Immanuel, JESUS, Savior
Matthew 1:18-25
Introduction: In speaking about the incarnation of Christ, Martin
Luther said,
“When I am told that God became man, I can
follow the idea, but I just don’t understand what it means. For what man, if
left to his natural promptings, if he were God, would humble himself to lie in
the feedbox of a donkey or to hang on a cross? God laid upon Christ the
iniquities of us all. This is the ineffable and infinite mercy of God which the
slender capacity of man’s heart cannot comprehend, much less utter—the
unfathomable depth and burning zeal of God’s love toward us... Who can
sufficiently declare this exceeding great goodness of God?”
Why did
He do it? We can
easily be overwhelmed when we consider the pervasive presence of evil and
suffering in the world. We live in a fallen world, the evidence is all around
us. And believers are by no means exempt from suffering. Whether it is
wide-spread events like the tornado sweeping through Kentucky, smashing houses
as people slept; or more localized tragedies, like an early in the morning
house fire in NJ, taking the life of an eight-year-old child, and severely
burning her mother and sister… This is why Jesus came. We are living in a
dark world, in a real sense the “Valley of Baca,” a “vale of tears” as we saw on
Thanksgiving in Psalm 84. The world is a dark place, but, as the prophet Isaiah
said, “The
people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land
of the shadow of death a light has dawned...” (Isa
9:2).
Context: First, Matthew set forth the
genealogy, the legal qualification of Jesus as a descendent of David. Now, this is how it happened, as the fullness
of time had come...
The BIG Idea: The miracle of the virgin birth
proves who Jesus is, and it was a prelude to what He came to accomplish: the
salvation of a people for Himself. Come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!
I. A unique plan for His birth:
In a certain sense this would be a birth like every other human birth, but
in the most profound sense, this would be a birth like no other (18-20). Yes, there were other
births in Scripture that were miraculous. Abraham and Sarah in their old age
having Isaac. Elizabeth, the wife of Zachariah giving birth to John the
Baptist. But this birth was a miracle of a completely different
magnitude!
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary
had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be
with child from the Holy Spirit. 19
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame,
resolved to divorce her quietly. 20
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him
in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as
your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
The line of the messiah had been traced.
Abraham and David were a part of it, men who believed God, and followed Him,
but men who desperately needed forgiveness and grace in their lives. The family
tree also mentioned four women, which was unusual enough in an ancient near
eastern genealogy, but some were foreign
women, and some were guilty of immoral behavior. One was from an accursed
nation! By grace they were included. We were being reminded that grace
would extend to the nations, and that grace was greater than all our sin. If
you think you are beyond the reach of God’s grace, that there is no way you
could be forgiven, take a look at the characters in the genealogy of Jesus. Whatever
you have done, come. Finally, it comes down to Joseph, a carpenter, who
would be the stepfather of Messiah, and a young woman named Mary.
Verse 18
summarizes the situation. Joseph and Mary were “betrothed,” they were engaged.
More than engagement today, betrothal was a commitment to marriage that actually
required a certificate of divorce to dissolve. They had not yet come together.
There was no physical, marital intimacy between them. They were both pious
Jews, serious about their faith. They knew and sought to obey the Scriptures.
And then Joseph got the heart-breaking, what must have been shocking news: Mary
was pregnant! Mary’s encounter with the angel is not described by Matthew. We
have that only in Luke. That scene is described only in Luke 1:30-38,
30 And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have
found favor with God. 31 And
behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his
name Jesus. 32 He will be
great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give
to him the throne of his father David, 33
and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there
will be no end." 34 And
Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" 35 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. 36 And behold, your
relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the
sixth month with her who was called barren.
37 For nothing will be impossible with God." 38 And Mary said, "Behold, I
am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And
the angel departed from her.
Mary’s
struggle to understand makes sense—what the angel was describing was contrary
to nature, it was unlike any human birth before. She was a virgin! But she
believed this message came from God, and she believed that God could do
anything. So, she was available, and willing. She said, “Behold the servant of the Lord...” In our passage, Matthew 1:18, we
are simply told, “...she was found to be
with child of the Holy Spirit...” Apparently, she told Joseph about the
word she had received, but he could not believe it. Who would believe
such a story?
Joseph is
described as a “just man,” a “righteous man.” In the context the
idea is clearly not that he was perfect, but rather that he believed God
and sought to obey His word. He did not insist on justice when Mary’s pregnancy
became known to Him. It would be just to exact the maximum penalty allowed by
the Law. No, not that, but he could not follow through and marry her if she had
been unfaithful. Since he loved Mary, we see him extending grace, not wanting
to “subject her to public humiliation...”
He decides to quietly divorce her. But God had a plan. Joseph would be
the “step-father” of this child. He too was chosen to raise the Son of God. So,
God spoke to him through an angel in a dream and confirmed the amazing truth: “That which is conceived in her is from the
Holy Spirit...” This was a pregnancy like no other! The Messiah
would come in human form, but, like the first Adam, with a human nature
unaffected by sin. Conceived by the
Holy Spirit. The miracle of the virgin birth proves who Jesus is, and it
was a prelude to what He came to accomplish: the salvation of a people for
Himself. Do you believe that? Then, “Come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!”
A unique plan, and…
II. A unique purpose
for His life: This child would accomplish a great salvation (21).
21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save
his people from their sins."
V.21 makes it clear that God was in
control. “She will bear a son...” There were no ultra-sounds in those
days, and God didn’t give Mary and Joseph a choice about waiting to see the sex
of the child, it would be a son. The “Son of David” who was promised who would
have an eternal kingdom. The Seed of Abraham, who would be a blessing to the
nations. The Seed of the Woman who would crush the serpent’s head. The Son of
God, who one day will rule the nations with a rod of iron. His birth would be
like no other, and He would do for us what we could not do for ourselves (see
21b).
“…you
shall call his name Jesus…” Names are interesting, our parents give
them to us for all kinds of reasons. It may be a family name. Maybe it’s a name
that is taken from a character in literature or history. Maybe it’s a name that
one parent or the other just liked the sound of. Occasionally, a name might say
something about the faith of the parents or their hopes for the child (perhaps
why we often see Bible names). Within the Bible, names seem to more frequently
reflect something of the character (or destiny) of the person. Abraham had his
name “updated” by God himself, since he would be “the father of a multitude.”
“Isaac” meant “laughter” as Sarah had laughed at the idea of Abraham and her
having a child in their old age. “Jacob” was the “heel grabber” or supplanter,
and he was born holding onto his brother’s heel, and he would one day
“supplant” him by trading for his birth right, and by stealing the blessing of
the firstborn. You remember that in Acts
one man was such an encourager that the disciples named him “Barnabas,” i.e.,
“Son of Encouragement.” The name “Jesus”
was related in Hebrew and in Aramaic to the verb yasha, “he saves,” and the word “Yeshua,” in Hebrew meant “salvation.” The angel’s words would have
immediately been understood by Joseph,
“...you shall call his name Jesus, for
he will save his people from their sins."
Now this pronouncement might have been shocking in the
historical context, not only in terms of the miracle that was being explained,
but also in terms of what this messianic figure would accomplish. Remember the
history; David had been a military leader who led the army of Israel to
victories over their pagan enemies. After the exile, the nation had been
re-established in the land, but had experienced oppression over the centuries.
It was widely expected that the Messiah would come and deliver them from their
enemies and restore their security and blessing and prosperity in the land.
This was a different focus as the angel said: “He will save his people from their sins...”
I was thinking
this week how we tend to be quick to criticize the Jewish nation of Jesus’ day
for losing sight of the miracle of grace that was at the heart of Jesus’
mission. You remember when Jesus fed the multitude in John 6, a few verses
later they wanted to come and make him king by force. A king that fed them,
that was a king they could deal with! And then there were those loathsome
Romans, marching around like the land was theirs, disrespecting the Jews and
the promises of their God! They were ready for a Deliverer! But rather
than coming on a battle horse with a sword, Jesus came on a donkey, in
humility, as a servant, as a suffering
servant. No way! His own people hastened his execution by proclaiming, “We’ll
not have THIS man to be our king!” They lost sight of what was most important,
they seemed blind to what they should have known to be their greatest need:
forgiveness of their sins and reconciliation with God.
Yet here we are,
2,000 years later. For what do we look to God? When do we usually testify that
“God is good”? We pray for healing. We pray for financial help, work so
that we can feed our families. We pray about decisions we need to make. We
look to Him for a lot of our needs, and all of that is good, after all, every
good thing comes from above! He answers our prayers, He gives us our daily
bread, and we say, “God is good!” Amen! He is good. But, what about the families
in Kentucky grieving a loss today, or the family in Kensington whose child is
killed by a stray bullet, or the Syrian Christian who has a sword put to his
neck but refuses to deny Christ? We have no promise of health and prosperity
in this life (in fact, he assures us, “In
the world you will have tribulation...”!). One day sin will be
eradicated, and our enemy will be cast into hell, and God will dwell among us,
and He Himself will wipe the tears from our eyes. One day, but not this day. Today
we are pilgrims. We are still in the Valley of Baca and bad things
happen to believers and unbelievers alike.
But God is still good, and He and worthy of our praise!
He came to save his people from their
sins. Hear God’s word: “For by grace
you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift
of God.” That is reason to worship Him, to love Him with your whole heart,
and to spread His fame to those around you! Christmas is not about jolly-red-suited
elves and reindeer. It’s about God entering our story to do for us what we
could not do for ourselves. The miracle of the virgin birth proves who
Jesus is, and it was a prelude to what He came to accomplish: the salvation of
a people for Himself. Come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord! A birth like no
other, of a child who would meet our desperate need, as only He could, as...
III. A Unique Person with a dual nature,
the God-Man: This child would be like no other. He is the promised Savior, the great
I AM, who took on a human nature (22-25).
22 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.
This child
was the fulfillment of the promises of God (22-23a). One of the results of seeing the many
prophecies that were fulfilled in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of
Jesus is recognizing that God was in control, and that the life of Jesus
unfolded in every detail exactly as the father had planned it. It also serves
as evidence that Jesus is the promised Messiah. If the Messiah was to be born
of a virgin, born in Bethlehem, exiled to Egypt, raised in Nazareth, rejected
by his own people, and ultimately crucified and resurrected, all those things,
in precise detail happened in the life of only one man: Jesus. According to one
count, over 300 predictions were fulfilled in Jesus’ life and death! That is
beyond any reasonable mathematical probability. There is only one explanation: In
the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, as He had promised.
This child would be God, incarnate
(23b). Immanuel: God with us. Like
Luther said, “...the idea that God became a man, I can follow the idea...” but
in truth it is a difficult concept to grasp!
Like Paul said of Him in his letter to the Philippians, “...who, though He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with
God as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a
servant...” God
became man, as John wrote, “...the Word was God…” and “…the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us...”
This child
would be human, born of a woman. In one of his sermons Augustine eloquently
described the wonder of the incarnation as follows...
The Word of the Father,
by whom all time was created, was made flesh and was born in time for us. He,
without whose divine permission no day completes its course, wished to have one
day for his human birth. In the bosom of the Father He existed before all the
cycles of the ages; born of an earthly mother, he entered upon the course of
the years on this day.
The Maker of men became man that He, the
ruler of the stars, might be nourished at the breast; that He the Bread, might
be hungry; that He, the fountain, might thirst; that He the Light, might sleep;
that He the Way, might be wearied on the journey; that He the Truth, might be
accused by false witnesses; that He the Judge of the living and the dead might
be brought to trial by a mortal judge; that He Justice, might be condemned by
the unjust; that He, Discipline, might be scourged by whips; that He, the Foundation, might be
suspended on a Cross; that Courage might be weakened; that security might be
wounded; that Life might die.
To endure these and similar indignities
for us, to free us, unworthy creatures, He who existed as the Son of God before
all ages, without a beginning, deigned to become the Son of Man in these recent
years. He did this, although He who submitted to such great evils for our sake
had done no evil, and although we, who were the recipients of so much good at
His hands had done nothing to merit these benefits... (from Sermons on Liturgical Seasons).
What grace! What love! He did all of that willingly, for us.
He came to take our sins in His own body on the Cross—to be “...made sin for us, that we might be made the
righteous-ness of God in Him...” God
became a man to make a way for us to have peace with God.
This child
would be Jesus, the One and only Savior. Notice the obedience of Joseph. “He did not know her until she gave birth to
a Son...” There would be no questions, no doubt about the virgin birth. And
He obeyed the word of the Lord, and named the Child “Jesus.” Jesus, there is
no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved. So,
Joseph, like Mary, believed God, and He obeyed Him.
What is God saying to me
in this passage? The
miracle of the virgin birth proves who Jesus is, and it was a prelude to what
He would accomplish: our salvation! How will you respond to God’s Gift? Come,
let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!
What would God have me to do
in response to this passage? The central goal of our
preaching is always to help us grasp the Gospel more deeply, and to see God
more clearly, because to know Him is to love Him. Love for God is also
our motivation to seek to make Him known, to spread His fame through our region
and ultimately the world. It starts at home, with our family, neighbors and
friends. It extends outward from there to include others in our sphere of
influence. In Christ we hold for forth the Word of life.
This third Sunday of Advent, let us
remember why He came, let us remember who He is and what He did. As we grow in
understanding of what Christmas means, it should stir our hearts to love Him
more. Let us worship Him together. Come,
let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord! AMEN.
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