The Conception of Jesus Christ
The Conception of Jesus Christ
Many people both inside and outside the church reject
the divine conception of Jesus Christ. But for those of
us who believe that the Word of God means what it says,
we must acknowledge that Jesus was conceived in Mary
by the Holy Spirit. The record of the conception and birth
of Jesus Christ is clearly set forth in Matthew 1:18-25.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When
as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before
they came together, she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost.
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not
willing to make her a publick example, was minded
to put her away privily.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the
angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying,
Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto
thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from
their sins.
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.
Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel
of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his
wife:
And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn
son: and he called his name JESUS.
There is no question that the Bible teaches the divine
conception. The question is only of the accuracy of the
Bible. Is the Bible accurate when it states that Jesus was
conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary who was
a virgin at the time of the conception?
The Bible teaches that Jesus was a sinless man. Other
parts of the Bible teach that all men since Adam are born
“dead in trespasses and sin.” So how can we account for
the sinlessness of Jesus? Jesus was born sinless—but also
kept himself sinless as He aged. Hebrews gives part of the
answer.
Hebrews 2:14:
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh
and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the
same. . . .
All children are of Adam, and all partake of Adam’s
flesh and blood.* The word “partake” is the Greek word
koinōneō and means to “share fully.” So all of Adam’s
descendants share fully in his flesh and blood, thereby
transmitting sinfulness to all Adam’s children. But Jesus
just “took part” of the same, the Greek word is metechō
which means to “take only a part, not all.” Jesus took
some part, but not all; He did not partake, koinōneō, share
fully. Ordinarily all children share fully in Adam’s flesh
and blood, but Jesus did not share fully. According to the
flesh He was like Adam, but the life of the flesh in the
blood of Jesus came by way of the supernatural conception
by the Holy Spirit, God.
If Jesus had been conceived by sexual relationship between
Mary and Joseph, He would have been as sinful
as any other child that is born of man’s seed, and would
have shared fully in Adam’s flesh and blood. The soullife
in the blood of Jesus came to Him not through Mary
but by way of the creation of soul-life in Mary by the
Holy Spirit.
Natural life, which is called “soul-life,” is in the
blood.** Sin is transmitted through the life in the blood
which is soul-life and not through the flesh. This life
which is in the blood is contributed by the sperm of the
male. Soul-life is in the seed. You can understand the
significance of the male’s contribution when studying the
conception of Jesus Christ.
The ovum has to be fertilized by the sperm to have
soul-life. The mother provides the unborn, developing
infant with the nutritive elements for the building of that
little body within her. The placenta forming the union
between mother and child is so constructed that all the
nutritive elements and even antibodies pass freely from
mother to child, and the waste products of the child’s
metabolism are passed back to the mother. There is, however,
no actual interchange of blood. All the blood which
is in that child is produced within the child itself.
How wonderfully God prepared for the birth of His
Son, Jesus Christ, from the beginning. When He formed
and made woman He made her so that no blood should
pass directly from her to her offspring.
Adam is the head of all the races of men on earth, and
Jesus had to be of the line of Adam in order to fulfill
the law. God, in order to produce a sinless man and yet
one who was of the line of Adam, had to provide a way
whereby Jesus would have a human body derived from
Adam and yet not have soul-life from Adam’s sinful
blood.*** Jesus was sinless because He was conceived by
the Holy Spirit, yet was born of Mary with a body of
flesh, as all mankind.
Conception by the Holy Spirit was the only way Jesus
Christ could be conceived. Mary nurtured the body of
Jesus in her womb and He became the line of Adam and
David according to the flesh. The Holy Spirit contributed
the soul-life in the blood of Jesus by way of the sperm.
In His arteries and veins there was sinless soul-life. When
Judas betrayed Jesus he confessed according to Matthew
27:4, “I have betrayed the innocent blood.” Sin made the
original soul-life corruptible, but the soul-life of Jesus was
from God.
The original sin of Adam and Eve affected the whole
blood stream. Since we are partakers of the flesh and
blood of Adam and Eve, our lives are contaminated to the
extent that there is no hope without a Savior who had sinless
soul-life; Jesus Christ purchased us with His own
blood, who in Himself was deathless until He took the sin
of others upon Himself and died their death. All of this
because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born
of Mary.
Mary, having conceived by the Holy Spirit, was taken
by Joseph as his wife.
Luke 1:26, 27:
And in the sixth month [of Elisabeth’s pregnancy
with John the Baptist] the angel Gabriel was sent
from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was
Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name
was Mary.
The word “virgin” means “woman of marriageable
age,” while “espoused” may mean “wife” or “committed.”
“Espoused” means more than simply engaged; it
applies to the first day of the ten days of the wedding and
continues to include the entire first year of marriage.
Luke 1:28-34:
And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail,
thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying,
and cast in her mind what manner of salutation
this should be.
And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for
thou hast found favour with God.
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and
bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
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:
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be,
seeing I know not a man?
Mary’s “knowing not a man” means that Joseph and
Mary had not yet had sexual intercourse with a resulting
pregnancy. The time of the coming together was determined
by the priest and elders of the city, taking into
consideration the birthdates of the bride and groom. This
first coming together would take place some time after
the ten-day wedding ceremony on the date set by the
priest and elders. Reasonably, no father and mother would
negotiate a marriage unless their son or daughter would
be permitted to have intercourse relatively soon after the
ten days of wedding ceremonies.
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.
The word “overshadow” means “to cover”: “the power
of the Highest shall cover thee.” In the animal kingdom
we speak of a bull covering a cow, meaning the sexual
position for conception. The same meaning is evident in
human beings.
Luke 1:36-39:
And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived
a son in her old age: and this is the sixth
month with her, who was called barren.
For with God nothing shall be impossible.
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be
it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed
from her.
And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill
country with haste, into a city of Juda.
Note in the last verse that there is no implication that
Joseph did not go with Mary to the residence of Zachariah
and Elisabeth.
Now, having read Luke, let us look at Matthew’s account
of the birth of Jesus.
Matthew 1:18-20:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When
as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before
they came together, she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost.
Then Joseph her husband [it says plainly that Joseph
was her husband], being a just man [one desiring to
obey the law], and not willing to make her a publick
example, was minded to put her away privily [secretly].
But while he [Joseph] thought on these things, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a
dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not
to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is
conceived in her is of [by] the Holy Ghost [Spirit].
In the latter part of verse 20, the angel said to Joseph,
“Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife.” “To take unto
thee” means to draw close or to be intimate in sexual relations.
“Take unto thee” literally means “to take her as a
wife,” not just to take her and watch over her until the
baby is born. Mary is already the wife of Joseph so the
instruction to “take unto him” would mean something
more; it means intercourse. If the words in this verse had
said, “Take unto thee, Mary, to be thy wife,” it would
be different. But it says, “Take unto thee thy wife”; Mary
was already his wife.
Matthew does not specifically state how Joseph knew
that Mary was pregnant. But if God could relate the news
to Mary, He could certainly tell her husband, Joseph.
Joseph was explicitly told not to fear to have intercourse
with his wife and also not to worry if no tokens
of virginity**** were present because Mary was pregnant
by the Holy Spirit and not by another man.
Matthew 1:21-24:
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from
their sins.
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.
Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel
of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his
wife.
Joseph now carried out exactly the angel’s commands.
He “took unto him” simply means he had intercourse with
Mary. From this point on, Joseph and Mary lived in a
normal marital relationship.
Matthew 1:25:
And [but] knew her not till she had brought forth her
firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Some commentaries and theologians declare that Mary
was a virgin when she brought forth her first Son. According
to verse 23, Mary was a virgin when she became
pregnant. But verse 24 records that Joseph “took unto
him his wife,” according to the angel’s command. Even
though Joseph took unto him his wife, “he knew her not.”
“Knew her not” specifically has to do, not with sexual
intercourse alone, but with sexual intercourse producing
pregnancy. Even though Joseph had sexual relations with
Mary while she was pregnant with Jesus, Mary never conceived
by Joseph until after Jesus Christ was born.†
“Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel
. . .had bidden him, and took unto him his wife.” This was
announced by the angel to Joseph the night that he and
Mary were to “come together.”
Some of the Eastern religions teach that Thomas
Didymus was the twin brother of Jesus, that they looked
enough alike to pass for each other and that after Jesus
Christ was crucified the apostles mistook Thomas Didymus
for Jesus. The Word takes care of this contention
by saying “He [Joseph] took her [Mary]” but “knew her
not”; Joseph had sexual intercourse with his wife, but
Mary did not conceive by their sexual relations until after
Jesus Christ was born.
Genesis 4:1:
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived,
and bare Cain. . . .
Verse 17:
And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and
bare Enoch. . . .
Verse 25:
And Adam knew his wife again [after the death of
Abel, years later]; and she bare a son, and called his
name Seth. . . .
If “to know” a wife is simply to have intercourse then
the preceding records are ridiculous.
Genesis 19:5 and 8:
And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where
are the men which came in to thee this night? bring
them out unto us, that we may know them.
Behold now, I have two daughters which have not
known man. . . .
Two daughters are mentioned in verse 8, and sons-in-law
in verse 14.
Genesis 19:14:
And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law,
which married his daughters. . . .
But verse 8 says that these two daughters “had not
known man.” Surely they had had intercourse, but they
had not conceived.
“To know” is again demonstrated in Genesis 24.
Genesis 24:16:
And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin,
neither had any man known her: and she went down
to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
This usage of “virgin” and “known” emphasizes the
damsel’s purity. The word “know” again refers to not
having had a child.
In Genesis 38 we note the record of Judah who thought
the woman which he went in unto was a harlot, but discovered
her to be his own daughter-in-law.
Genesis 38:18 and 26:
And he said, What pledge [plight] shall I give thee?
And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy
staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and
came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath
been more righteous than I; because that I gave her
not to Shelah my son. And he [Judah] knew her again
no more.
To “come in unto” does not mean the same as “knowing”
her. Judah did not “go in to her” for the purpose of
knowing her, of having her conceive, but it turned out
that way in this incident. The Word states, “He knew her
again no more,” meaning that Judah never had another
child by this woman.
Genesis 39:14:
That she called unto the men of her house, and spake
unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew
unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with
me, and I cried with a loud voice.
“To lie with me” infers intercourse, with or without
pregnancy.
Another account of “to know” is given in Numbers
31.
Numbers 31:17, 18:
Now therefore kill every male among the little ones,
and kill every woman that hath known man [has conceived]
by lying with him.
But all the women children, that have not known
[that have not conceived] a man by lying with him,
keep alive for yourselves.
The instruction “to kill every woman that hath known
man” means that at that time they were pregnant or had
previously had children. It implies that you could lie with
man without “knowing him.” They had to be able to discriminate
which women had or had not “known man.”
Judges again discriminates between “intercourse” and
“intercourse which produces a child.”
Judges 21:12:
And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead
four hundred young virgins, that had known no
man by lying with any male: and they brought them
unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of
Canaan.
“Four hundred young virgins, that had not known
man” does not mean they had not had intercourse, but
that they had not had intercourse which resulted in pregnancy.
This is the third time we have come across the
words “had known no man by lying with any male” or
words to that effect. Either these are redundant statements
or they definitely fortify the truth that “know” or “to
know” means “intercourse to the end of conception.”
I Samuel 1:19, 20:
And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped
before the Lord, and returned, and came to
their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah
his wife; and the Lord remembered her.
Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come
about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a
son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I
have asked him of the Lord.
The implication is clear and plain that when “Elkanah
knew Hannah his wife,” she conceived.
In Matthew 1:20 the angel said to Joseph, “Fear not
to take unto thee Mary thy wife.” In verse 25 he “knew
her not till she had brought forth her first born son”;
Mary had intercourse with Joseph but did not conceive
by Joseph until after the birth of Jesus.††Joseph did not
“know” his wife until she had been delivered of Jesus,
who was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit.
God cannot be born, but His Son, our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ was conceived in Mary by God’s creation
of life in Mary. Thus the conception of Jesus Christ is by
supernatural laws and the birth by natural law with one
complementing the other and neither contrary one to the
other.