"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 13: 14; New King James Bible Version). "…To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." (Christ Jesus, in John 18:37; King James Bible Version).
Every December, Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Christ. Here in the US, scenes of the nativity, (with Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus) grace our churches, our lawns, and even some of our town squares. We all love hearing the story of his birth. Yet, Jesus is perceived in many different ways by Christians. Some see him as a prophet, while others view him as a savior, a spiritual brother, a spiritual teacher, or even as God incarnate. The views vary from church to church, often depending upon the beliefs of the minister or priest of that denomination. Yet, there is unity among most Christians on, at least, one point—the acceptance of the virgin birth. Most believe that, however it was done, the birth of Jesus, as recorded in the various interpretations of the Christian Bible, is accurate-even though it seems super—natural to our earthly sense of things. So, a deeper look at the virgin birth may take away the esoteric, mystical, aspect of it. Then it might make more sense. For, from a spiritual point of view, there is a logical reason for Jesus' birth to have occurred exactly as it did. So, here is what unfolded to my thought on that reason: In the ancient lands, at the time of Jesus' birth, the world was dominated with conquerors and those subjected to them. Rome was swallowing up every country, or even hamlet, it could manage. Life was full of all types of servitude, such as lack of personal and collective freedom, pestilence, sorrow, and wars. Death and destruction were a daily threat. Into such a place, it was not just the Jewish people who were looking to their God for a savior. All mankind wanted a higher authority to make their lives, and this world, a better place to be. But the Jews were unique in the ancient world, in one, very important way. They worshipped a god of Spirit, not a god of anything in the material world of form. While physical idols abounded in the form of animals, trees, sun, moon, stars, and even humans; (people worshipped almost anything they could physically identify) the Jews anchored their faith in the invisible realm of Spirit. Their faith in a spiritual God often fulfilled even their physical needs. Seeking God outside of the material realm, (within their own consciousness and the sense of God's invisible, ever-presence) it was, therefore, to the Jewish population that Jesus was 'sent.' Now, although today's Judaism usually doesn't accept Jesus in the way Christianity does, it was from the Jewish population that the first Christians emerged. (All this is a recap of history, of course, and not new information.) Bringing forth a savior to humanity for all the ills of fleshly existence had been promised, in Jewish, and biblical teachings, for generations. Yet, the divine Intelligence knew, no doubt, that It had to get the attention of the inhabitants of Earth, at that time. or no recognition of such an individual would be forthcoming. The birth had to be super-natural in some way, to set it apart from all humanity. So, God, Spirit, had to make Christ Jesus' arrival unusual—or his human entry here would not capture the attention of the masses. Thus, instead of the birth being physically natural (with a female egg fertilized by a male sperm) divine Spirit flexed Its creative muscles and caused the young virgin, Mary, to become pregnant, without the help of a human male. For this reason, the virgin birth was a necessity. Something had to set God's saving messenger (Jesus) apart from the ordinary, in order to convince humanity of the spiritual importance of his coming. Thus, the virgin birth, which had been foreseen by prophecy, was a call from divine Spirit to take notice—the savior that had been foreseen in Jewish history had come to pass, bringing the message of eternal life, love and the divine Parenthood (spiritual origin) of all humankind. Thus, Jesus became, not the ONLY son of God, (for Jesus taught that we are all the sons and daughters of God) but his entry here, in the material manifestation of being, demonstrated that Jesus was the only BEGOTTEN son of God—meaning that he was begotten of Spirit, (originated from Spirit's realm.) His entry into the human experience was unique. His origin was unique. He was (and still is) the only begotten human, off-spring of Spirit. In other words, he was the only one of us who came into the human (fleshly) experience without the usual origin upon which the rest of us made our entry here. It is our material belief about our own origins that make the virgin birth seem miraculous. Because we believe ourselves to be creators, we still don't 'get it'—that Spirit is the only Creator that ever existed in Its spiritual realm, (which is the kingdom of God). The spiritual kingdom is present at all times, but we don't perceive Its presence. Yet, it is invisibly present with us, right where a material universe of form seems to be, but is not the greater reality of existence. The human, fleshly existence is a temporary, illusive state of being. Yet, invisibly present beneath the material façade, our immortal, spiritual identities continue forever, without the need of finite, fleshly forms. It was Mary's spirituality (which must have been above almost all others in Earth, at that time) that allowed her to become the mother of such a unique son of Spirit. Jesus came to acquaint us with ourselves—our spiritual Selves, who have no real or actual ties to the flesh. Jesus, the Christ wasn't part flesh and part Spirit. He came into the human experience to show that man (and woman), in reality, are spiritual in substance and form—although a false sense of being is represented by the fleshly form we temporarily occupy. Jesus, the human being (seemingly part flesh and part Spirit) was really Jesus, the Christ—a spiritual being only. He was showing us the truth about ourselves: our only identity is a spiritual one. So, since our origin and true existence is a spiritual, rather than physical phenomenon, we must grow out of the belief that we are material in any way, or we will never be spiritually awake to reality. We will continue to be born and die, in the flesh, until we awaken to the truth of our ever-lasting being, just as Jesus transcended into his own place of being after he proved that death cannot kill Spirit's children. Life in matter is not who we are. But as long as we believe it is who we are, we will suffer from the many ills that come our way in the fleshly experience. By examining the time Jesus spent in healing all the diseases among the people who followed him, we may conclude that spiritual healing of disease has a spiritually-mental component that can't be denied. Spiritual healings were said to have occurred for about four hundred years after Jesus' death and resurrection, before they were driven out of the churches. Many such healings still occur today, so they cannot be denied as a possibility. Yet, the vast majority of the world population still relies upon physical remedies, only to become quickly sick from other sources (often the medications themselves). Matter is always a two-edged sword…for every seemingly good effect, several bad effects will accompany it. The Master taught many of his own disciples to heal the sick, and sinning, just as he had healed; but the material beliefs of disease and physical medicines still persist today, although many spiritual healings have occurred, by individuals, throughout the centuries. Such spiritual healings bear out the words Christ Jesus once spoke to his followers: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (John 14:11; King James Bible Version.) The seeming miracle of the virgin birth of Jesus was only a miracle to those of us who believe all life to be a material, rather than spiritual, phenomenon. As we put on the Christ (that is, put on the spiritual identity, rather than the finite, physical-seeming identity) we begin to grow into a new sense of ourselves. We soon come into the startling observation that we are not mortals in a material universe, having a spiritual experience; rather, we are immortal, spiritual beings having a finite, material experience. This finite experience is temporary, as are all conditions of the flesh. But, like our spiritual brother and guide, Christ Jesus, we grow in the Spirit (recognition of our ever-lasting identity in Spirit, God) and the rules of the game change, so to speak. As we come into an awakening to our spiritual, rather than physical status, all things change to our perception. This change rarely comes like a bolt of lightening, but, rather, it begins with small recognitions of things that never, quite did make much sense concerning life, God, and eternal life. (For example, how can one 'die' into eternal life? Eternal means, by its very definition, 'without beginning or end.' Thus, if we are ever to BE eternal, we must already be so now.) After this light shines within consciousness, we can more easily see that mortal existence is truly a state of self-deception, and it must be a temporary illusion of being. It is more dream-like than actual. Our physical-seeming senses can deceive us in so many ways. The list of illusions that they are capable of is legion—and we only perceive the vast, physical universe, through these deceptive senses. (Star Trek fans, picture the holodecks in Star Trek, and how real they can be made to seem.) So, life in matter, as a temporary state of experience, is the best we can say of it. Eternal, spiritual life makes so much more sense. Our temporary sojourns in material form could never contain the immortal universe of Spirit…which is not to say that there is no reason for it. My own philosophy on that point is that our journey through a seemingly, finite material existence shapes and enriches our souls in a manner that cannot be found in any other way. In this finite life experience, we learn the value of goodness (it's the only, indestructible commodity in existence, on any level of thought we experience). We learn to be non-destructive, and why we are to do so. We learn to love, because it is the only thing that nourishes our own life. We learn to trust the Almighty, so that we don't go headlong over a cliff. The list goes on and on. So, the virgin birth of Jesus, like so many things we 'see darkly' in this human experience, was a brilliant way for eternal life to call our attention and defuse so much of the bad that can overwhelm us in this material sense of being. It points to the fact that our eternal Mother and Father God still has such a love for us, and still awaits our heavenly return to full consciousness. It reminds us where power really lies, whenever we get too cocky in this human experience, or start falling too low. And it may just keep us fascinated by a small babe, whose birth we celebrate every December, just because he was such an extraordinary messenger of Love.
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