Unique Qualities of Christ: His Birth

Only Jesus

The things which qualified Jesus to be the promised Messiah were not merely being born at the right time and being of the right family (although these are important), the truly unique qualities of Jesus as the Christ are those things which no other man could ever have. It is not a question of whether Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, but how anyone else could possibly be the Christ.

No Real “Beginning”

In terms of the “beginning” of the timeline of Jesus, His birth certainly qualifies as a unique quality. His birth was not only promised about 700 years prior (Isa. 7:14ff), but also the miraculous nature of a virgin birth is something unseen before or after (Mat. 1:18-25; et al.). This conception by the Holy Spirit qualifies as a bona fide miracle as there is no physical or natural explanation for it.

However, the uniqueness does not end with a virgin birth. Many forget the reality of Jesus “beginning” in that this was not the beginning of His existence, merely the beginning of His earthly tenure. It is common to begin the story of Jesus with His birth, but an honest look would begin in the same manner as the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word…” (John 1:1, NASU). It is this pre-existent and eternal nature that makes Jesus both man and God, and a unique quality no other man could possess.

The Only Answer

It is this unique quality that provides the answer to the seemingly cryptic question asked by Jesus of the scribes and Pharisees in Mat. 22:41ff; Mark 12:35ff; and Luke 20:41ff. Here, Jesus asks how David could be calling the Christ “Lord” if the Christ was also his descendent. In the Jewish mind, the older generation always had higher honor than the younger, so by extension the Christ should call David “Lord” in terms of generation. The answer is simple: Jesus existed before David in the beginning with the Father.

No One Else Can Claim

The truth of this unique quality is that, any other person who has lived or who will ever lived would be either a liar or insane to make such a claim. Therefore, Jesus entry into this world through a physical birth to a virgin mother was no accident of history, it was instead only fitting for the One who would be the promised Messiah.