The events related to the Virgin Birth of our Lord are so necessary and foundational to Christian theology that God revealed them to the world centuries before they occurred. The ancient prophet Isaiah wrote, “The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14, NIV). Isaiah wrote this prophecy more than 700 years before it happened! Some people argue that the Greek word translated “virgin” can sometimes mean simply “a young woman,” and they are right. But because God knew that centuries after Isaiah’s prediction many skeptics would use that fact to deny the reality of the “virgin” birth of His Son, God chose a medical doctor to settle the issue for all time. The doctor’s name was Luke. He wrote, “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.’ ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God’” (Luke 1:26b-35, NIV).