July 25

Today's Reading: Matthew 1:18-25

Here we see the fulfillment of the prophecy we read in Isaiah 7 a little over a week ago.

While many people either don't believe in the fact that Jesus was born to a virgin or they dismiss its importance, it is actually a crucial concept.

First, it confirms that Jesus is fully God and fully man. His physical body He received from Mary. But His eternal, holy nature was His from all eternity past.

Second, it confirms the sinless nature of Jesus. If Jesus had a human father, then He would have inherited a sinful nature as the rest of us have:

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Romans 5:12 ESV

For Jesus to be able to provide salvation to mankind, both of those must be true.