Sermon for September 1st, 2019

Luke 1:26-35 (NT page 56)

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.

John 19:38-42 (NT page 114)

38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. 39 Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. 40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

The Apostles’ Creed – I Believe in Jesus, Part II

The past few Sundays, we've been talking about the ancient Christian statement of belief known as the Apostles' Creed, and today, we come to the section that says:

I believe in Jesus Christ . . . "who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried."

As the father of three children, I like to think that I know a thing or two about conceiving and giving birth.

I've been through this process three times, after all.  However, whenever I say things like that, Amy gently corrects me and says, "YOU know a thing or two?" YOU gave birth to three children? 

She's right of course. My job was the easy one, but there is just a little bit of irony here, because I also remember that the first time I casually announced to a friend, “my wife is pregnant,” Amy gently corrected me and said, “No honey, we're pregnant. We're expecting. We're in this together. I didn't get this way by myself, you know?" And then fast forward nine months, and the "we" went right out the door. It was “I gave birth to this child.”

Conceived by the Holy Spirit

The verb "to conceive" in English, can have two meanings. The obvious one is to become pregnant.

Was Crucified, Died and Was Buried

• Only Matthew and Luke (not John, or the earliest gospel, Mark) mention the "virgin" birth. Paul doesn't mention it either.