Conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary
Heidelberg Catechism
Heidelberg Catechism Question 35. What is the meaning of: “Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary”? That the eternal Son of God, who is and remains true and eternal God, took upon himself our true manhood from the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary through the action of the Holy Spirit, so that he might also be the true seed of David, like his fellow men in all things, except for sin.
Heidelberg Catechism Question 36. What benefit do you receive from the holy conception and birth of Christ? That he is our Mediator, and that, in God’s sight, he covers over with his innocence and perfect holiness the sinfulness in which I have been conceived.
Study Catechism
Study Catechism Question 32. What do you affirm when you say he was “conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary”? First, that being born of a woman, Jesus was truly a human being. Second, that our Lord’s incarnation was a holy and mysterious event, brought about solely by free divine grace surpassing any human possibilities. Third, that from the very beginning of his life on earth, he was set apart by his unique origin for the sake of accomplishing our salvation.
- Luke 1:31 “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.”
- Luke 1:35 “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.’”
- Heb. 2:14 “Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.”
- Phil. 2:5-7 “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.”
Study Catechism Question 33. What is the significance of affirming that Jesus is truly God? Only God can properly deserve worship. Only God can reveal to us who God is. And only God can save us from our sins. Being truly God, Jesus meets these conditions. He is the proper object of our worship, the self-revelation of God, and the Savior of the world.
- John 20:28 “Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”
- Matt. 11:27 “All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
- 1 John 4:14 “And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.”
Study Catechism Question 34. What is the significance of affirming that Jesus is also truly a human being? Being truly human, Jesus entered fully into our fallen situation and overcame it from within. By his pure obedience, he lived a life of unbroken unity with God, even to the point of accepting a violent death. As sinners at war with grace, this is precisely the kind of life we fail to live. When we accept him by faith, he removes our disobedience and clothes us with his perfect righteousness.
- Heb. 2:17-18 “Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.”
- Heb. 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.”
- Heb. 5:8-9 “Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”
- Rom. 5:19 “For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous”
Study Catechism Question 35. How can Jesus be truly God and yet also truly human at the same time? The mystery of Jesus Christ’s divine-human unity passes our understanding; only faith given by the Holy Spirit enables us to affirm it. When Holy Scripture depicts Jesus as someone with divine power, status and authority, it presupposes his humanity. And when it depicts him as someone with human weakness, neediness and mortality, it presupposes his deity. We cannot understand how this should be, but we can trust that the God who made heaven and earth is free to become God incarnate and thus to be God with us in this wonderful and awe-inspiring way.
- Mark 1:27 “They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’”
- Mark 4:41 “And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’”
- Matt. 28:18 “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’”
- Luke 22:44 “In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.”
- Job 5:9 “He does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.”
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