God with Us
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 9 viewsNotes
Transcript
Bringing Heaven on Earth - Marriage
Bringing Heaven on Earth - Marriage
Marriage is a common theme all through the Bible. It was the first institution set up by God in the beginning
Traditional Jewish Marriage:
Engagement - The father would negotiate an arranged marriage with another father. If he had a son he would have to also negotiate a price to pay for his son’s bride. The Engagement period was centered around the arrangement.
Betrothal - this was a period of time, usually a year long, following the engagement, where the price was paid and then the couple was considered married. Minimal marrying age back then was as young as 12 for girls and 13 for boys. To be in your twenties and unmarried was almost seen as a social embarrassment. A couple was considered married at this point even though there hadn’t been a ceremony, there was still a binding element that would take a divorce to end or dissolve.
Marriage started after the wedding.
It is the betrothal period that Joseph finds himself discovering the news about his wife Mary.
Matthew focuses the attention around Joseph in his Gospel. Mary is mentioned but most of the attention is focused on Joseph. Luke’s gospel is focused on Mary and picks up with Joseph as they are on their way to Bethlehem.
It’s interesting that Matthew starts with a genealogy that is Joseph centered and now starts to recount the birth of Jesus by focusing on Joseph. Nevertheless, lets look at this from Joseph’s perspective.
Hopes are Dashed
Hopes are Dashed
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.
Joseph finds out
His Heart sinks
His desire to be just and righteous surges
He wrestles with conflicting thoughts
I love her yet, it seems she was unfaithful to me
I can’t be with an unfaithful woman but I’ve made all these preparations for my new bride and future family.
He’s probably struggling with two OT scriptures, one from the Law and one from the prophets
1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house,
1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” 4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
What is the right thing to do? Based on the law he had the right to divorce, but at the same time, in a picture of God loving his people Israel, was he suppose to stay married and keep the child.
HE was conflicted. He’s a just man but he also doesn’t want o humiliate Mary.
MAN could we learn from Joseph!?! So often we see things that aren’t right, or we decide that someone did something wrong or unfair and we want to judge and make things public! Post it on Facebook! Tell everyone we can find so that no one is in the dark about another person’s transgression or assumed fault.
Here Joseph has every right to rake Mary over the coals, publicly humiliate her. The engagement and betrothal were both public so the divorce would have to be somewhat public.
Joseph takes another approach.
His love for Mary brings compassion, and compassion leads Joseph to dismiss Mary through divorce quietly.
One of the details that is unclear is whether Joseph consulted the Lord about his dilemma. We also don’t know exactly how Jospeh found out about Mary. Based on her character, both displayed in her response to the news from the angel in Luke 1:28-30
28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
She was favored
The Lord was with her
She was discerning
She was virtuous, a virgin, a word in the greek that meant “I do not KNOW a man”. She had never had sexual relations with any man.
She was humble and submissive to the Lord
Given that character reference from the Lord, I can’t see Mary not telling Joseph. At the same time, some believe that Joseph didn’t know until Mary returned from visiting Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, which would have been about 3 months into her pregnancy so Joseph would have noticed the development in Mary.
How ever it happened, it became clear that Mary was pregnant and the question now is what does Joseph do?
Angelic Intervention
Angelic Intervention
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. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
The Step father of Jesus had his attention grabbed and his marching orders given in a dream by “an angel of the of Lord”.
The angel addresses Joseph as “Son of David” because Joseph was of the Kingly line of David.
He also clarifies that Joseph has no reason to fear because God is behind Mary’s pregnancy and the baby will be the Messiah!
Here we hear the Gospel for the first time in the NT! His name is “Jesus, for he will save His people from their sins!”
Jesus - greek version of Joshua which means “The Salvation of Yahweh”.
One of the more common names in the day, kind of like John or Mike in today’s world. Josephus mentions 12 different people named Jesus in his historical writings. Jesus is the only one recognized as “THE CHRIST”.
All this would be the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy of a new covenant and the one who would make and fulfill it.
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Matthew 1:22–25 (ESV)
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet (assume to be Isaiah):
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.
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Ultimately - he called His name JESUS: They did what God told them to do. Though it was a fairly common name, it had a genuinely great meaning and would come to be the greatest name, the name above all names. (Guzik)
Jesus is truly Immanuel, God with us. "Christ, indeed, was not called by this name Immanuel that we anywhere read of…but the import of this name is most truly affirmed and acknowledged to be fully made good in him." (Trapp)
We can deeply meditate on the meaning of this name – Immanuel.
It shows how low God bent down to save man; He added the nature of one of His own creatures to His own divine nature, accepting the weaknesses, frailties and dependency that the creature experiences.
It shows what a great miracle it was that God could add a human nature to His own and still remain God.It shows the compatibility between the unfallen human nature and the divine nature; that the two could be joined shows that we are truly made in the image of God.
It shows that we can come to Him; if He has come to us, then we can come to Him. "Then, if Jesus Christ be 'God with us,' let us come to God without any question or hesitancy. Whoever you may be you need no priest or intercessor to introduce you to God, for God has introduced himself to you." (Spurgeon)
Picture of Marriage
Picture of Marriage
Finish explaining the marriage process.
Advent is a time of preparation, hope, joy, and love. We celebrate the coming of baby Jesus and prepare as we look forward in hope, joy, and love to His second coming.
Engagement and payment for the bride - Jesus came down, bringing Heaven on Earth, and paid the price for His bride, the Church, when He died on the cross and rose again.
Betrothal period, the time when the groom would leave to go back to his father’s house and start to prepare a place for them to live once they were married. John 14:3
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
3. The typical time frame for the groom’s return is around a year but she really had no idea when he would return.
4. The groom would come and take his bride to the wedding ceremony as his wife. i.e. The Marriage supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19.
That’s what we ahve to look forwad to as we make preparations for this Advent season.
Advent - which comes from the word Adventous, which translates in english as “second coming”.
