
Sometimes we make a simple question difficult, and of course we can try to gloss over the difficult with simplicity. Both can be problematic.
Herbert Lockyer wrote, “The Incarnation of Jesus Christ is both a mystery and a miracle. . . . If we try to explain his virgin birth, we lose our reason. . . . . If we reject the virgin birth, we also reject the inspiration of scripture.”
Every Sunday we recite the Nicene Creed. A statement of faith established by the Council of Nicaea in 355 AD and ratified at the Council of Constantinople in 381. In part we make this faith claim about Jesus: For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
This child would be fully God and fully man – pre-existent as the 2nd person of the trinity – that means he has allowed himself to be humiliated by leaving the heavens to take on the form of a human.
Given all of this, there is a question that dangles in front of us when we read this story.
The question comes from Mary: 34 “How will this be, (that is have a child)” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
Fair enough question. How does a virgin have a child?
There is nothing in the Bible or the tradition suggesting that Jesus was adopted.
There is substantial proof that Jesus was a real person – so we can’t say the scripture is all fiction. Jesus really walked this earth.
Liberal theologians such as John Spong say the Annunciation story really doesn’t mean what we read it to mean. It’s written in a code – a series of metaphors as a type of literary style. They say the story of the Annunciation was never intended by Luke to be an accurate historical account.
Spong contends Luke writes a Midrashic story (a type of Jewish interpretation that uses metaphors to give the story a mythic quality) of how Jesus was born and frames it as a type of mythical story. The problem is in mythology the hero's mother is a queen, who is most often not a virgin, she may or may not have other children, while his father, if human, is a king, and he is related to the hero's mother. The hero's conception is unusual or miraculous; hence he is reputed to be a son of a god.
While there are some aspects of the Annunciation that can be construed as mythical in format in historical content its fact.
Yet to quote one liberal blog “Matthew and Luke were not intending to give journalistic, “just the facts, ma’am,” accounts of Jesus’ origins.”
If that was true why would Luke begin his gospel account this way: “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” Luke 1:1-4
Luke certainly sounds like a writer intent on “Just the facts, ma’am” to me!
That doesn’t sound like someone whose goal was to write a mythic story using metaphors to spice it up?
Not only does he indicate he took great pains to investigate the truth to set the record straight – Luke is a gentile. He’s not schooled in Midrash or Jewish tradition.
Besides are we so gullible to believe that otherwise questioning and intelligent people would not question such a claim without investigation. Would such a claim be handed down from generation to generation without verification?
Look if Mary is 14 at Jesus birth – she is 47 at his death. She is one of those in the Upper Room, she must have told this story to many people. They too would have questioned her truthfulness.
Luke first met Paul in either 46 or 47 AD during Paul’s first missionary visit to Antioc. He seemed to begin traveling with Paul in 57 AD and was with Paul in Jerusalem at the time of Paul’s martyrdom in 62 AD which seems to be when Luke finished his gospel. Luke could have very well met Mary anytime between 57 and 62 AD which would mean she would have been between 81 and 86.
So as part of Luke’s investigation he either interviewed Mary and/or relied on the report of others (there was an oral tradition surrounding Jesus’ birth), or some tradition, built upon the testimony of Joseph and/or Mary. He also must have received divine revelation from God that this was true.
According to some scholars, information of the virgin conception was already in circulation before Luke investigated and wrote his gospel.
For those Christians who lived prior to Luke's reporting, Jesus' divine conception was the overall testimony (as opposed to a natural conception) concerning His birth.
This would take more time to explain then we have for but scientists have found that 1 in 5 million women naturally carry both x and y chromosomes and can possibly conceive a male child without the assistance of a male donor. Rare? Yes! Impossible? No!
Here’s the bottom line: liberal theologians reject the validity of the Christ’s conception through the Holy Spirit, his virgin birth or any of the miracles.
In liberal theology Christ is a good man that we all should try to be like.
He’s not the Christ of the Bible or the Creeds – they make him a really talented guy instead of God incarnate who came to save His people from their sins.
Paul’s admonition to the Corinthian Church comes to my mind, “Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.” 1 Cor. 15.34
So how might the church catholic approach the question(s) of the Annunciation?
To do that we’ll turn back to Luke 1:26-38
Mary’s elder cousin, Elizabeth, is six months pregnant; Gabriel who announced John’s birth to Zechariah and was met with skepticism is now sent to Mary. Gabriel starts off by telling Mary that she has found favor with God – through grace Mary is divinely favored.
Why? Grace.
Psalm 138:6, “For though Jehovah is high, he has regard for the lowly.
Isaiah 57:15, “For thus the high and lofty one, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
Mary is troubled by the Angels words, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you. But where else might the Lord be but with us who are in a low estate?
Gabriel goes on to give Mary the details: you shall have a boy, you will call Him Jesus (Joshua); He will be great and sit on the throne of his father David and his kingdom will never end!!
By this point her head must have been spinning.
A boy – named Jesus – will achieve greatness – He will be called the Son of the Most High God and will rule over heaven and earth forever.
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
I want to add – she’s unmarried – she has no social status – she has no connections – she has no money – she has no power, no political ties - how is this boy going to achieve all of this?
35 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. 36 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. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Mary’s concern and question revolves around her sexuality:
Virgin – I have a condition in life that prevents what you’ve just said would happen from happening. Babies require fathering and I have not done that – I’m betrothed – I do not yet know Joseph.
God’s solution:
Holy Spirit will come upon you – God will overshadow you: that means God will hover over you with the intention of creating something new as He did when He created the world and as He did when He hovered the Ark of the Covenant. His shekinah – all of God’s goodness, His glory, His power – will engage in a creative act . . . . God has spoken through Gabriel and at a time of His choosing He will fulfill His promise – just as He did for Abraham and Sarah, Zechariah and Elizabeth
We must not forget that God works His ways into our lives in ways known and unknown to us.
Sometimes in physical ways through healing us, godly appointments that we mistakenly call coincidences, other people who inspire us and in spiritual ways.
God says, “I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26
He doesn’t have to physically cut out the old heart and out in a new one.
But nonetheless what He tells us about His desire for us takes an active process – a process of being made new – a new birth of sorts – a work that only He can do. . . . we’re not capable of performing self surgery.
Question: Is the Incarnation any less or greater a work of God then our conversions?
To birth a child from a virgin or change our corrupt hardened hearts. Are they not both miracles of the Lord?
Can’t God create in a variety of ways? Is He limited to what we call “nature”?
In this case, this is an active creative process that will result in a child conceived. To begin to grasp the truthfulness of Luke’s account requires beliefs that accept God’s ability to work in that way.
Without such an understanding of God, we probably would end up in disbelief or reading the story as a nice myth and go no further with it.
What we’re reading about is God working His creative will within Mary. . . .His incarnate grace.
God has endowed us to create life in one particular way and He another. His is by Word, Spirit and desire.
No Word of God will ever fail – given this direct promise, Mary could count on it to happen even if she didn’t know all of the details. Why? Because in God’s truth to us lay an element of mystery. Faith fills in the gaps.
The scripture tells us that “For with God nothing is ever impossible”. He could give a child to an older couple and to a young virgin.
I am the Lord’s servant – doulos: slave/servant - From first to last our salvation is the work of God, the product of His grace and favor. Mary simply, yet profoundly prayers, “May your word to me be fulfilled” as she submits to God as his servant . . . . some would translate as “bond slave”.
I dabble in mind reading from time to time . . . . yes, I can read your minds. Let me show you. Now follow along in your minds – concentrate – so I can pick up the vibes J
Pick a number 1-10 Multiply it by 2 Add 8 Divide it by 2.
Subtract your original number.
With each digit representing a letter of the alphabet, where 1=A, 2=B, 3=C, etc. think of a state that begins with the letter representing your number.
Now think of an animal (not a fish, not a bird) whose name begins with the second letter of your state.
Think of a color associated with that animal.
Hmmm, the problem is there are no grey elephants native to Delaware.
Look, if I’m clever enough to come up with this mind game – with all of my finite limitations and lack of ability – could not God – the very creator of all that has been created – isn’t he capable of the creative act foretold by Gabriel as recorded by Luke’s investigation?
The Annunciation reveals to us the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 and 53 was fulfilled in Jesus who is the promised redeemer.
This Gospel stresses how God works in the fringes of society – His great care for us as His people – and the saving embrace Christ gives us when we come to Him in faith.
The Christ entered a world filled with class distinctions and barriers: racial, national, social, sexual. His tool of change was self-sacrificing love.
We must not forget His greatest mission was “to save His people from their sins”.
This he accomplished on the cross.
God’s will – His power – His authority – His love – are captured in Luke’s account.
And it involves a young girl, maybe 13 or 14 who will conceive a son by God’s authority over what we’d call “nature”.
This is not a made up story to make Jesus some super mythic hero – there is nothing anyone could say about him to surpass who He is to begin with.
Amen.
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