Why Does Matthew 1:18 Say The Holy Ghost Caused Jesus Birth Instead Of The Father?

Throughout the Bible, Christ recognized only one Father, God, and God was the supreme head of all. However, it was through God’s spirit (His divine power) that Christ was conceived in Mary.

The Church knows that God is neither man nor woman: He is God.

Though God is usually referred to in masculine imagery, some argue that the feminine image of God is brought forth in John 3:5 when Jesus said we must be “born of the Spirit” or “born of God” (1 John 5:1). This, however, does not take away from Isaiah’s specifically calling God “Father” (Is. 63:16, 64:8) and Jesus echoing this dozens of times in the Gospels.

Any expert in languages will tell you that grammatical gender has no direct correlation to the masculinity or femininity of the thing that the word represents. For instance, the Hebrew word for army is tsavah which is feminine — though the ancient armies were comprised entirely of men. Even in the New Testament, there are scriptures that apply female imagery to Jesus. Gender here is a matter of role, not organs, and in relation to us, we are all the “brides of Christ” (yes, even you men). Yet this does not make Jesus’ gender feminine any more than men are “womanized” at the wedding supper of the Lamb.

The Spirit of God – Ruach Elohim (Genesis 1:2) is a feminine noun, so is the Shekhinah – the Presence of God. Does this mean the Spirit of God and the Presence of God are female? No!

For example, take the word “animal” — hayyah in Hebrew. Hayyah is a feminine noun. Therefore, by the rules of Hebrew grammar, whenever people speak of a hayyah, they have to refer to it as “she”. This does not indicate that the animal in question is actually female.

Since the titles for God in the Hebrew Bible (Elohim, El, Adonai) are masculine nouns, God is called “he”.

To bring God to the level of man was blasphemous.

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) and thus it was through God’s spirit (His divine power/the Holy Ghost) that Christ was conceived in Mary.