A. The prophecy of Isaiah was one of dreadful doom for
the opponents of God, but for the remnant of Israel it was a message of bright
hope through the Messiah.
1.
Isaiah addressed
nearly every foreign nation that had opposed God and His people, and he
announced the punishment and destruction that would come upon them.
2.
Moreover, Isaiah
announced the punishment and destruction that would come upon God's own people
for their unfaithfulness.
3.
However, the
nation of Judah was given the hope of redemption and a glorious future through
the promise of God's Holy One, His Messiah, who would save them and the world
from their sins.
B. One of the prophecies given about the Messiah was that
of His miraculous conception. Presently,
let us consider the virgin conception of Christ in both prophecy and
fulfillment.
II. THE PROPHECY GIVEN
A. Consider the time and setting in which the prophecy of
Christ's virgin conception was given.
1.
This particular
prophecy was given during the reign of King Ahaz in Judah (his reign was
approx. 731-715 B.C.). At that time, the
northern kingdom of Israel (Ephraim) allied itself with Syria (Aram) in order
to wage war against Judah (Isa. 7:1).
2.
To assure Ahaz of
Judah's security, God sent Isaiah with a message of encouragement and commanded
Ahaz to ask for a sign (Isa. 7:2-9).
When Ahaz refused to ask for a sign that God would preserve His people,
God chose a sign for him (Isa. 7:10-13).
3.
The sign that God
promised is stated in Isaiah 7:14 – "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a
sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His
name Immanuel.”
B. Let us notice a few things about Isaiah's prophecy of
this virgin conception.
1.
Obviously, this
event would be a profound miracle that could only be achieved by the power of
God.
2.
The word "virgin”
in Isaiah 7:14 is preceded by the article "the” (rather than "a”) in the
original Hebrew, which indicates that God had a specific virgin in mind ("the
virgin will be with child”).
3.
The virgin would
call her Son's name Immanuel, which means "God with us.” This indicates the dual nature of the
Messiah, for He would be both God and man.
4.
This would be a
sign of God to the house of David (see Isa. 7:13), for it would be through the
house of David that the prophecy would be fulfilled.
5.
This sign would
happen sometime after the fall of both Israel and Syria (see Isa. 7:16).
III. THE PROPHECY FULFILLED
A. More than 700 years later, Isaiah's prophecy regarding
the virgin conception of the Messiah was fulfilled through Mary.
1.
Mary was a woman
of the tribe of Judah and the house of David (Luke 3:23-38).
2.
The virgin Mary
was betrothed to a man named Joseph when an angel told each of them separately
that she was to bear the Son of God.
a. Mary's encounter with the angel is found in Luke
1:26-38.
i.
The angel Gabriel
told Mary that she would conceive a child through the Holy Spirit.
ii.
She was also told
that this child would be named Jesus, that He would be called the Son of the
Most High, and that He would reign on the throne of David forever.
b. Joseph's encounter with the angel is found in Matthew
1:18-25.
i.
When Mary was
found to be with child, Joseph was intending to put Mary away secretly, but he
was told in a dream by an angel of the Lord that Mary had conceived the child
of the Holy Spirit who would be the Savior of His people.
ii.
It was at this
time that the angel declared that these events were in fulfillment of Isaiah's
prophecy regarding the virgin conception of Immanuel.
iii. Therefore, Joseph did not put Mary away, but he took
her as his wife and kept her a virgin until her son was born.
B. God had chosen Mary, a faithful and godly woman, to be
the virgin who would bear His Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
1.
The angel Gabriel
called her "favored one” and told her, "The Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28). He also told her not to be afraid, for she
had found favor with God (Luke 1:30).
2.
Later, when
Mary's relative Elizabeth was greeted by Mary, Elizabeth was filled with the
Holy Spirit and declared, "Blessed among women are you, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb!” (Luke 1:42). She recognized
Mary as the mother of her Lord and blessed Mary for her faithfulness (Luke
1:43-45).
3.
Then Mary spoke
these words about her situation:
"My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced
in God my Savior. For He has had regard
for the humble state of His bondslave; for behold, from this time on all
generations will count me blessed. For
the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name.” (Luke
1:46-50)
4.
Indeed, we do
count Mary as blessed, for she was the mother of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.
a. The miraculous conception of Mary's Son was the
fulfillment of God's promise and the only source of hope for the world.
b. When at last Mary gave birth to Jesus, it was an
ordinary birth for an extraordinary child (Luke 2:1-7).
c.
Although Joseph
and Mary named the child Jesus and raised Him as a man (Luke 2:39-40, 51-52),
there is no doubt that Mary called Him Immanuel in her heart according to the
prophecy, for she knew better than anybody on earth that He was indeed "God
with us.”
d. Even so, Mary's blessing was coupled with a great
burden, for she was told by the prophet Simeon, "Behold, this Child is
appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed
– and a sword will pierce even your own soul – to the end that thoughts from
many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).
i.
So it was that
Mary was there as her Son died on the cross of Calvary (John 19:25).
ii.
Her Son's great
burden was a burden of her own, but only through that burden could we have the
hope of salvation. Only Mary's Son,
whose miraculous conception was given as a sign that God would preserve His
people, could bear the punishment for sins so that the rest of us could live.
5.
Mary was the
virgin chosen by God to bear His Son, but she was not a perpetual virgin, and
she is not to be venerated.
a. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Mary remained a
virgin all of her life, but the Scripture says that Joseph kept her a virgin
only until Jesus was born (Matt. 1:25).
Furthermore, Jesus had brothers and sisters, who were conceived in the
ordinary way (Matt. 12:46-47; 13:55-56).
Notice that a prophecy of the Christ in Psalm 69:8 speaks of His
"mother's sons.”
b. The Roman Catholic Church also teaches that Mary is to
be venerated, but nothing in Scripture indicates this.
i.
Veneration of
Mary predates the Roman Catholic Church, but the system of Mary's veneration
was adopted by the Catholics in 431 AD at the First Council of Ephesus.
ii.
Unscriptural
Catholic beliefs pertaining to Mary include her "immaculate conception” (that
she was born without original sin, another Catholic concept), her "assumption”
(that she was taken into heaven without death), and her continuous prayers of intercession
for the saints.
iii. Some of these false beliefs have their origins in the
Greek goddess Athena. She was believed
to be the virgin patroness of Athens, who was born directly from the mind of
Zeus. Her temple, the Athena Parthenos, was renamed the Maria Parthenos in the fifth century.
IV. CONCLUSION
A.
The virgin
conception of Christ is a vitally important principle because of the prophecy
of Isaiah 7:14. If Jesus had not been
born of a virgin, then He would not be the Christ.
B.
Mary was the
virgin chosen by God to give birth to His Son.
She was a righteous woman and holds a very important place in history,
but she is not to be exalted above her place in Scripture.
