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When I was a little boy living in the Chicago area, my parents welcomed a teenage girl, Linda, into our home for about eight months. My father previously was a pastor in Creston, Iowa, and Linda’s family had been parishioners of his. They were in the middle of a family crisis. Linda had become pregnant, out of wedlock. Her parents called mine to ask if Linda could stay with us. My parents agreed, so Linda lived with us until the baby was born and put up for adoption.

The reason for this arrangement was simple—to avoid shame and scandal. In the early 1960’s, when Linda came to live with us, 5% of births nationwide were to unmarried women. Today it’s 40%. Although single motherhood is still hard, the social stigma attached to it is less than it used to be.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave birth to him out of wedlock. Imagine the scorn and the scandal Mary had to deal with. In her day, it wasn’t 40%, or 5%. It was probably more like 00.1%.

Early in her pregnancy, Mary left her home in Nazareth and, all by herself, trekked several days to the hills outside Jerusalem, to stay with her older cousin Elizabeth. The Bible tells us they had a joyous reunion, but I suspect there’s more to the story that can be read between the lines.

When the angel Gabriel told Mary she’d be expecting Jesus, he said, “Don’t be afraid, for you’ve been greatly blessed. You’ll conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you’ll name him Jesus.” 

I can imagine Mary’s reaction: “Are you kidding? How could I become pregnant now, before I’m married, before I’ve even slept with my future husband? What kind of blessing is that?”

The key to understanding what happened is the virgin birth. Gabriel explained to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and God’s power will rest on you. therefore the child will be holy and will be called the Son of God.”

Why is it important that Jesus was born to a virgin. First, it fulfilled a prophecy about the Messiah. About seven hundred years before Christ’s birth, Isaiah said, “The Lord will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin is with child and shall bear a son.”

Secondly, Jesus was born without the original sin that, it was believed, was passed from one generation to the next through the father. The virgin birth meant that Jesus was a human being in every way, except being sinless.

Gabriel mentioned to Mary one other important detail. He said the child’s name would be Jesus, which means “the Lord saves.” In other words, salvation is built into Jesus’ very name.

Your son will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High,” Gabriel explained to Mary. “God will make him a king like his ancestor David, and his kingdom will last forever.”

Apparently, Gabriel’s explanation was enough to calm Mary’s fears about stigma and everything else. I’m so glad she did. “I’m the Lord’s servant,” she responded. “Let it happen to me as you’ve said.”

While touring in Israel about forty years ago, I bought some olive wood carvings. One was of Joseph, and Mary on a donkey, with Baby Jesus sitting on Mary’s lap. As I prepared for the trip home, I placed the carving in my carry-on. At the airport, my bags went through the X-ray machine at Tel Aviv’s airport. My carry-on was opened, and the carving was inspected. Then the security personnel X-rayed it all over again. Once they were sure there wasn’t anything explosive in it, they let me through.

In a sense, there was something explosive in it. That carving represented the most explosive event in human history—our Savior coming to us! It depicted life-transforming power—a baby who would be great, who would save us all, whose kingdom will never end.

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