THE BIRTH OF CHRIST THE ROMAN CHURCH BELIEVES:

THE EVENT PROPHESIED:

A. Born of a virgin: Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. - Matthew 1:22-23 - Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. - Luke 1:35 - And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

B. Descended from David: Isaiah 11:1 - And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: - Luke 1:32 - He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

C. Born in Bethlehem: Micah 5:2 - But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me thatis to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have beenfrom of old, from everlasting. - Matthew 2:4-6 - And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

D. Birth was connected to slaughter of children:Jeremiah 31:15 - Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. - Matthew 2:16-18 - Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, In Ramah was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

E. Taken to Egypt and returned: Hosea 11:1 - WhenIsrael was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. - Matthew 2:15 - And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypthave I called my son.

THE EVENT DETAILED:

A. THE WHOLE THING THEORY:

There are some that suggest God formed and placed the entire fetus within Mary’s body. This would be the first reference in Scripture to Surrogate motherhood. This view would see a complete fertilized egg being prepared in heaven and being placed within Mary for the growth and birth process. This allows nothing of Mary to be imparted to Jesus, except the physical food and water nourishment that is normal in the pregnancy process.

PROBLEMS WITH THE WHOLE THING THEORY:

1. This does not make Christ a descendant of David. He has no descendency. He is totally of God, and even if He were human in form there would be a lacking of the reality of the son of Mary.

2. This requires God to go back into the creation business to create this totally new man. Does this allow for the Lord being man as we? Does this allow for the Lord being our brother? Etc. I don’t think so.

3. This could just as well have been a total creation of Jesus as an adult and eliminated the growing and maturing years.

4. There is no indication that this is the case in the Word, on the contrary the Gospels seem quite specific that there was a union of the Holy Spirit and Mary in the process. What that union, or overshadowing was is a question that we will probably not explain, yet both parties seem to be a part of the God-man Jesus.

B. THE MIRACLE THEORY

I ran into a self styled theologian that explained it this way. Mary and a man had relations. He did not get into the details of the father which was a bit of a problem to me. A Savior born of a fornicator. Not to appropriate. At any rate, he suggested to that conception, God added or changed something to keep the sin nature from being passed on to Jesus.

PROBLEMS WITH THE MIRACLE THEORY:

1. So how does deity enter the picture? By ZAP or by osmosis?

2. So how do you answer the fornication question?

3. So why was Jesus special enough to die for our sins?

4. So, is that a proper sacrifice according to the Scriptures? NO.

C. THE PARTIAL THEORY:

This would be where most of Protestantism is, I think. Mary was an integrated part of the conception, supplying to the unique person of Christ His manhood, while the Lord supplied, or moved in such a way as to supply the divine part of this person Jesus. How did that happen? We will discuss the conception later.

--LEA SAN JUAN