Thursday, December 13, 2012

God's only forgotten son... Matthew 1:18-25


 “Immanuel: God with Us”
Matthew 1:18-25
Introduction: Martin Luther: “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 upon 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 and 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?”
We can easily be overwhelmed when we consider the pervasive presence of evil in the world and the reality of suffering for believers and unbelievers alike. Shakespeare called this life a “veil of tears” and since the Fall that at some level has been true for every human.  Suffering and the consequences of sin entered the world as the result of human rebellion.  Paul said it bluntly: “By one man sin entered the world and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all have sinned…”  That was our predicament.  No consider this:  God chose to make a way for us to experience forgiveness and life.  Of all things He sent His Son into this sin cursed world for us.  Isaiah prophesied of God’s response to our deepest need  when he said:
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.”
Luther was right, the plan was not something that you or I would have come up with. Contrary to the laws of nature, “A virgin would conceive and bear a son…”  When we consider the fact of his coming, let’s try to always remember the purpose of his coming.  
     The biblical doctrine of the virgin birth has been one of the most attacked doctrines of scripture. Yet the incarnation is at the heart our our faith, it is the foundational truth of Xnity. The essence and the power of the Gospel is that God became a man, and that, by being fully man and fully God He was able to make possible the reconciliation of sinful humans to a holy God. 
The Big Idea: The miracle of the virgin birth was a demonstration of who this Child was, and a prelude to what He would accomplish.

I. This birth would be unlike any other (1:18-20). Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.  19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.  20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.’”
            A. The Bible records several miraculous births: the entire story of redemptive history is full of examples of God overcoming barrenness or old age to accomplish His saving purpose.
     The birth of Isaac to previously barren Sarah-Remember Sarah was 90 years old and when she heard the promise through God’s messenger she laughed at the idea of having a child. Yet God intervened and Isaac was born and the laughter of unbelief was turned into the laughter of joy!
       The womb of Manoah’s barren wife was opened to give birth to Samson, who would be a judge and deliverer, who would kill a thousand men with the jaw bone of a donkey and pull down a pagan temple with his bare hands.
      The birth of Samuel the prophet and anointer of Kings to the barren Hannah revealed God’s power and showed how He worked through prayer.
      Elizabeth, the cousin of Mary, was barren, but through the power of God she gave birth to John the Baptist, of whom Jesus said there had yet been no one greater “among those born of women” (Mt 11:11).
            B. The virgin birth of Jesus surpassed all of these.  In each of these cases God intervened to allow conception through normal, biological means. In the case of Jesus God miraculously caused conception in Mary’s womb. N.B. v. 18, stated so simply, “…she was found with child of the Holy Spirit…” No fanciful elaboration, just the facts.
     There can be no question what Matthew is saying: She was betrothed to Joseph (in the first century this was more than engagement, they were committed to be married, but did not yet live together as husband and wife). The commitment was such that to break it a certificate of divorce was required.
     V. 19 affirms that Joseph was a “righteous man,” and when he found out Mary was pregnant he knew that he shouldn’t marry her, but he couldn’t bear that thought of shaming her publically, much less demanding the death the Law specified (Dt 22:23,24). Thus he determined to “put her away secretly,” i.e., to quietly divorce her.
      N.B. the timing in v.20, “…while he thought about these things…” The situation and his options were ruminating in his mind, the angel of the Lord speaks, revealing the nature of what had happened: “…that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit…” An unprecedented intervention of God in human history: INCARNATION. 
***The virgin birth was a demonstration of who this child was, and a prelude to what He would accomplish. Not only would this birth be like no other, but also that….

II. This Child would accomplish what no other could (1:21).  "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."
          “she shall bring forth a son…” There were no ultrasounds in those days, Mary was told her baby would be a boy. He did not merely appear human, He took upon himself a human nature. The Scripture had predicted the coming of the “Seed of the woman” who would crush the serpent’s head, And so, in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman…”
                  “…you shall call His name Jesus…” Y’shua, the Lord saves. Typically when God names someone in the Bible the significance of the name is stated, as it is here: “…FOR He will save His people from their sins…”
      First, notice that “…He will save His people …” The idea of a “deliverer” was very popular in the 1st century, but it was typically thought of in purely termporal terms. Once again the Hebrews were oppressed by a power from the outside, and many longed for God to send the promised deliverer. Most were probably expecting deliverance from the Romans, God was interested in offering salvation from sin.
     Secondly, we can celebrate the story of His coming, the people and images that surround the first Christmas, and that’s good (many of us have some kind of a nativity scene depiction). We mustn’t forget why He came, what He came to do, to be “….offered once to bear the sins of many” (Heb 9:28), i.e. He came to die.  The babe in manger came as the sacrificial Lamb, the King who would be rejected, the Suffering Servant who would be despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. He came knowing He would be rejected, handed over to the gentiles, scourged and mocked and spat upon, and finally nailed to a Roman Cross. THIS is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
***You see, the virgin birth is not simply a nice story we tell at Christmas time, it is a redical demonstration of who this child was, and a prelude to what He would accomplish on our behalf. This birth would be unlike any other, and this child would accomplish what no other could, because….

III. This Child would be unlike any other (1:22-25). So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:  "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.
“…you shall call His name Immanuel (God with us)…” (v.23).
            A. He would be the God-Man: “GOD with us…”
       Notice that Matthew emphasizes that the virgin birth was predicted—Matthew repeatedly uses the phrase “That it might be fulfilled…” Hundreds of OT predictions were fulfilled in the birth, life and death of Jesus. Matthew as much as any NT writer wants us to see that everything unfolded according to God’s plan. This was the one of whom the prophets had spoken.
        He would be called Immanuel, “God with us.” The presence of God was disrupted by the Fall, but we see the unfolding story of God reaching out to His people, showing the way to life and light. The Pillar and cloud and pillar of fire, the tabernacle, the temple, and then, the God who spoke in times past to the fathers through the prophets, has in these last days spoken in his Son (Heb 1:1).
            B. He would be the God-Man: the Word was made flesh. “…he did not know her until she gave birth to a son…” From the time of conception He experienced life with a human nature. He was “…made in the likeness of man…”    So He would be the perfect example, and the perfect sacrifice. Whereas Adam brought death through sin, Jesus made possible life through His death.
            C. Joseph was obedient to the Lord, he called Him JESUS.  He didn’t know a lot about God’s plan, but what he knew, he submitted to, he obeyed.
What is God saying to me in this passage? The virgin birth was a demonstration of who this child was, and a prelude to what He would accomplish.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Busyness, rush, be still and know that He is God.  Remember the story of a child who misquoted John 3:16, “For God so loved the world He gave His only forgotten Son…” Don’t forget God the Son, He came to die for YOU.

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