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.