Reader Question- The Virgin Birth

What do you think about the Virgin Birth?

-Mary

---------------------------

For starters, I don't think I'm qualified to lecture Mary about the virgin birth. Ok, I kid, I kid. Thanks for writing in!

The Virgin Birth is the part of Jesus' story that claims that Jesus did not have a human father, but rather was conceived by God with the Virgin Mary. It's also very interesting how it's importance varies from person to person. For some, it's SUPER important, an issue they're willing to fight over. For others, it's just a metaphor of... something or other. 

You asked for my thoughts so I'm just going to write them as they come to me, in no particular order.

First off, I always have found it interesting that with four accounts of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, only two felt the need to discuss how he was born. Neither the Gospel of Mark nor the Gospel of John feel the need to discuss it. Mark starts in medias res and John goes all the way back to before the beginning, but neither are interested in the circumstances of Jesus' birth, miraculous or otherwise. 

Skipping the birth also essentially involves skipping Jesus' parents. We hear a lot about Mary but not as much about Joseph. The implications of the virgin birth for Joseph are particularly interesting, because whenever the Royal Line is discussed in the gospels, it's always traced through Joseph. This means that, if you assume a virgin birth, then Jesus is born in the line of David by adoption.

If we discard the idea of a Virgin Birth as a fact and approach it as a metaphor or lesson, but retain a Christian theology (as the gospels would) what is the intended lesson? Why would it be important for Jesus to be a Virgin Birth? Some possible reasons the authors might have had...

1) God moment, WHOA!

2) No Sex in making Jesus, because we know sex is naughty.

3) The whole "Son of God" thing isn't just a clever title.

4) If he had parents like everyone else, he'd just be a regular guy.

None of the above really hold water for me. Jesus would have plenty of God Moments that didn't involve his birth (see the gospels that skip it entirely). The anti-sex message would have been very out of place with the initial authors, if not with the greek interpreters who would later get a hold of it. The Incarnation is all about Jesus being fully human and fully God. That isn't really complicated any more by having a human father, nor does removing the father make it easier.

So what do I think of it?

I think the idea behind the virgin birth is fascinating, but not particularly important. Whether it is the honest to God truth or some kind of tortured metaphor, I don't think it's a vital issue. However, it does open some fun lessons that we today can run with.

1) It's really hard to get too excited about the superiority of men when they had nothing to do with the birth of the Messiah.

2) It's probably important to mention that God declares this plan to Mary, who accepts it in advance. So despite countless internet memes, in the case of the Virgin Birth being legit, God got consent before making a baby in Mary. 

3) There are worse things in the world than having a Woman who even Muslims and Christians can agree was pretty darn great by all accounts.

So what do YOU all think of the Virgin Birth?