“There was No Father”

You can see the conflict on Qui-Gon Jinn’s face. Stranded on Tatooine and trying to find a way to secure the parts needed to repair the Naboo cruiser in order to safely bring Queen Amidala to Coruscant, he has come into contact with Anakin and Shmi Skywalker. Qui-Gon is amazed at the skills Anakin displays. He notes, “He can see things before they happen… it’s a Jedi trait.”

He is also pained by the reality that Shmi and Anakin are in slavery. Shmi wants Qui-Gon to help Anakin, to take him far away from Tatooine. However, Qui-Gon is conflicted; his mission is not to free slaves; he lacks the resources to free anyone. Yet, he cares, and he is greatly interested in the abilities Anakin possess.

This leads to one of the pivotal moments in Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Qui-Gon asks Shmi who Anakin’s father was. She replies,

“There was no father. I carried him, I gave birth, I raised him. I can’t explain what happened.”

That changes everything.

Not merely is Anakin a child deserving freedom, not merely does Qui-Gon care for Anakin and Shmi’s suffering, and not merely is Qui-Gon amazed at Anakin’s abilities, but now also Qui-Gon is convinced that Anakin is the one of ancient prophecy. He is the one long waited for – the one who would bring balance to the Force.

Shmi can’t explain her pregnancy because there is no natural explanation. Something outside the natural happened. In other words, a miracle occurred. The Force itself had caused Anakin’s conception in order to bring the Chosen One into the universe. An outside force, no pun intended, had intervened and changed the course of nature.

The one who would bring balance to the Force

This reality convinces Qui-Gon of precisely who Anakin Skywalker is, and from that moment Qui-Gon never wavers in his support of Anakin. He doesn’t waver when he learns Anakin has never even finished a single pod race (and they need him to WIN). He doesn’t waver when Master Yoda and the entire Jedi Council refuse to train Anakin. And he doesn’t waver as he dies. (His last words to Obi-Wan are “Promise me you will train the boy. He… is the chosen one. He… will bring balance… train him.”)

The virgin birth was the sign that led Qui-Gon to believe in Anakin as he was: the one who would bring balance to the Force.  Here was the proof! (Yes, you had to wait until the very end of Episode VI to see Anakin bring balance by defeating Palpatine, but it does eventually happen.)

In Isaiah 7:14 we read,

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Here is a sign of salvation. Here is one of the signs identifying the promised Anointed One – the Savior of the world. Something would happen that is contrary to nature; God would step in and alter the natural course of things; a miracle would occur.

“And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’

And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God’” (Luke 1:34, 35).

This Child is the long-promised Christ.

The circumstances surrounding his conception prove it. Every other human being was born of a father and a mother. Therefore, every other human being received that hereditary disease of sin that has been passed on from Adam to each one of us. This original sin is what makes us inclined to violate God’s commands and unable to fulfill his law. We commit sins because we are sinful.

But, not Christ. No, the second person of the Trinity assumed human flesh, and his human flesh was untainted by original sin for there was no biological father of his human flesh. He remained “holy,” free from sin, at all times. No original sin. No committed sins.

His holy life, placed so lovingly in the wooden manger by his mother, would be offered upon the wood of another tree to save us from our sin. He is the Chosen One, the Anointed One, the Christ – the one whose holy life accomplishes our salvation.

Here is the proof! There was no father. This Jesus is the Christ. This Jesus is holy. This Jesus is your Savior. Through faith in this Savior, you are now Qui-Gon. Here is your confidence – confidence in the midst of hardships in your life, confidence in the midst of opposition from the world, and confidence in the moment of your death.