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INTRODUCTION
I have found there are three types of people this time of year.
People who love Christmas and are crazy and they would drape themselves in green and red velvet everyday if it were socially acceptable and they have been all in since November 1st
People who love Christmas, but demand that the celebrations wait until Thanksgiving is over
And people who don’t really care for Christmas
For the first two groups, you have had a good month and today is one of your favorite days of the year
There was a time when I didn’t recognize Christmas Eve for what it was
It felt like a day of tiresome waiting
You know, when we were kids and we were dreaming of the treasure the morning might hold
But now, as an adult, I see Christmas Eve as the peak of anticipation
Tomorrow, that cloud that has been gaining moisture is going to bust loose and wash over us with Christmas joy
I have grown to love this day where Christmas isn’t quite here, but it is as close as it can be
And I enjoy all the stuff that goes with it, from music to movies to cookies and lights
I am one of those people who falls somewhere in between the first two groups
But there is this other group that doesn’t like Christmas.
It isn’t that they are Scrooges.
It is that something has happened in their lives or their hearts and minds that makes this a season of lamentation.
Everyone else is enjoying their Christmas of white, but theirs is a blue one
The pain of loss
The pain of loneliness
The pain of lack
They flow throughout your body with each thought of supposed Christmas cheer
But you don’t want to say much about it because people will think you are a Scrooge, when really you are just in pain
After all, old Scrooge was in some pain too, wasn’t he?
I want to speak to both groups tonight.
The rejoicing and the lamenting.
And I want to give you one word to increase your joy on this Christmas Eve.
That word is Immanuel.
God with us.
BACKGROUND
For our purposes tonight, we find that word in Matthew 1.
Matthew is one of two of the New Testament Gospel writers to record the birth of Jesus
The other is Luke
However, Luke tells the story from Mary’s perspective, while Matthew tells is from Joseph’s perspective
In truth, Matthew’s account is less about Jesus’ birth and more about His origin
How did God become flesh?
How is Christ conceived?
And how does Joseph, His step-father on the earth, deal with the whole situation?
And what does it all mean for your life tonight on Christmas Eve 2022?
READ Matthew 1:18-25
THE BIRTH NARRATIVE (v.
18-20)
As I mentioned earlier, we could really call this the origin story of Christ because it doesn’t deal with His birth as much as His conception and Joseph’s reaction to it.
The Greek word that translates to birth in verse 18 can actually mean beginning.
Matthew is letting us all know how the earthly life of the Son of God started.
The timeline of the story begins with Mary being betrothed to Joseph.
Betrothal is a bit different than our modern-day concept of an engagement
ILLUSTRATION: I remember talking to a church member once who was telling me that before she got married and her dad was about to walk her down the aisle, he pointed at the door and said, “We can walk right out.
No consequences.
Last chance to be sure you want to do this.”
And truly she could have.
There would have been no real consequences beyond the social stigma of walking out on your wedding day.
Engagements are not legally binding in any way
But a Jewish betrothal was much more significant than that.
It was a binding contract, which was only terminable by death.
In fact, the man was already seen as the husband in the marriage.
His family would pay the dowry for his bride
He becomes the husband, even though they have not consummated the marriage
The bride waits in her father’s household while the husband goes and prepares a home for them
Then the husband returns to get his bride and consummate the marriage
But in that year of waiting, the betrothal was legally binding and a divorce was required to get out of it.
So with all of that in mind, it is not hard to see why Joseph would have had a difficult time with the news of Mary’s pregnancy.
He is still preparing a life for them.
He is still making them a home.
He has not been with her, in the biblical sense—keeping it PG for the 7pm Christmas Eve crowd...
And yet, she is with child.
There is only one logical conclusion that every single one of us would have jumped to.
And that is why Joseph has decided to divorce her quietly and not put her to public shame.
This shows us the fairness and mercy of Jesus’ earthly father.
Matthew says Joseph is a just man
That means he is law-abiding
The law says he has the right to divorce her and he will do that
But Joseph is not just just—he is merciful.
See, the law also allowed Joseph to take Mary into court and have her tried for adultery
That he is unwilling to do
That is what Matthew means when he says that Joseph is not willing to put her to shame
So in verse 20, we see that Joseph mulling these things over.
He is considering these things.
He is making decisions about how to walk through a devastating situation.
He must have been so excited to start this life with Mary
As a Jewish man, he would have spent years learning his father’s trade
He would have longed to have kids with his wife and fill the earth just as God commanded in Genesis 1...
All those hopes and dreams—smashed with the news that Mary did not wait for you
And yet you don’t want to humiliate her
This is all bouncing around in Joseph’s head when an angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream
And the angel says:
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.
Joseph is called the “son of David.”
A little reminder from the angel that Jesus’ earthly father was from David’s line.
And since God promised that a King would come who would sit on David’s throne forever, and legally, a person’s lineage came through their father’s side of the family—it is an important reminder.
The angel is letting Joseph and all of Matthew’s readers know that we are dealing with the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy that is hundreds of years old
The baby in Mary’s womb is the promised King to come from David’s line
And yet, the king over Israel at the time of Jesus’ birth was barely Jewish.
King Herod was a puppet king put in place by the Romans so the Jewish people would feel like they have their own monarch
The kingly line descending from David has all but disappeared
But God is bringing it back to the forefront by bringing about a King from Joseph’s betrothed
And this King that is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
What we have in verse 20 is the angel explaining the mystery of the Incarnation.
The central miracle asserted by Christians is the incarnation.
They say that God became man.
C. S. Lewis
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