Article December 19, 2016 ISSUE

The impact of the virgin birth

Kari Mashos

First appeared as a web original on November 30, 2015.

As a former professional singer I enjoyed many years performing in various Christmas concerts. A particularly memorable night was when I sung the familiar carol “O Holy Night” for the city of Boston’s tree lighting ceremony. But more often than not it was Handel’s Messiah that kept me busy during the Christmas concert season.

At each performance I would joyfully sing the angel’s announcement of the birth of “a Saviour” to the shepherds watching over their flocks at night (see Luke 2:10, 11). As I sang, I had the desire that all of us in the concert hall would feel the momentous nature of that earth-shattering event. I longed to convey through the glorious music that the birth of Christ Jesus is unparalleled in human history; it was the fulfillment of the biblical prophecy: “The Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Christians throughout the world recognize the birth of Jesus as the sign of Immanuel, or “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

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