What Is Unique About The Messiah’s Birth?
THE MESSIAH WAS TO BE BORN OF A VIRGIN. When we approach the subject of the virgin birth, whether Jew or Gentile, we tend to think about the story we are most familiar with: Mary and Joseph, the baby in the manger, angels and shepherds. Though this miracle is a complicated thing to explain, we are dancing in familiar space in the Christian world. For us Jews, exploring this topic means we have wandered into foreign territory that’s “not for us.” At least that’s what our mothers told us. The subject we’re talking about is obviously Christmas and yet, it has nothing to do with anything Jewish. But does anybody meditate on the deeper significance of what was going on that day in Bethlehem? For Jews, it’s a non-issue. For many Gentiles, they don’t want the ugliness of the cross to interfere with the stocking celebration. It seems pretty obvious that as our culture has become more and more secularized, it has also become enamored with a one-dimensional, simplistic view of reality that leads us to focus so much on the story and the sweetness of a baby boy that we can forget the bigger reason for the season.