Explaining Jesus to Muslims
Download PDF version

14. Jesus' Virgin Birth

The Quran
"And remember her who guarded her chastity: We breathed into her of Our Spirit, and we made her and her son a sign for all peoples."                (21:91)

Three questions arise from this verse in the Quran:

• Why did God interrupt the ordinary method of human generation in the case of Jesus and Jesus only?
• What does it mean when it says that God breathed his Spirit into Mary?
• In what way was the virgin birth of Jesus a sign for all peoples?

The Injil answers these questions as it gives us detailed accounts of Mary's conception and the birth of Jesus.

The Miraculous Conception        (Read Luke 1:26-38)
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and his kingdom will never end." How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

There are five characters in this story :

• God, also called the Lord and the Most High,
• the angel Gabriel, sent by God,
• Mary who was engaged to Joseph, but not yet married to him,
• the Holy Spirit who would come upon Mary,
• Jesus, the baby to be born, also called Son of the Most High and the Son of God.

The Birth of Jesus        (Read Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-20)
Here is the account of Jesus' birth as recorded by Matthew.

"This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" - which means, "God with us."

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus."

The two names given to the child are very significant.

Jesus means "the Lord saves" and describes Jesus' main work. The angel told Joseph to name the child Jesus, because he would save his people from their sins. This was accomplished when he was 34 years old. Jesus died on the cross outside Jerusalem, the perfect sin offering, to take away the sins of the whole world. Everyone who believes in Jesus will have his sins forgiven.

Immanuel means "God with us" and describes Jesus' person. Jesus was a prophet and will return as king, but most important, he is God with us. When Jesus is called the Word of God, the Son of God or God with us, it is not suggested that God has a partner. There is only one God, but within his divine Being there are three distinctions - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The details of Jesus actual birth are given in Luke chapter 2.

"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger."

Jesus, the Son of God
The normal way of conceiving a child, through sexual intercourse was bypassed. God intervened, his Holy Spirit came upon Mary and his power overshadowed her. So Jesus was born without a human father, the only human being ever to be born in this way. God was his Father, so he is called the Son of God. The Quran calls Jesus, the son of Mary, but in every other case a person is called the son of his father, not of his mother, so Son of God is more accurate.

The Quran affirms the virgin birth of Jesus, but misunderstands the relationships involved.

God does not have a wife
The Quran says: "How should he have issue, since he has no consort?" (6:102) The Injil does not suggest that God had a consort, it simply says that the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and caused her to conceive. God is Spirit, he does not have a physical body, so there is no thought of a physical union between God and woman. Nevertheless, Jesus is his child as much as any other child is his father's child.

God does not beget
The Quran says: "God is but one God. Far be it from him that he should have a son." (4:169) And again: "God is one God, the eternal God: He begetteth not, neither is he begotten and there is not anyone like unto him." (112:1-4) This is true in the general sense that God is the eternal, unchangeable God, but the fact that God was the Father of Jesus, as the Quran itself affirms, cannot be ignored.

The Trinity does not consist of God, Mary and Jesus
The Quran says: "And when God shall say to Jesus at the last day, O Jesus, son of Mary, have you said to men, Take me and my mother for two gods, beside God? He shall answer, Praise be to you! It is not for me to say that which I ought not." (5:116) Christians have never believed that Mary is part of the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity teaches that God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit are all the one true God.

Jesus was not created in the same way as Adam
The Quran says: "Verily, the likeness of Jesus in the sight of God is as the likeness of Adam: He created him out of the dust, and then said to him, Be; and he was." (3:59) Adam was created out of dust, but Jesus wasn't, he was born of a virgin. Jesus was born of a woman, Adam wasn't. Adam was created directly by God himself, as there was no woman to bear him, but why was this method of human generation interrupted in Jesus' case and for Jesus alone?

Why Jesus was born of a virgin?

• The virgin birth was a sign for all peoples, a sign that the man Jesus Christ was someone different, someone supernatural, because his birth was supernatural. Gabriel told Mary that he would be a king, called the Son of God.
• The virgin birth was necessary so that Jesus could be born sinless. Ever since Adam disobeyed God in the garden, all men have been born weak sinners. We all have a fallen nature inherited from Adam. But Gabriel told Mary that her baby would be "the holy one". As a result Jesus lived a sinless life, he is the only perfect man.
• God wanted to begin a new race. For this reason Jesus is called the second Adam. Please read Romans 5:12-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 45-50. Just as all people die because of their union with Adam, in the same way all men will be raised to life because of their union with Christ. We become part of this new redeemed race through faith in Jesus.