Re: The Virgin Mary, Q & A, Dec. 2016, p. 15 One more perspective on the “virgin birth” of Jesus. Recall the births of some special people in the Old Testament: Isaac— first child of the covenant, born to a 100-year-old man and a barren woman who was 90. Jacob—even though Isaac’s younger son, received God’s blessing and became the father of Israel, a growing great nation. Moses —like every Hebrew baby boy of the time, his life threatened, was hidden in a basket in the river, “discovered” by Pharaoh’s daughter and raised in the Egyptian court. Samson— the legendary judge and Samuel—the first king of Israel, miraculously born to mothers who had been barren. Jeremiah—consecrated for God’s work before he was born.
Centuries later when Israel is at its lowest, an angel brought a message to the priest Zechariah. Elderly and childless, his wife Elizabeth will bear a child as great as Elijah. It is as if the headlines of the front page announced: SOMETHING BIG IS GOING TO HAPPEN!
Topping that a miraculous and auspicious birth story: CHILD BORN TO AN UN-MARRIED VIRGIN; blessed by Elizabeth before birth; announced three different times by angels; visited by shepherds and mysterious visitors from foreign lands; escaping death in his infancy; and debating with scholars in the temple as a child.
What can we say to these amazing events? I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son…conceived by the Holy Spirit…born [un- der extraordinary circumstances] of the Virgin Mary.