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9. Jesus' Human Birth
Holy Spirit
At and before Jesus' human birth, his divine nature lies within him. Mary's labor was probably similar to regular delivery. In most respects, Jesus' human birth was presumably like any other human birth. While our understanding can only be elemental at best, the Holy Spirit comes and miraculously forms the divinity of the fetus of Jesus' body. ✞
Mary + Holy Spirit = Jesus
(Human) + (Divine) = (Human/Divine)
Dies + Eternal = Resurrection
Conception
The angel tells Mary about Jesus' human birth and that the Holy Spirit would come upon her. Joseph vehemently denies any sexual contact, so it is reasonable to assume that the Holy Spirit planted the "God-sperm" within Mary's womb. There is probably all the trauma of labor, an umbilical cord to cut, and an afterbirth. Jesus' Christological conception does not necessarily make a nonsense of the scientific processes involved. God generally follows natural laws, but the incarnation points up the truth that he sometimes twists those patterns to achieve his will. In human healings, miracles, and resurrection, God intervenes and bends the natural laws for his glory. Apart from that crucial formative moment, Jesus' human birth was probably typical in most other respects. ✞
Jesus' Christological Moment
Jesus' Christological moment is the exact time that Jesus began his ministry possibly at his conception, birth, baptism, or even at the Creation moment. The Gospel writers bring different truths concerning Jesus' Christological moment to their readers. Many believe Jesus' Christological moment to be the precise time that Jesus' ministry begins. Mark the Evangelist, a young disciple of Jesus, understood "Jesus' Christological moment" to have taken place at his baptism. Mark goes on to found the church of Alexandria and writes in Mark 1.4-11, "In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens open and the Spirit descending like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved, with you, I am well pleased.'" In Mark's view, Jesus' ministry began at his baptism. ✞
Matthew's Baptism Emphasis
Similarly, in Matthew 3.13-17, the Apostle Matthew agrees that Jesus' Christological moment is at his baptism. "And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.'" The phrase "my Son, the Beloved" may be translated as "my beloved Son." whereby Matthew felt these words to have been Jesus' commissioning point to his unique ministry. In contrast, the Apostle Luke believes Jesus' Christological moment is at the very conception of the baby Jesus and the angel's announcement to Mary before Jesus' birth. ✞
My Son My Beloved
Saint Luke writes in Luke 1.26-28, "In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.'" Matthew also says in Matthew 1.29-33, "Mary was troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Mostest. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end." Many think that Luke interprets these words from the angel to mean that Jesus' ministry begins at his conception or possibly at his birth. ✞
John's Creation Theory
On the other hand, John the Evangelist believes the beginning of Jesus' ministry to be in the pre-existent godhead life at the beginning of all Creation. Saint John writes in John 1.1-14, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." Jesus' moment as "the Word" is witness to the fact that his eternal deity begins before the Creation, is punctuated at Jesus' Conception, and launched into ministry at Jesus' Baptism. ✞
Invisible Image of God
The Apostle Paul believes that Jesus comes to us in a baby's body as God himself. In Colossians 1.15, he writes, "He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all Creation. For he created all things, in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, thrones, powers, rulers or authorities, all things were created by him and for him." Jesus is no less than fully God. He is showing us in himself all of God that we can comprehend. God's fullness or deity, revealed at the moment Jesus became the Christ, is in many ways beyond our comprehension, but what we can understand, God reveals to us in Jesus. Jesus bears the fullness of the Godhead bodily within himself as one of the Holy Trinity's three members. The writer of Hebrews 1.3 explains, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." What an incredible Savior we have in Jesus! ✞
Jesus Father Relationship
The Jesus-Father relationship is a kinship of God's essence and enables the Father to raise Jesus' body from the dead without disturbing his grave clothes! The "Jesus-Father relationship" is an astonishing one. Their kinship is one of essence. Jesus' tomb is a mere stopping-off point on his journey back to his Father in Heaven. Their relationship is in the Godhead, and both Father and Son bear all the deity qualities as blood relatives. A human being, in contrast, can become a child of God only by adoption. God and humans are of different essences. Jesus regards the Christian's relationship to his Father as distinct from Jesus' relationship to the Father. With careful choice of words in John 14.20, Jesus says, "I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." He explained the Jesus-Father relationship in John 20.17, "I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." ✞
Jesus' Relationship
Jesus' relationship with the Father is quite different from our relationship with the Father. We can only view Jesus through spiritual eyes in the personal Body of Christ. We can see the Creator God in Jesus in a way that we cannot of the Father. Saint John writes insightfully in his first epistle in this regard. 1 John 1.1-4 states, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, seen with our eyes, looked at and our hands have touched, this we proclaim concerning the Word of life." Saint John emphasizes that the Creator has taken on a human form. The disciples had seen the face which spoke the Word when all things came into being. They were helped in understanding that Jesus' body after the Resurrection appeared somewhat the same, though different and not recognizable. ✞
"Jesus' Human Birth"
by Ron Meacock © 2021
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