Mary, Did You Know?Sample

Mary, the mother of Jesus

“Mary was the mother of Jesus...” (Matthew 1:16)

The Gospel of Matthew opens with the genealogy of Jesus. It starts with Abraham and mentions the names of his descendants, listing many fathers and sons. The last person mentioned is “Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah” (Matthew 1:16). This is a special wording, different from all preceding ones. This phrase makes clear that Joseph was Jesus’ legal father, but not His real father. He was only married to Jesus’ mother Mary.

The following verses explain this: “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). Matthew touches a deep mystery here. Jesus Christ was born from a virgin. He was the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy about a special child that would be born: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us)” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23).

Some people consider Jesus’ virgin birth to be complete nonsense. The Bible presents it as a miracle: unbelievable, but true. What do you think?