Sermon Tone Analysis

Merry Christmas!

Communion next Sunday at both Worship Gatherings

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GREET THOSE AROUND YOU!

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Last week we kicked off this teaching in the Gospel of Matthew, where right out of the blocks, Matthew tells his Jewish audience how significant Jesus is, saying...

Matthew 1:1 (NIV)

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

The Messiah - the anointed King of the Jews would be in the lineage of Abraham and King David.

Then we took a look at some of the names and stories behind the family tree of Jesus, we saw the reality that...

All families NEED God’s forgiveness.

The way was prepared for the Messiah.

The Messiah - the anointed King of the Jews was on the way.

But rather than riding in on a white horse to demonstrate His power & authority, His arrival came a little different way.

And on this Christmas Sunday we will discover how the name of the Newborn King shows the reason why He was born to a woman, lived as a human, and died like a villain.

Matthew 1:18a (NIV)

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph...

This pledging/betrothal was more than just 2 young folks who chose to be engaged.

At this point the whole family had been involved.

According to Jewish culture at the time,

Not only had the parents arranged this marriage when the children were young,

Mary and Joseph had entered into a legally binding contract, where the man was given legal rights over the young woman, gifts were exchanged (bride price, dowery, and bridegroom’s gift to the bride), and the terms “husband” and “wife” were used to refer to these pledged partners.

If one of them died during this period, the other would be considered a widow or widower.

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Sexual purity between the 2 was expected, and any sexual activity with anyone else would have been considered adultery for which the ultimate punishment could be stoning (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:23-24), although during the time of Jesus adulterers were more often punished by public disgrace.

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But, if you know the story, you know that we come to a major fork in the road.

Matthew 1:18 (NIV)

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Luke’s gospel tells us that right after Mary was told of her pregnancy by an angel she went to see her cousin Elizabeth, and stayed with her for 3 months (Lk 1:56).

Luke 1:56 (NIV) Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

So now Mary returns to Nazareth with a baby bump and this is not okay with Joseph.

I wonder what THAT CONVERSATION was like!?!?

“Joseph, I know this sounds hard to believe, but GOD did this to me.”

Of, course, this is sounds crazy to Joseph, and it’s an unbelievable claim for most people in our culture too - a virgin gets pregnant?

That is - if you discount miracles…but every person in the room believes in at least 1 miraculous event - the creation of the universe out of NOTHING.

Our universe is NOT eternal.

It had a beginning.

But how does time, matter, space, and energy just suddenly BECOME?

How does NOTHING create EVERYTHING?

You see, you might not say you don’t believe in the miracles mentioned in the Bible, including the virgin birth.

Christians do.

Christians believe in the virgin birth of Jesus.

Atheists believe in the virgin birth of the universe.

Choose your miracle.

—@GlenScrivener

The God of the universe, the God who created everything out of nothing, the God who knit you together in your mother’s womb from the microscopic parts of your parents, CHOSE to use the DNA of a woman named Mary, but no human male DNA.

Instead, she became pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Of course, since this had never happened in the history of the world, this explanation would have been impossible for any engaged man to believe.

When your fiancée winds up pregnant and you know it wasn’t because of you, what would YOU do?

So, here’s what Joseph planned on doing.

Matthew 1:19 (NIV)

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Joseph thought Mary has broken God’s command and he knew Mary had broken his heart, but still - Joseph didn’t want Mary disgraced.

Joseph decides to put an end to this marriage before it begins, by breaking the legal ties that bind.

Matthew 1:20 (NIV)

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 1:21 (NIV)

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

The name JESUS or in Hebrew...

Yeshua = Yahweh saves

It’s more than His Name - it’s why He came, and it’s WHO He is!

The name Jesus answers the BIG PURPOSE of why He was born to a woman, why he lived as a human, and why he died like a villain.

From the very beginning of this writing, Matthew wants his audience to know why the King had come and why He was given the name Jesus (Yeshua)...

Sinners need a Savior

Do remember the last time you were confronted with the reality of your sin?

You and I have really sinned against our Holy God.

You’ve likely FELT guilty, because you have BEEN GUILTY.

Thankfully, Jesus was born, named, lived, & died because…SINNERS…people like you and me…NEED A SAVIOR!

Just think about it.

If it weren’t for the cross we wouldn’t celebrate the manger.

If it weren’t for Jesus’ death, we wouldn’t have even known or cared about his birth.

It’s not WRONG to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but it means NOTHING without the sacrificial death of the Savior.

In fact, the earliest followers of Jesus didn’t focus on His birth.

There is no biblical record of the early Christians celebrating Christmas.

In fact, only 2 of the 4 gospel writers even tell the story of His birth - Matthew & Luke.

Matthew: 8 verses (Mt 1:18-25)

Luke: 32 verses of Luke (Lk 1:26-37; 2:1-20)

a total of 40 verses speak to the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus.

The major focus of the New Testament is NOT on the birth of Jesus, but on the death of Jesus.

WHY do you think that is? WHY was Jesus born?

Because Sinners need a Savior.

The whole of the Scriptures teach that since our sin is so serious, and our God is so gracious, that the King of all creation steps out of heaven and is implanted in the womb of a young virgin, Jewish, woman named Mariam.

Matthew 1:22–23 (NIV)

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

As many of you know, this is a quote from Isaiah 7:14, written 700 years before the birth of Jesus.

Note that Matthew believes the Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah.

There is no Biblical moment where Jesus wasn’t called “Immanuel”, but Jesus WAS Immanuel - “God with us”! Jesus was God the Son…once in heaven, now in skin!

Joseph must have awoken from this dream surprised, maybe a little confused, but thoroughly refreshed.

I would have liked to see how Joseph approached Mary to apologize for not believing her.

Matthew 1:24–25 (NIV)

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son.

And he gave him the name Jesus.

Contrary to Catholic tradition which is NOT based on Scripture, Matthew certainly does not teach that Mary was a virgin forever.

Jesus did have other brothers (Mt 12:46; 13:55).

But for the 9 months of Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph showed self-control by not being intimate with his own wife, until after Jesus was born.

And when the promised baby was born and Joseph gave him the name Jesus - Yeshua - Yahweh saves!