“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” —Matthew 1:18

Larry King used to have a television program, Larry King Live, where he would interview different people and most often the topics were heated or controversial. One time a reporter asked him, “If you could only interview one person in history, who would it be?” Surprisingly, King replied, “Jesus Christ.”

“And if you could only ask Him one question, what would it be?”

“Were you really born of a virgin?” he said.

“Why would you ask that question?”

King replied, “Because that would define history for me.”

Larry King was right. If Jesus was divinely conceived and born of a virgin, then He’s the most important person in history. And this was the case, as Matthew explained, Mary was, “found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” Matthew emphasized that Mary was pregnant before her marriage to Joseph was consummated because God had performed a miracle in her womb (Luke 1:35). Jesus was astoundingly and miraculously conceived, thus making His conception and birth unlike any other in history.

Jesus is the God-man, born of Mary (the human side) and the Holy Spirit (the divine side). But His virginal conception was not just so that God could become a man, it was so that the nature of Jesus would be completely sinless. Had Jesus been conceived like the rest of us, He would have inherited the corruption and guilt of sin. He could not atone for sin if He were born into it. For the lamb of God to take away the sin of the world, He had to be a spotless lamb (John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:19). No wonder Charles Wesley penned these words in Hark! The Herald Angels Sing:

“Christ, by highest heaven adored,

Christ, the everlasting Lord,

late in time behold him come,

offspring of the Virgin’s womb:

veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

hail the incarnate Deity,

pleased with us in flesh to dwell,

Jesus, our Immanuel.”

Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot.