She's What?!

The New Revised Standard Version The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly

Introduction:

1. Gender Reveals are all the rage for prospective parents to announce to their families and friends that they are expecting and to reveal what the gender of the child is. It is a way for the parents to include the family and friends in on their exciting journey.

2. It wasn’t always that way, at least not for Mary according to the scripture Gus read for us this morning.

3. In Matthew 1:1-17 we discover the earthly origins of Jesus through the legal lineage of Joseph, husband of Mary. In 1:18 we find the culmination of these origins revealed in Jesus. 42 Generations from Abraham to Jesus all pointing to Jesus as the Messiah.

Body

1. Mary was betrothed to Joseph.

a. Betrothal was a formal pre-nuptial contract entered into before witnesses, which gave the man legal rights over the woman. This legal agreement can only be dissolved through the formal process of divorce.

b. The only way for divorce was through due to the committing of adultery. Anyone betrothed who was caught in adultery and who went through the legal process of divorce and was fount guilty would face the sentencing of adultery, which was death.

c. The average age for the girl to be betrothed was between 12 and 13 years old. The male was usually much older. Marriages were arranged between the parents of the girl and either the parents of the man or the man himself if he was old enough.

d. Betrothal was a legal marriage, however the couple did not consummate the union until about a year later when the marriage became official. Usually following the building of a house / room by the groom for the bride.

2. Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

a. During this betrothal period Mary became pregnant, which was against law. According to what we know about the procreative process, if Mary was pregnant there had to be someone who was the impregnator. There was no in vitro fertilization process back then.

b. Logically speaking that would mean that one of a couple things happened:

i. Before they were to be formally married Mary and Joseph got together and she became pregnant.

ii. Mary really did not want to be betrothed to Joseph and she had a boyfriend on the side who got her pregnant.

iii. Mary was the victim of rape and became pregnant.

c. These are the three possibilities that have been proposed concerning the pregnancy of Mary. A + B = C. It had to involve Mary and some man. If not Joseph, then who?

d. The problem is that neither Matthew nor Luke credits the pregnancy of Mary to the conventional procreative process. Her pregnancy was of divine intent.

i. She was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. The creative process of God that we find in Genesis is now taken place within the person of Mary, the wife of Joseph.

ii. Matthew and Luke both credit the pregnancy to the Holy Spirit. And in Luke Mary even asks how she can be pregnant since “she knew not a man.”

iii. When it comes to certain aspects of the life of Jesus and with certain Scriptures in general logic and reason do not apply. Logic says virgins don’t have babies and dead people don’t come back from the dead – and yet here we fine in Jesus both things happening.

e. The same Scripture we look to for hope, inspiration, instruction and peace is the same Scripture that tells us the birth account of Jesus.

i. We find hope in the fact that we are saved by grace through faith and not by works on this word.

ii. We find the promise of eternal salvation and the fact that we have a place in our Father’s house in this word.

iii. We draw comfort from the fact that we can draw close to Jesus when we are weak and heavy burdened and he will give us rest.

f. We also read about the incarnation of Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary in these same Scriptures. So, if the Scriptures are wrong concerning the birth of Jesus whose to say that they are true concerning the promise of salvation? Either the Word of God is authoritative and true, or it is not. It is either our standard our canon or it is no different than any other piece of literature. We can’t have it both ways. You can’t stand on this verse while discrediting another verse. It may not be logically sound or even scientifically possible, but that does not mean that it is not possible with God. Luke even says that with God all things are possible.

3. Through the Holy Spirit a couple things happen.

a. The sin of Adam is passed from generation to generation through the seed of Adam. If you are to remove the seed of Adam from the procreative process, then you remove the curse of the original sin. That means that even though Jesus was bot fully human, he was not born with the original sin of Adam. That did not make it impossible for him to sin, but it di mean that he was not born with original sin. That means he was indeed sinless.

b. Because of the Holy Spirit Jesus is absolutely the Son of God, a title Matthew uses for Jesus throughout this Gospel.

c. In Jesus we see God doing a new thing that had been promised for many past generations.

i. With the birth of Jesus the era of salvation begins.

ii. The era of salvation begins with the Holy Spirit placing Jesus in Mary’s womb and continues with the Holy Spirit birthing the Church of Jesus in Acts at Pentecost.

4. Finally, we find the type of savior he is to be.

a. You are to name him Jesus. Hebrew Joshua meaning Yahweh is salvation. The Name Jesus means God is Salvation.

b. What type of salvation? He will save them from their sins. Through Jesus there is salvation from sin. That is bigger than national or political salvation. It is a moral deliverance resulting in life eternal.

c. Deliverance from sin would require the shedding of the blood of Jesus. His fate is set in prophesy and established at his birth. Jesus saves because Jesus shed his blood. Because he shed his blood you can find salvation from your sins. Because you can be saved from your sins you are granted eternal life.

Conclusion: