Born of a Virgin

Matthew 1:22-25 (ESV)
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

[23] "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel"


(which means, God with us). [24] When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, [25] but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

So much is made of whether or not this was really a prophecy, and if Alma meant Virgin in Hebrew or not. Then there is the recurrent and incessant fetish revolving around the perpetual virginity of Mary. All of which takes the focus away from Christ, and yet probably needs to be answered.
Alma meant Virgin, and the prophecy holds. Sure Bethula could mean virgin at times, it is often used interchangeably with Alma even. But Alma more properly meant virgin which is obvious by its use throughout the old testament. I’m not sure how it was used in the Hebrew of Augustine’s day. But just a cursory look at its use throughout the Bible shows that Alma, not Bethula meant virgin. In fact I am often at a loss as to how people retain the title scholar when they use such trifles to cast doubt in the minds of people concerning Jesus and his word. But even its use in this prophecy shows that it means virgin. Young girls getting pregnant is not a sign of anything worth noticing unless you are a social worker. It happens quite frequently and happens today as it did when Isaiah uttered the prophecy which was to be a sign. If it is to be a “sign” it has to be unusual, perhaps even unexplainable. And if young girls getting pregnant were so unusual and unexplainable, more father’s would get better rest.
Now Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. That is all this text concerns itself with, and is all we need to be concerned about. On the one hand this fulfills the prophecy. On the other hand it makes it possible for Jesus to be full God and Man, and not just another man. It also allows him to be her seed and not his seed thus fulfilling the more obscure prophecy, the protoevangel of Genesis 3.
What Mary and Joseph did after Jesus was born is probably best left for them to worry about. However, I don’t think too many husbands would praise their wives for sainthood if they held out on them! And So I don’t find it the most flattering thing to say about Mary either, that she lived to all eternity as a virgin. If I am to speak well of her, defend her, and put the best construction on everything, well then James came about naturally as a result of Joseph and Maries marital activities. And Jesus blessed that when he attended the wedding in Cana thereby giving sanction, and dare I say sanctification to those blessed activities.