Jesus' Messianic Claim - The Virgin Birth
Psalm 89:35 "Once I have sworn by My holiness. I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before us."
Psalm 132:11 "The Lord has sworn in truth unto David that He will not turn from it. 'Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne."
Although David had many sons (so many that it takes three verses to list them all! - 2 Samuel 5:14-16), his royal lineage passed through his son Solomon. Solomon was famous for being the richest king who has ever lived. He was also the wisest, writing the majority of the book of Proverbs, as well as Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. But he wasn't completely sold out to God like his father was - eventually "marrying" a thousand different women! His mistakes split the kingdom during the reign of his son, Rehoboam. But in His mercy, God preserved the lineage of David; and his descendants ruled the tribe of Judah for centuries.
Enter Jeconiah, king of Judah, and son of the famous King Josiah. Jeconiah was a desperately wicked king during what could only be considered the dark ages of the kingdom. He continued in his sins despite repeated warnings from the prophet Jeremiah. His stubbornness and unrepentant heart led to this judgement from God through the prophet:
"Is this man Jeconiah a despised broken idol? Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? Why then are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth! Hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, write this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah." (Jeremiah 22:28-30)
Rabbis today still call this the greatest theological problem in Jewish history. According to God's declaration in this passage, none of Jeconiah's descendants (the royal lineage of David) could ever sit on David's throne! How could God promise that the Messiah would come from David's own body and sit on his throne forever...only to pronounce this curse on one of David's descendants?
Some people may casually dismiss this problem, simply saying that God forgot about His curse on Jeconiah...or at least cancelled it out in the New Testament. But we know that God will never go against His word; He means what He says! Many orthodox Jews have clearly understood this problem, and have simply given up. They'll claim that the Messiah simply can't come now...that their nation was disqualified from the promise during the reign of Jeconiah. What a tragic conclusion!
I want you to know, God had a plan...and He wasn't caught off guard by King Jeconiah's sin! This was a plan that circumnavigates Jeconiah's curse and fulfills several prophecies at the same time - prophecies as far back and the third chapter of Genesis! That plan was Jesus' virgin birth.
Psalm 132:11 "The Lord has sworn in truth unto David that He will not turn from it. 'Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne."
The Greatest Theological Problem In The Old Testament
As we've seen already, David was a man after God's heart. He understood the grace and love of God more than anyone else in the Old Testament. He was the one who wrote, "Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven." (Psalm 32). He was the man who inspired the majority of the book of Proverbs. He was the first man with the desire to build a permanent place to worship God - a "house" if you will. God responded to this desire of David's by promising an everlasting "house" for David; a descendant from his own body Who will rule forever. This is the promise we read in the previous two verses - the Messiah would come from David's line.Although David had many sons (so many that it takes three verses to list them all! - 2 Samuel 5:14-16), his royal lineage passed through his son Solomon. Solomon was famous for being the richest king who has ever lived. He was also the wisest, writing the majority of the book of Proverbs, as well as Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. But he wasn't completely sold out to God like his father was - eventually "marrying" a thousand different women! His mistakes split the kingdom during the reign of his son, Rehoboam. But in His mercy, God preserved the lineage of David; and his descendants ruled the tribe of Judah for centuries.
Enter Jeconiah, king of Judah, and son of the famous King Josiah. Jeconiah was a desperately wicked king during what could only be considered the dark ages of the kingdom. He continued in his sins despite repeated warnings from the prophet Jeremiah. His stubbornness and unrepentant heart led to this judgement from God through the prophet:
"Is this man Jeconiah a despised broken idol? Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? Why then are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth! Hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, write this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah." (Jeremiah 22:28-30)
Rabbis today still call this the greatest theological problem in Jewish history. According to God's declaration in this passage, none of Jeconiah's descendants (the royal lineage of David) could ever sit on David's throne! How could God promise that the Messiah would come from David's own body and sit on his throne forever...only to pronounce this curse on one of David's descendants?
Some people may casually dismiss this problem, simply saying that God forgot about His curse on Jeconiah...or at least cancelled it out in the New Testament. But we know that God will never go against His word; He means what He says! Many orthodox Jews have clearly understood this problem, and have simply given up. They'll claim that the Messiah simply can't come now...that their nation was disqualified from the promise during the reign of Jeconiah. What a tragic conclusion!
I want you to know, God had a plan...and He wasn't caught off guard by King Jeconiah's sin! This was a plan that circumnavigates Jeconiah's curse and fulfills several prophecies at the same time - prophecies as far back and the third chapter of Genesis! That plan was Jesus' virgin birth.
A Divine Loophole
In Matthew chapter 1, we see that Jesus' adopted father is descended from Solomon. When Joseph adopted Jesus, he gave Him the legal rights to David's throne. Because of this, David's kingdom rightfully belonged to Jesus - the oldest legal son of Joseph. By law, Jesus' was truly the "Son of David"!
Doesn't this solve the problem? Not at all! Let's read those first two verses again, and pay attention to the words that were used:
Psalm 89:35 "Once I have sworn by My holiness. I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before us."
Psalm 132:11 "The Lord has sworn in truth unto David that He will not turn from it. 'Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne."
Do you see the problem? The Messiah couldn't just be David's legal heir. No, the promise was that one of his physical descendants would assume the throne. If Jesus was only adopted into David's lineage, then He could not be the fulfillment of the messianic promises.
Is there an answer to this problem? Yes! Like I said...it's found in the Virgin Birth of Jesus!
You can find Jesus' genealogy in two places; Matthew 1 and Luke 4. Both records show that Joseph was Jesus' adopted father. But there's a problem: Matthew says that Joseph's father was Jacob - Luke says that his father was Heli. In fact, the entire list of names from David to Joseph is different between Matthew and Luke. But neither of them is wrong!
You see, Heli wasn't actually Joseph's father...he was Mary's. Heli had two daughters (Matthew 27:56, John 19:25). Mary, Jesus' mother was the older daughter. Zebedee's wife, the mother of James and John was the younger. According to Numbers 27, when an man had only daughters, his inheritance and his family line would pass down to the man that married his oldest daughter. This is why Luke lists Joseph as the son of Heli - because Heli was required by law to adopt Joseph as the firstborn when he married Mary.
So legally, Joseph had two different fathers...his biological father (Jacob) and his father-in-law (Heli) who adopted him.
Why does this matter? If you follow Luke's genealogy of Mary back to David, you'll find that she descended from David's son Nathan. So, the following statements are true because of the virgin birth:
Jesus was a physical descendant of David through Mary (from the non-royal lineage of Nathan).
Jesus was also a legal heir to David's throne through Joseph (from the lineage of Solomon).
This means that the Messiah was actually able to claim David's throne....and still be free from the curse of Jeconiah!
The virgin birth is a direct completion of this Messianic puzzle:
He was born from Mary...
He was adopted by Joseph...
He was the Mighty God...
Psalm 132:11 "The Lord has sworn in truth unto David that He will not turn from it. 'Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne."
Do you see the problem? The Messiah couldn't just be David's legal heir. No, the promise was that one of his physical descendants would assume the throne. If Jesus was only adopted into David's lineage, then He could not be the fulfillment of the messianic promises.
Is there an answer to this problem? Yes! Like I said...it's found in the Virgin Birth of Jesus!
You can find Jesus' genealogy in two places; Matthew 1 and Luke 4. Both records show that Joseph was Jesus' adopted father. But there's a problem: Matthew says that Joseph's father was Jacob - Luke says that his father was Heli. In fact, the entire list of names from David to Joseph is different between Matthew and Luke. But neither of them is wrong!
You see, Heli wasn't actually Joseph's father...he was Mary's. Heli had two daughters (Matthew 27:56, John 19:25). Mary, Jesus' mother was the older daughter. Zebedee's wife, the mother of James and John was the younger. According to Numbers 27, when an man had only daughters, his inheritance and his family line would pass down to the man that married his oldest daughter. This is why Luke lists Joseph as the son of Heli - because Heli was required by law to adopt Joseph as the firstborn when he married Mary.
So legally, Joseph had two different fathers...his biological father (Jacob) and his father-in-law (Heli) who adopted him.
Why does this matter? If you follow Luke's genealogy of Mary back to David, you'll find that she descended from David's son Nathan. So, the following statements are true because of the virgin birth:
Jesus was a physical descendant of David through Mary (from the non-royal lineage of Nathan).
Jesus was also a legal heir to David's throne through Joseph (from the lineage of Solomon).
This means that the Messiah was actually able to claim David's throne....and still be free from the curse of Jeconiah!
The Messiah Had To Be Born And Adopted
Mary's miraculous pregnancy - with absolutely no physical relationship with any man - is a direct fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
The first prophecy this event fulfills is in Genesis 3:15. In this verse God promised that the "Seed of the woman" was going to crush Satan's head. This is a direct reference to Jesus' virgin birth. How so? Because naturally speaking, it's not the woman that has the seed...it's the man. Here we see God proclaiming that there would be a Man that would be born into the human race with no natural father.
Isaiah 7:14 confirms this again, even more clearly, "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel." Jesus' birth in Bethlehem is a manifestation of this Messianic promise.
Did you take note of this name? Immanuel means "God with us." This wasn't just a cute saying, as if it meant "God is always with us..." No! This name makes the claim that the child born from a virgin will be God living with us! The only way this is possible is through the virgin birth. It protects Jesus' identity as God.
You see, Jesus came to this world to function and live like a man. He gave Himself the same limits we do, with the same weaknesses, and the same needs. He did this to show us what a man could do when he is anointed with the Holy Spirit. However, make no mistake about this: He may have had a human nature, but Jesus was not just a man.
Jesus was not a man "chosen" by God.
He was not a man "used" by God.
Nor was He a man that was "possessed" by God.
Jesus was (and is) God in the flesh!
This was only possible because there was no Human father. The virgin birth had to take place to make sure that Jesus' blood (the blood that was poured out for us on the cross) was 100% Divine.
This is further confirmed when we read another famous "Christmas" passage - Isaiah 9:6-7
"For unto us a Child is born (natural birth), unto us a Son is given (adoption); and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God (a divine nature), Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will perform this."
The virgin birth is a direct completion of this Messianic puzzle:
He was born from Mary...
He was adopted by Joseph...
He was the Mighty God...
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