Behold Your God: Walking with Isaiah Through Advent
Week 2: The Virgin Birth - True humanity and true divinity.
This year for Advent we thought we would concentrate on the writings of the Prophet Isaiah taking the broad themes in his book that make him one of the most beloved Prophets of the Church. Isaiah wrote some of the most sublime text in the Bible and through him God revealed the foundations of our beliefs in Jesus Christ. Many of our readings in this liturgical season are taken from his book, and although we intersect them slightly, we are following an alternative path through them.
If you want to get into Isaiah a bit and find out more, Catholic Answers has done a great little summary which you will find here.
To see last weeks: Week 1 - Here I Am, click here.
Week 2: The Virgin Birth - True Humanity and True Divinity.
Is 7:10-16: Prophecy of the Virgin Birth
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. (Is 7:10-16, ESV)
Have you ever stopped to ponder the fact that Jesus was born of a virgin? Often, we simply grow accustomed to hearing this passage from Isaiah during Advent and have simply accepted the fact that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary with no further questions asked. Yet is this event of any significance? Why did God, in His infinite wisdom, choose to have it so? What does this reveal about Jesus, about the Trinity, and – perhaps more importantly – what does this change in my own life?
Interestingly enough, for the early Church, the virgin birth was considered an essential element of the Creed alongside Jesus’ death and Resurrection.[1] Even more interesting is the fact that in the second century, the virgin birth was never cited as an argument for the divinity of Jesus, but always for his true humanity.[2] Against Docetism, it had to be emphasized that Christ’s birth was a real birth (as opposed to a mere semblance), and in insisting upon a real birth, one insisted upon the virgin birth as the mode by which Christ came into the world.[3] In other words, the miraculous circumstances of Jesus’ birth in no way take away from the reality of His humanity. During Advent we prepare to celebrate this very mystery, the Word that becomes flesh (cf. Jn 1:14) for our salvation. As Gregory of Nazianzus formulated, Quod non est assumptum, non est sanatum.[4] Jesus Christ is truly human with everything that that implies, except sin.[5] By assuming our human nature, Jesus Christ is Emmanuel, God-with-us, in the fullest sense of the phrase. The infinite gap between divinity and humanity is bridged in Jesus Christ as He unites Himself to us in our humanity.
At the same time, the virgin birth sets Jesus apart from other men. At the Annunciation (Lk 1:35), it is revealed that the virgin birth implies the action of the Holy Spirit. This action is not reserved for the Messiah, as the Spirit was often present in the lives of prophets and kings before Jesus. We see the Spirit come upon David when he is anointed by Samuel (cf. 1 S 16:13). The Spirit enters the prophet Ezekiel as he receives his mission (cf. Ez 2:2). Yet the fact that Jesus’ conception is brought about by the Holy Spirit goes even further: “he is not only filled with the Spirit, but his inmost being and existence are determined by God’s Spirit. That is the decisive assertion of the doctrine of the Virgin Birth.”[6] Now that may seem fine for Jesus, but how does that affect my life as a Christian? If Jesus’ life is thus set apart, does that simply leave the rest of us to trudge along in the misery of our sinful existence? Not if we truly understand that Jesus’ existence as being fully open to God and thus to us. As Cardinal Schonborn writes:
Here, the conception of Christ worked by the Spirit receives its full importance: here is one man whose existence from its roots is entirely new. In the midst of a world in which everything new merely replaces the old in order then to become obsolete itself, there is a new kind of human existence, a human life whose conception does not already carry within it the seeds of death but that springs entirely from the newness of God…All the consequences of believing in the Virgin Birth can be seen here: Jesus’ new life results from his new conception. His existence, being the work of the Spirit, makes possible a human life that from its very roots is unreservedly open to God: so much so that to him God is always Abba, Father. Yet the origin of his life, brought about by the Spirit, is also the most profound reason for his unbelievable openness in the encounter with people – here was a man the mere encounter with whom brought healing. A man appeared here who left no wounded people behind him on his way. Being a man without hurting: Can human life brought about by the Spirit not be understood in this way? Is this not just the opposite of human life marked by sin, which always wounds, even when it devotes itself to the good?[7]
The fact that Jesus’ conception sets Him apart does not make Him more distant, but rather allows Him to come even closer to us through the healing redemption offered throughout His whole life, but most particularly on the Cross. The virgin birth and all its implications reveal to a broken humanity a true man whose existence is not tainted by the stain of sin, and through whom we have access to that same beatitude. The implications for our lives are endless.
Coming back to our passage from Isaiah, Ahaz refuses to ask for a sign not because he “does not want to put the Lord to the test” (Is 7:12), but because he lets himself be ruled by fear and refuses to let go and trust in the Lord’s promise of safety. Immediately before this passage, King Ahaz hears of the threat of an attack from the kings of Syria and Israel. The Lord tries to reassure Ahaz through the prophet Isaiah with words such as “Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint” (Is 7:4). The Lord calls him to faith, saying “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all” (Is 7:9). The invitation to ask for a sign in verse 10 is yet another extended hand from the Lord, yet Ahaz refuses to accept. Despite this, the Lord acts. God Himself gives a sign and promises a Saviour. This reveals how the Lord never stops fighting for us, even when we are obstinate. He assures us of the victory even when we are faced with the threat of evil, as Ahaz was in his time. More than that, He assures us that He Himself will bring about the victory.
In conclusion, the virgin birth is inextricably linked with our salvation. Jesus Christ was truly man, yet not a man like any other. God’s words “do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint” are also said to us today in whatever situation we may find ourselves in. Will we let these words resound in our hearts this Advent? Will we let Jesus be our Saviour?
Sr Francesca Therese | Apostolic Sisters of St John, Aberdeen