The Christmas Pattern
The Bible shows God intervening in our history over and over again. And of course the virgin birth is an intervention without comparison.
There are six other miraculous births in the Bible, but the nativity of Jesus is the final one that brings redemption. In Genesis chapter 21 we see that Sarah was old and barren, but God promised her a son. And in her old age she became pregnant and Isaac was born..
Rebekah was also barren, but the Genesis chapter 25 the Bible tells us that God answered her husbands prayers and she gave birth to twins. And there was Samson and Samuel and John the Baptist too.
The story of Joseph is particularly interesting because his story serves as an Old Testament glimpse into what Jesus would do. He rescued his family. While Joseph’s mother Rachel couldn’t have children, the Bible tells us that God responded to her prayers and “opened her womb” and she gave birth to Joseph.
Joseph came from a miraculous birth, was rejected my his brothers, resisted temptation, and ultimately saved his family.
Of course in Jesus’ coming we have the unique event that has no equal. While the miraculous births that came before him were improbable, Jesus’ birth was impossible – a virgin can’t conceive.
But here again God is acting in a way that turns our eyes up and causes us to recognize His love and power in the rescue of his children.
About 500 years before Jesus’ birth, in the book of Isiah, we find this prophecy, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” - Isaiah 7:14
Because Jesus was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit – and not through natural means – we have God taking on human form. And it was necessary for God to come to us because we simply can’t come to Him. He is purely good and we are not.
Scripture speaks to this problem over and over again and shows God as the one who comes to us because we, in our sin, can’t make it to Him.
One example of this is found in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans where he writes, “Just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:6–8
The miraculous nature of Jesus’ birth cannot be separated from its purpose. The incarnation was not merely an astonishing event; it was God stepping into human history to accomplish redemption. Jesus was born so that he could absorb the judgement you and I deserve. He was born in order to die.
The virgin birth ensured Jesus was born holy and sinless, making Him the perfect sacrifice for sin and able to empathize with human weaknesses without being tainted by sin. Advent is not just remembering how a helpless baby was born in scandal. It’s also a call to reflect on why Jesus came.
He did not come to merely inspire or teach but to save us from sin and reconcile us with God. His incarnation is an invitation to trust him.
Thank you Jesus for coming; for leaving glory and coming to die for us. I’m sorry for often forgetting what you went through for me. Please cause me to see this more clearly.
Let’s close with Hebrews 9:26:
But now, once for all time, Jesus was born at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.
Song: The Manger