Jesus was called God's only begotten
son in six verses (John 1:14,18; 3:16,18; Hebrews 11:17; and I
John 4:9), but he was never called Mary's only begotten son. "Only
Begotten" comes from the Greek word monogenes which
is a compound word.
The first part of the compound word is "mono,"
meaning "one," "alone," or "only."
You may be familiar with mono from its use in English:
Monochrome - a drawing in one color. Monogram -the initials or
first letters of one's names. Monogamy - the practice of having
one spouse. Monopoly - the only place to get a good or service.
The second part of the compound word monogenes
is genes meaning "offspring" or "descendant."
It is related to ginomai (to become or come into existence),
genos, (offspring, race, nationality), and genesis
(generation or beginning). Jesus Christ had a beginning in a manger
in the little town of Bethlehem. Jesus was called the only begotten
Son of God because he was the only man whom God miraculously fathered
in the natural way. God miraculously put a sperm in Mary's reproductive
organs which resulted in a conception, a conception of divine
origin. Never before and never since has God done such a thing.
God formed, made, and created Adam and Eve as a mature individuals
and the rest of mankind came into being from them. However Jesus
had a uniquely different beginning. He was conceived by God.
Luke 1:31-38:
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth
a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give
unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house
of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 Then said Mary unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and said
unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power
of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of
God.
36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth,
she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the
sixth month with her, who was called barren.
37 For with God nothing shall be
impossible.
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid
of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel
departed from her. [Its job was completed.]
I called this conception miraculous
because, to the best of my understanding it was the working of
a miracle. The angels delivered to Mary a word of knowledge, certain
truths or facts concerning the birth of this child which were
humanly impossible for her to know by her five senses. This was
revelation from God. She operated the manifestation of believing
and brought to pass the impossible at her command according to
what God had revealed to her by word of knowledge. She believed
and said, "be it unto me according to thy word." Verse
31 said she would conceive and verse 35 said her son would be
born. She believed to conceive and she had to continue to operate
the manifestation of believing throughout the approximately nine
months of her pregnancy until her son, God's only begotten son
was born. The result of the operation of these manifestations
of word of knowledge and believing brought to pass the miracle.
That's how one operates the manifestation of workings of miracles.
Later, when Mary goes to see Elizabeth, Elizabeth prophesies by
revelation, speaking words of knowledge and words of wisdom saying:
Luke 1:45:
And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance
[teleiosis meaning a completing, a perfecting, a fulfillment,
or an accomplishing] of those things which were told her from
the Lord.
Mary had believed and conceived,
and Elizabeth assured her that the rest of what the angel told
her would most assuredly come to pass. Mary would have her son.
She simply continued to operate the manifestation of believing
to bring the impossible to pass. Here was a woman who was about
to have a baby and had never known a man. Mary was found with
child of the Holy Ghost before she and Joseph came together in
marriage. It was the power of the Highest, which overshadowed
her and impregnated her. God spoke it into being with the power
of His Word.
Matthew 1:18, 23-25:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his
mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together,
she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his
name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24 Then Joseph being raised from
sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took
unto him his wife:
25 And knew her not till she had
brought forth her firstborn son: and he called
his name JESUS.
Notice, Jesus was called Mary's
firstborn. The account in Luke also described Jesus as Mary's
firstborn.
Luke 2:6,7:
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished
that she should be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn
son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a
manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
"Firstborn" is used of
Mary because she had at least four more sons and two more daughters.
Matthew 13:54-56:
And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in
their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said,
Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
55 Is not this the carpenter's son?
is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and
Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And his sisters, [That's
plural, there were at least two.] are they not all with
us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
Jesus is also referred to as firstborn
of God, but that is in the context of God's spiritual family after
Pentecost.
Romans 8:29:
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he [Jesus] might be the
firstborn among many brethren. [That's us, amongst others.]
Galatians 4:4,5:
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his
Son, made of a woman, made under the law
5 To redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
The birth of Jesus Christ had been
anticipated since the first prophecy was spoken in Genesis 3:15,
but he didn't come until the fullness of time arrived.
Genesis 3:15:
And I [God] will put enmity between thee [the serpent] and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it [the promised seed
of the woman] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his
heel.
Jesus was referred to as "her
seed," the seed of a woman. Since in natural reproduction
the seed is provided by the male, "her seed" is figurative.
It refers to the divine conception when God, not man, provided
the seed that resulted in the birth of God's only begotten son.
This was established in the genealogy given in the Gospel of Matthew.
Matthew 1:1-17:
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David,
the son of Abraham.
2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac
begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara
of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab
begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab
(Rahab); and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
6 And Jesse begat David the king;
and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife
of Urias;
7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and
Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;
8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat
begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham
begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;
10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and
Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;
11 And Josias begat Jechonias and
his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
12 And after they were brought to
Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and
Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc
begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and
Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband
of Mary of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17 So all the generations from Abraham
to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the
carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from
the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
Very seldom does a verse like Matthew
14:14 serve as a vise to hold such a tight grip on the truth.
This statement of 14,14, and 14 generations makes this point difficult
to miss. Counting the generations as verse seventeen suggests
causes a problem. The first two sets indeed have fourteen. However,
the last set appears to have only thirteen. This apparent contradiction
is eliminated when one realizes that the "Joseph" mentioned
in verse 16 is not the husband of Mary.
Luke 3:23,38:
And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being
(as was supposed) the son of Joseph [Was Jesus the son of
Joseph? NO! He was God's only begotten son.], which was
the son of Heli, [And if we follow this genealogy all the
way back to the beginning, we'll find in verse 38 that it is
taken all the way back to Adam.] Which was the son of Enos,
which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which
was the son of God. [Adam was called the son of God, but
not the only begotten son of God.]
Who was the Father of Jesus' stepfather
Joseph? Luke 3:23 says "Heli." Matthew 1:16 says Joseph's
father was Jacob. That shows us that the two Josephs could not
be the same person. The "Joseph" of Matthew was the
father of Mary and the "Joseph" of Luke was the husband
of Mary. The difficulty arose because Mary married a man with
the same name as her father. The word for "husband"
in the Aramaic is gavra, mighty man. It could also be understood
as and translated "father." Joseph is the twelfth generation.
Mary is the thirteenth generation. Jesus is the fourteenth generation.
Once again the accuracy of the Word is "locked in" with
the three groupings of fourteen.
Mary was put here in this genealogy to show us that Jesus Christ
was indeed the seed of the woman. Every generation is represented
by a man whose seed "begat" the next generation. Everyone
except one. Mary bore Jesus. There is no male in that thirteenth
generation. This was to show that Jesus was the promised seed
of the woman as declared in Genesis 3:15, the only begotten son
of God.
